Gabriele Tarquini (born March 2, 1962 in Giulianova, Italy) is an Italian racing driver, holder of the most failed attempts to qualify (41). Claudio Langes holds the record for most failed attempts to qualify without ever qualifying for a race (14).
He has since found success in the World Touring Car Championship, winning it in 2009, and becoming the oldest champion in an FIA-sanctioned series, aged 47 years and 266 days. As a result, Tarquini broke Juan Manuel Fangio's record of 46 years and 41 days, set in 1957. He has won at least one race in every year of the championship since it began in 2005.
Formula One[]
Tarquini made his F1 debut with Osella at the 1987 San Marino Grand Prix, which turned out to be a one-off.
His first full drive was for the Coloni team in 1988, where he failed to qualify or pre-qualify eight times in 16 races. Driving for AGS, he scored his first point at the 1989 Mexican Grand Prix, after the FIRST team failed to materialise.
He started failing to qualify after the French Grand Prix, after the AGS JH24 turned out to be unreliable. Tarquini's worst year was in 1990, where he failed to qualify or pre-qualify for 12 races, out of the total 16. It continued until the end of 1991, when pre-qualifying was discontinued.
He drove for the hapless Fondmetal team in 1992, and only finished once in his 13 starts for the team, before being dropped.
Tarquini was a test driver for Tyrrell, and made his final start at the European Grand Prix when Ukyo Katayama was injured in a crash at Portugal. He finished 14th in the race.
Many people consider Tarquini to have been a talented driver stuck with uncompetitive machinery.
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
| Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Pts. | WDC Pos. | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 |  Toleman Group Motorsport
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Toleman-Hart | Test driver | ||
| 1986: Did not compete | |||||
| 1987 |  Enzo Coloni Racing Car System
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Coloni-Ford Cosworth | Test driver | Report | |
| Osella Squadra Corse
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Osella-Alfa Romeo | 0 | NC | ||
| 1988 | Coloni SpA
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Coloni-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
| FIRST Racing
|
FIRST-Judd | ||||
| 1989 | FIRST Racing
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FIRST-Judd | 1 | 26th | Report |
 Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives
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AGS-Ford Cosworth | ||||
| 1990 | Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives
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AGS-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
| 1991 | Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives
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AGS-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
| Fondmetal SpA
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Fondmetal-Ford Cosworth | ||||
| 1992 | Fondmetal SpA
|
Fondmetal-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
| 1993–1994: Did not compete | |||||
| 1995 | Nokia Tyrrell Yamaha
|
Tyrrell-Yamaha | Test driver | Report | |
| 0 | NC | ||||
- Italic donates as a test driver and Formula One Indoor Trophy entry.
Career Statistics[]
Career Results[]
| Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pts | Pos | ||||||
| 1987 | 
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NC | 0 | |||||||
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| 1988 |
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NC | 0 | |||||||
| Ret | Ret | Ret | 14th | 8th | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | 13th | NC | DNQ | 11th | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNQ | ||||||||||
| 1989 |
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26th | 1 | |||||||
| DNA | 8th | Ret | 6th | 7th | Ret | Ret | DNQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | ||||||||||
| 1990 |
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NC | 0 | |||||||
| DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNQ | Ret | DNPQ | 13th | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | Ret | ||||||||||
| 1991 |
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NC | 0 | |||||||
| 8th | Ret | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNQ | 12th | 11th | DNPQ [1] | ||||||||||
| 1992 | 
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NC | 0 | |||||||
| Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 14th | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | |||||||||||||
| 1995 | 
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NC | 0 | ||||||
| 14th | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Key | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning | ||
| 1st | Winner | Ret | Retired | ||
| 2nd | Podium finish | DSQ | Disqualified | ||
| 3rd | DNQ | Did not qualify | |||
| 5th | Points finish | DNPQ | Did not pre-qualify | ||
| 14th | Non-points finish | TD | Test driver | ||
| Italics | Fastest Lap | DNS | Did not start | ||
| 18th† | Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) | NC | Non-classified finish (<90% race distance) | ||
| 4thP | Qualified for pole position | [+] More Symbols | |||
Notes[]
- ↑ Race stopped after 14/81 Laps. Half points awarded