Alessandro Nannini

Alessandro "Sandro" Nannini (born 7 July 1959) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nannini won the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix with Benetton.

Born in Siena, Nannini is the younger brother of musician Gianna Nannini. He began his career rallying in a Lancia Stratos before switching to open-wheel racing in 1981. The following year, he started competing for Minardi in European Formula Two, where he remained for three seasons. Nannini also made appearances in the World Sportscar Championship for Martini, winning the 1000km of Kyalami in 1984 and entering three editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was granted an FIA Super License in —having been controversially denied one the year prior—and made his Formula One debut at the with Minardi. After 26 retirements in 30 starts across two seasons at Minardi, Nannini joined Benetton to partner Thierry Boutsen. He retained his seat in after scoring podiums at the British and Spanish Grands Prix. Nannini took his only victory in Formula One at the , inheriting the win from Ayrton Senna following his infamous disqualification. Several podiums followed in as he was partnered by Nelson Piquet, including a second-placed finish at the .

In October 1990, Nannini severed his right forearm in a helicopter accident at his vineyard in Siena, ending his Formula One career with one win, two fastest laps and nine podiums. He returned to racing in 1993, competing in four seasons of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft—later known as the International Touring Car Championship—with Alfa Corse, finishing third in the 1996 standings. Nannini became a race-winner in the 1997 FIA GT Championship with Mercedes, before retiring at the end of the year.

Biography

Nannini was born in Siena on 7 July 1959. He began racing in a Lancia Stratos at national rally events before switching to Formula Italia in 1981. From 1982 to 1984, he raced for Minardi in Formula 2, attracting some attention for his speed in the uncompetitive car. Though his best season saw him only seventh overall in 1983, he was signed by Lancia to drive their fast but fragile LC2 prototype in the World Sportscar Championship, setting fastest lap at the 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans (set while battling for the race lead with the Kremer Racing Porsche 956 of F1 World Champion Alan Jones about 4 hours after the start) where he finished eighth with Frenchman Bob Wollek, and later that year winning the 1984 1000 km of Kyalami with Riccardo Patrese.

After three seasons (1982, 1983 and 1984) as their F2 driver, for , Nannini was Giancarlo Minardi's first choice to drive his new Formula One car, but he was controversially denied a Super Licence by the sports governing body FISA, with his former F2 team mate Pierluigi Martini taking the drive instead. After this, Nannini continued with Lancia in the 1985 World Sportscar Championship. With his best results being third placings in round 2 (Monza) and 3 (Silverstone), both times pared with Patrese, he finished 8th in the Drivers' Championship .

For 1986, Nannini was finally granted a Super Licence and signed up with Minardi's Grand Prix team, where he stayed until 1987. The car was uncompetitive and unreliable (Nannini was classified only four times from 30 starts with the team), largely due to its disappointing Motori Moderni V6 engine. However, Nannini's raw speed and talent was noticed by many, especially after he largely outperformed his far more experienced teammate Andrea de Cesaris in 1986 (to the point where de Cesaris would demand to have Nannini's car if his younger team mate was faster than him). The following year, in his spare time, Nannini paired with veteran road race driver Giorgio Marin to win the 1987 Mille Miglia.

Benetton signed Nannini for 1988 to drive alongside Thierry Boutsen. He generally performed very well, often out-pacing the highly regarded Belgian if not matching his consistency. He scored his first point in his second race for the team and took two third places on his way to tenth overall in the championship.

With Boutsen leaving for Williams, Nannini was promoted to team leader at Benetton alongside young Englishman Johnny Herbert and delivered a number of strong performances, especially at Suzuka. There he lay third behind the two McLaren's of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost when they collided, giving Nannini the lead. Prost retired whereas Senna rejoined after being push-started and pitted to replace his front wing, trailing Nannini in the race. Nannini was eventually passed by Senna who went on to cross the finish line first, however, the Brazilian was subsequently disqualified for missing the chicane following his collision with Prost. The disqualification handed Nannini what proved to be his only Formula One win. He rounded off the season with an impressive second place in torrential rain at Adelaide, moving him to sixth overall in the championship.

For 1990, he was joined in the team by triple World Champion Nelson Piquet and reverted to being the number two driver. However, he impressed by largely matching the pace of his more illustrious team mate. At Hockenheim he led the race by deciding against stopping for tyres, his Benetton- Ford V8 resisting the more powerful McLaren-Honda V10 of Ayrton Senna for 16 laps before fading grip dropped him to second (Senna had already pitted for tyres which was what had handed Nannini the lead). He also challenged at the following Hungarian Grand Prix, hounding leader and former team mate Thierry Boutsen (on his way to his 3rd and last F1GP win) until being controversially pushed off the track and into retirement by the following Senna.

On 12 October 1990, the week after the , where he had finished third, Nannini was involved in a helicopter crash at his Siena vineyard when the ground beneath the landing helicopter gave way. In the ensuing accident, Nannini suffered a severed right forearm. The injury healed thanks to microsurgery but it ended his Formula One career. Nannini had been reconfirmed by Benetton for 1991 but Ferrari had a long-standing interest in the driver and were considering him as a replacement for the departing Nigel Mansell, while it was also know that McLaren boss Ron Dennis had also been keeping an eye on him.

Once sufficiently recovered, Ferrari offered Nannini a test drive on its private Fiorano Circuit in 1992. Nannini completed a total of 38 laps driving Jean Alesi's Ferrari F92A, which featured a specially modified steering wheel. In 1996, Benetton's Flavio Briatore also honoured the promise of a test drive, which took place at Estoril aboard a B196.

Despite only regaining partial use of his right hand, Nannini was able to carve out a career in touring car racing with Alfa Romeo in the 1990s, placing fourth overall in the 1994 DTM championship and third in the 1996 International Touring Car Championship.

Nannini competed for Mercedes in the 1997 FIA GT Championship, finishing sixth overall and winning a race at Suzuka, before hanging up his helmet. He now runs a chain of upmarket cafes bearing his name, with branches as far flung as Indonesia.

2007 saw Nannini's return to the track after a decade in retirement. He agreed to take part in the short-lived Grand Prix Masters championship for Formula One veterans, alongside drivers including his former Benetton teammate Johnny Herbert.

He is a member of the Italy–USA Foundation.

Matteo Nannini, a son of a first cousin of Alessandro, is also a racing driver, and has raced at the Formula 3 level as recently as 2021, as well as having competed in Indy NXT in 2023.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Formula One results

( key) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

*† — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Complete International Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA GT Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

See also

* Formula One drivers from Italy

References

External links

Alessandro Nannini's full biography at 8WCaffe Nannini official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nannini, Alessandro
1959 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Siena
Italian racing drivers
Italian Formula One drivers
Benetton Formula One drivers
Minardi Formula One drivers
Formula One race winners
European Formula Two Championship drivers
Italian amputees
Grand Prix Masters drivers
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
World Touring Car Championship drivers
World Sportscar Championship drivers
24 Hours of Spa drivers
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers