Andrea Montermini (born 30 May 1964) is an Italian

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. He drove in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

from 1994 to 1996.

Career

Montermini raced in

Formula 3 Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

in 1989, taking second place in the Monaco GP support race and 4th in the Italian F3 Championship. He then moved up to

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championship ...

, racing for three seasons before finally taking second place in the 1992 season, winning three rounds while driving for the

Il Barone Rampante Il Barone Rampante (sometimes known as Benetton Junior) was a Formula 3000 team created by Giuseppe Cipriani. The team took its name from the original Italian title of Italo Calvino's 1957 book The Baron in the Trees. The team ran in Internati ...

team.

He participated in 29

Grands Prix, debuting on 29 May 1994 for

Simtek Simtek (Simulation Technology) was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The Formula One (F1) engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved i ...

, replacing

Roland Ratzenberger Roland Walter Ratzenberger (; 4 July 1960 – 30 April 1994) was an Austrian racing driver, who competed in Formula One at three Grands Prix in . Born and raised in Salzburg, Ratzenberger began his racing career as a protégé of Walter Lechn ...

, who had been killed during qualifying for the

1994 San Marino Grand Prix The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the 14º Gran Premio di San Marino) was a Formula One motor race held on 1 May 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, located in Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One World Cha ...

. Montermini himself crashed heavily in practice for the

1994 Spanish Grand Prix The 1994 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 29 May 1994 at the Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló. It was the 36th Spanish Grand Prix and the fourth to be held at the Circuit de Catalunya, and the fifth race of the 1994 Formula ...

, breaking his left heel and his right foot. He returned to Formula One the next season, with the

Pacific Grand Prix The Pacific Grand Prix () was a round of the Formula One World Championship twice in the mid-1990s and non-championship events in the 1960s. The non-championship events were held at Laguna Seca in the United States from 1960 through 1963. The ...

team, and drove for

Forti Forti Corse, commonly known as Forti, was an Italian motor racing team chiefly known for its brief and unsuccessful involvement in Formula One in the mid-1990s. It was established in the late 1970s and competed in lower formulae for two decades. ...

in 1996 alongside countryman

Luca Badoer Luca Badoer (; born 25 January 1971) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . Born and raised in Veneto, Badoer began competitive kart racing at a young age, winning several regional and national titles. P ...

until the team folded. For the 1997 season Montermini was signed as test driver for the

MasterCard Lola The MasterCard Lola Formula One Racing Team, often known as MasterCard Lola or simply Lola, was a British Formula One team that contested only one race in the 1997 Formula One World Championship. It quickly withdrew from the sport after failin ...

team, but it folded after one race. He scored no points in his Formula One career. , he holds the record for the shortest F1 driver of all time, at a height of 1.57m (5ft 1in) tall. He competed in the American

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...

series three different seasons: 1993-1994 and 1999. He scored a 4th place at

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

in his first season, driving for the underfunded Euromotorsport team. In 1999 he drove a few events for

Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, engineer and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of motorspo ...

in Gurney's last season of team ownership. When others such as Alex Barron,

Gualter Salles Gualter Salles (born September 28, 1970, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), is an open wheel race car driver. He raced in the 1997-2000 and 2003 CART seasons, as well as one Indy Racing League event, totalling 49 IndyCar starts overall. He also competed in ...

and

Raul Boesel Raul de Mesquita Boesel (, born 4 December 1957) is a Brazilian former racing driver who raced for the March and Ligier Formula One teams and later raced in Champ Car and the Indy Racing League. He won the 1987 World Sportscar Championship and ...

were replaced, he filled in and scored a best finish of 11th in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. He raced in the 2001

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

, but has primarily raced in the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

, mostly in

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

cars. He has taken two class wins and four further class podiums. In 2006 he has occasionally raced alongside Jarek Janis and

Sascha Bert Sascha Bert (born 5 March 1975 in Darmstadt, West Germany) is a German racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North Am ...

in a

Saleen Saleen Automotive, Inc., commonly known as Saleen (/səˈliːn/), is an American manufacturer of specialty high-performance sports cars and high-performance automotive parts. Saleen is headquartered in Corona, California, in the United States, a ...

ran by the

Zakspeed Zakspeed () is a motor racing team from Germany, founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski and then run by his son Peter Zakowski. It is based in Niederzissen, Rhineland-Palatinate, around from the Nürburgring circuit. The team was, together with th ...

team. In 2007 he won the

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec ...

's GTA class, driving a

Ferrari 430 The Ferrari F430 (Type F131) is a sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari from 2004 until 2009 as a successor to the Ferrari 360. The car is an update to the 360 with exterior and performance changes. It was unveiled a ...

for Scuderia Playteam alongside co-champion Michele Maceratesi, the duo becoming overall champions the following season. He won a second overall championship title in 2013.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

American open wheel racing results

( key)

CART

Complete Formula One results

( key)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Profile on F1 Rejects

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Montermini, Andrea 1964 births Living people Sportspeople from Sassuolo Italian racing drivers Italian Formula One drivers Simtek Formula One drivers Pacific Formula One drivers Forti Formula One drivers FIA GT Championship drivers International Formula 3000 drivers Champ Car drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Porsche Supercup drivers International GT Open drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers 24H Series drivers Nismo drivers Dale Coyne Racing drivers EuroInternational drivers Walter Lechner Racing drivers Ombra Racing drivers AF Corse drivers Le Mans Cup drivers