Ivan Capelli


Ivan Franco Capelli is an Italian former Formula One driver. He participated in 98 Grands Prix, debuting on 6 October 1985. He achieved three podiums, and scored a total of 31 championship points. From 1998 until 2017 he was a Formula One commentator on the Italian TV station Rai 1.

Early career and F1 entry

Capelli began his career as a kart driver when he was 15 years old, and after four years he moved to the Italian Formula Three Championship.
In 1983 he became Italian Formula Three champion, after dominating the series with nine victories. After that he moved with the Coloni team to the European Formula Three Championship, and here he was the champion again in 1984.
In 1985 he graduated to the European Formula 3000 Championship with a Genoa Racing March-Cosworth and won one race. The same year he debuted in Formula One, driving a Tyrrell at the European Grand Prix, and finished fourth in Australia. Nevertheless, he was not picked up for a full-time Formula One drive in 1986. Instead, he contested the 1986 Formula 3000 Championship, still with Genoa Racing, and also raced a BMW in the European Touring Car Championship.

F1 with March

Despite not landing a full-time contract for 1986, Capelli started several F1 races for the AGS team. Meanwhile, Cesare Gariboldi, boss of Genoa Racing, was working with Robin Herd of March to create a new Formula One outfit. Capelli was a core component in their plans. By now, Capelli and Gariboldi had an almost father-son relationship.
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In 1987 Capelli was in Formula One full-time with the March team, led by Gariboldi and running Herd's new chassis with a Cosworth V8 normally aspirated engine. Capelli also continued with BMW touring cars for the Schnitzer team, as the March budget was tight, and the Schnitzer team had works status with BMW, allowing him to be on the German company's payroll. Capelli scored March's first point with sixth at the Monaco Grand Prix and March's return to Formula One was generally seen as competent, professional and promising for the future.
In 1988 Capelli had a March chassis designed by Adrian Newey combined with a Judd V8 engine. March had hoped to be the favoured development partner for this engine, but they found themselves sharing it with the French Ligier team as well as the defending F1 Constructors' Champions Williams who had lost their supply of turbocharged Honda engines to McLaren. Capelli was joined in the team by the British Formula 3 Champion, Brazilian rookie Maurício Gugelmin. They made a strong team and the March 881 was the surprise of the year. At Spa-Francorchamps he scored his first podium with a third place behind Ayrton Senna's and Alain Prost's McLarens. Capelli's best finish was second place at the Portuguese Grand Prix where he finished behind Prost. Even better was ahead for the Italian when he became the first non-turbo driver since to lead a World Championship Grand Prix. This happened on lap 16 of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka when Prost missed a gear coming out of the final chicane and Capelli was able to get ahead before the start/finish line and officially lead the lap. However, Prost used Honda's superior power and was ahead before turn 1. His Judd V8 suffered electrical failure just 3 laps later.
However, the momentum did not continue. March had financial problems and a sponsor, Leyton House, acquired a controlling interest. Gugelmin finished third in his home race at Jacarepaguá in 1989, but this was done in the 1988 car. The definitive 1989 Leyton House March was a disappointment, and neither driver challenged for the top in the rest of the year. Capelli in particular only finished once throughout the season and went far enough to be classified on one further occasion. Despite this, he was one of only six drivers to start in all of the 16 races of the 1989 season. Team spirit remained intact despite the death of Gariboldi in a car crash and midway through the season Capelli felt happy enough in the team to take up his option for 1990. The new decade started poorly, though. Newey's car had excellent aerodynamics and exclusive use of Judd's updated V8 engine, but it was intolerant of bumps. It was so bad on the notoriously bumpy Mexico City track that neither driver could control the car and both failed to qualify. Nevertheless, in the next at Paul Ricard in France came a complete turn around in form. Capelli led Gugelmin in a Leyton House 1–2 throughout much of the race. Gugelmin finally retired, and Capelli was overtaken near the end by the Ferrari of Prost with only 3 laps remaining and went on to finish second. Revisions to the car had made it more competitive, but it was the billiard table-smooth track which allowed the result. Despite some promising showings at Silverstone and Hockenheim, it remained their best race of the season.
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In 1991, Leyton House was responsible not only for chassis development but also bankrolled the ambitious Ilmor V10 engine programme. With so many new ingredients, results were again sparse, although Capelli often qualified and raced well. When Leyton House's owner Akira Akagi was arrested in connection with the Fuji Bank fraud, the team was in a precarious state. Capelli had signed for Scuderia Ferrari for the '92 season, so he voluntarily stepped down, allowing pay driver Karl Wendlinger to finish the season and personally paid to attend the races he missed to offer support to the team and advice to his rookie substitute.

Ferrari and Jordan

In 1992, Capelli became the first Italian with a regular drive with Ferrari since Michele Alboreto in 1988, after Gianni Morbidelli's one-off race for the team the season before. The Scuderia had gone through a tough time in 1991, but with a new car, the F92A, expectations were high. The new car was not competitive and before the season began Capelli was showing his disappointment. A driver who enjoyed the convivial atmosphere of a family-type team, he struggled to integrate with the bureaucratic structure of early 1990s Ferrari. Losing motivation, the team in turn lost confidence in him and his teammate Jean Alesi gained the upper hand. Capelli was sacked before the season's end. It was the last time until Felipe Massa in 2011 that a Ferrari driver failed to finish on the podium during a season.
during a charity football match In Abu Dhabi|300px
This experience seemingly broke his spirit, but those who had worked with him at March still had faith, notably Ian Phillips, then Jordan team manager. Taking a Jordan seat for 1993 alongside a young Rubens Barrichello, whom the team hoped would prosper under the more experienced driver, Capelli failed to rediscover the spark that not long ago had marked him as a champion of the future. After failing to qualify for the second race in Brazil, he left the team by mutual consent, being replaced by Thierry Boutsen. He did not race in Formula One again.

Post-F1 career

Following his exit from Formula One, Capelli raced from 1994 to 1996 with a Nissan Primera with mixed results in STW for BMS Scuderia Italia and in some round of CET in 1995 and 1996. He also became a Formula One commentator in 1998 on Italian TV station Rai 1.

Racing results

Complete International Formula 3000 results

YearEntrantChassisEngine123456789101112Pts
1985Genoa RacingMarch 85BCosworthSILTHRESTNÜRVAL
Ret		SPA
Ret		DIJ
Ret		PER
Ret		ÖST
1		ZAN
DNS		DON
3		7th13
1985Sanremo RacingMarch 85BCosworthPAU
DNS		7th13
1986Genoa RacingMarch 86BCosworthSIL
Ret		VAL
1		PAU
Ret		SPA
3		IMO
2		MUG
3		PER
Ret		ÖST
1		BIR
Ret		BUG
4		JAR
4		1st38

Complete Formula One results

YearEntrantChassisEngine12345678910111213141516WDCPts
1985Tyrrell Racing OrganisationTyrrell 014Renault EF4B 1.5 V6tBRAPORSMRMONCANDETFRAGBRGERAUTNEDITABELEUR
Ret		RSAAUS
4		17th3
1986Jolly Club SpAAGS JH21CMotori Moderni Tipo 615-90 1.5 V6tBRAESPSMRMONBELCANDETFRAGBRGERHUNAUTITA
Ret		POR
Ret		MEXAUSNC0
1987Leyton House March Racing TeamMarch 87PFord Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8BRA
DNS		19th1
1987Leyton House March Racing TeamMarch 871Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8SMR
Ret		BEL
Ret		MON
6		DET
Ret		FRA
Ret		GBR
Ret		GER
Ret		HUN
10		AUT
11		ITA
13		POR
9		ESP
12		MEX
Ret		JPN
Ret		AUS
Ret		19th1
1988Leyton House March Racing TeamMarch 881Judd CV 3.5 V8BRA
Ret		SMR
Ret		MON
10		MEX
16		CAN
5		DET
DNS		FRA
9		GBR
Ret		GER
5		HUN
Ret		BEL
3		ITA
5		POR
2		ESP
Ret		JPN
Ret		AUS
6		7th17
1989Leyton House RacingMarch 881Judd CV 3.5 V8BRA
Ret		SMR
Ret		NC0
1989Leyton House RacingMarch CG891Judd EV 3.5 V8MON
11		MEX
Ret		USA
Ret		CAN
Ret		FRA
Ret		GBR
Ret		GER
Ret		HUN
Ret		BEL
12		ITA
Ret		POR
Ret		ESP
Ret		JPN
Ret		AUS
Ret		NC0
1990Leyton HouseLeyton House CG901Judd EV 3.5 V8USA
Ret		BRA
DNQ		SMR
Ret		MON
Ret		CAN
10		MEX
DNQ		FRA
2		GBR
Ret		GER
7		HUN
Ret		BEL
7		ITA
Ret		POR
Ret		ESP
Ret		JPN
Ret		AUS
Ret		10th6
1991Leyton HouseLeyton House CG911Ilmor 2175A 3.5 V10USA
Ret		BRA
Ret		SMR
Ret		MON
Ret		CAN
Ret		MEX
Ret		FRA
Ret		GBR
Ret		GER
Ret		HUN
6		BEL
Ret		ITA
8		POR
17		ESP
Ret		JPNAUS18th1
1992Scuderia Ferrari SpAFerrari F92AFerrari 038 3.5 V12RSA
Ret		MEX
Ret		BRA
5		ESP
10		SMR
Ret		MON
Ret		CAN
Ret		FRA
Ret		GBR
9		GER
Ret		HUN
6		BEL
Ret		13th3
1992Scuderia Ferrari SpAFerrari F92ATFerrari 038 3.5 V12ITA
Ret		POR
Ret		JPNAUS13th3
1993Sasol JordanJordan 193Hart 1035 3.5 V10RSA
Ret		BRA
DNQ		EURSMRESPMONCANFRAGBRGERHUNBELITAPORJPNAUSNC0

Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

YearTeamCar123456789101112131415161718Pts
1994BMS Scuderia ItaliaNissan PrimeraAVU
Ret		WUN
6		ZOL
Ret		ZAN
Ret		ÖST
8		SAL
9		SPA
9		NÜR
5		11th21
1995BMS Scuderia ItaliaNissan PrimeraZOL
1
11		ZOL
2
Ret		SPA
1
Ret		SPA
2
DNS		ÖST
1
Ret		ÖST
2
DNS		HOC
1
Ret		HOC
2
DNS		NÜR
1
Ret		NÜR
2
14		SAL
1
22		SAL
2
20		AVU
1
Ret		AVU
2
Ret		NÜR
1		NÜR
2		29th26
1996BMS Scuderia ItaliaNissan PrimeraZOL
1
21		ZOL
2
DNS		ASS
1
14		ASS
2
20		HOC
1		HOC
2		SAC
1		SAC
2		WUN
1		WUN
2		ZWE
1
10		ZWE
2
Ret		SAL
1
Ret		SAL
2
DNS		AVU
1		AVU
2		NÜR
1
8		NÜR
2
13		25th49

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Porsche Supercup results

YearTeamCar123456789101112DCPoints
2003Porsche AGPorsche 996 GT3ITA1
7		ESPAUTMONGER1FRAGBRGER2HUNITA2USA1USA2NC‡0‡

‡ – Guest driver – Not eligible for points.