Marco Apicella (born 7 October 1965 near Bologna, BO, Emilia-Romagna, Italy) is an Italian former racing driver who had an extremely short Formula One career in 1993 at the Italian Grand Prix.
Prior to F1, Apicella was mostly successful in International Formula 3000, driving from 1987 to 1991. During these years he failed to win a single race, despite seven second places. He moved to Japanese Formula 3000 in 1992, finally winning a race.
After a series of test driver roles during his Formula 3000 days, Apicella finally got an opportunity to make his F1 début at his home race, the 1993 Italian GP, in a Jordan after Thierry Boutsen's retirement. However, it was not a fairy-tale event; his career lasted less than 800 metres as he was taken out by JJ Lehto in a collision that also took out Apicella's teammate Rubens Barrichello. From the next race, Emmanuele Naspetti replaced Apicella.
It would turn out to be Apicella's only race in F1, and he returned back to Japan, where he won the Japanese F3000 title in 1994. In 1996, Apicella was announced as one of the test drivers for the Dome project; however, the project never came to fruition and Apicella's final chance to make it in F1 was gone.
After racing in GT cars and endurance racing, Apicella eventually retired from motor racing and currently serves as a racing instructor and sales representative for the Stilo race helmet company.
Formula One Career[]
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
| Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Points | WDC Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Minardi Team SpA | Minardi-Motori Moderni | Test driver | |
| 1990 | SCM Minardi Team | Minardi-Ford Cosworth | Test driver | |
| Modena Team SpA | Lambo-Lamborghini | Team pre-entry test driver | ||
| 1991 | Modena Team SpA | Lambo-Lamborghini | Test driver | |
| 1993 | Sasol Jordan | Jordan-Hart | 0 | NC |
| 1996 | Dome Company | Dome-Mugen-Honda | Team pre-entry test driver | |
Career Statistics[]
| Entries | 1 |
| Starts | 1 |
| Pole Positions | 0 |
| Race Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Fastest Laps | 0 |
| Points | 0 |
| Laps Raced | 0 |
| Distance Raced | 0 km (0 mi) |
Career Results[]
| Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts | Pos | |||||||
| 1993 | 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 | NC | |||||||
| Ret | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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[]
External links[]
- Official website
- Wikipedia article
- STATS F1 profile
- OldRacingCars.com Where Are They Now profile
- DriverDB profile
- 8W article on Apicella
| v·d·e | Nominate this page for Featured Article |