Giancarlo Minardi
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Giancarlo Minardi (born 18 September 1947) is the founder and managing director of the now-defunct
Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following ...
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 ...
team.


Early life

Minardi was born in
Faenza Faenza (, ; ; or ; ) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna. Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed earthenware pottery, known ...
(Ravenna), Italy and has spent his life with cars. As a young boy, his family managed a
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...
dealership and an
Agip Agip S.p.A., acronym for Azienda generale italiana petroli, was an Italian automotive gasoline, Diesel fuel, diesel, Liquefied petroleum gas, LPG, lubricants, fuel oil, and bitumen retailer established in 1926 and Subsidiary company, subsidiary ...
fuel station, and currently manages
Iveco Iveco S.p.A., an acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation, is an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company with headquarters in Turin, Italy. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy Commercial vehicle, commercial veh ...
and Selenia dealerships. His father, Giovanni Minardi, who died when Giancarlo was young, was also heavily involved in
motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...
. Giancarlo Minardi began his career as a business man, running a successful truck dealership in Italy.


Introduction to racing

He began his racing career in 1968, buying a Faccioli tuned
Fiat 500 The Fiat 500 (, ) is an Economy car, economy / city car that was manufactured and marketed by Fiat Automobiles from 1957 until 1975. It was sold as a two-door semi-convertible or saloon car and as a three-door panel van or estate car. Launched ...
, achieving good results in the various
hillclimbs Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the firs ...
he competed in. Subsequently he began
rallying Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed ...
a
Fiat 124 The Fiat 124 is a small family car manufactured and marketed by Italian company Fiat between 1966 and 1974. The saloon superseded the Fiat 1300 and spawned station wagon, four-seater coupé (Fiat 124 Sport Coupé, 124 Sport Coupé), and two-seate ...
, after which he turned his attention to leading the Scuderia del Passatore racing team. Between 1972 and 1974 he led the team to good results in Formula Italia, being runner-up in the 1972 championship and then in 1973 going on to win the title with Giancarlo Martini as driver. After a name change to Scuderia Everest in 1975, his team raced a
BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...
-
March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...
in the European
Formula Two Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...
Championship for two years. In 1980 he formed the
Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following ...
racing team with financial backing from well known Italian motor racing patron Piero Mancini. Giancarlo led the Minardi team to four successful
Formula Two Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...
seasons, the most notable success being a 1981 win at the Misano round with
Michele Alboreto Michele Alboreto (; 23 December 1956 – 25 April 2001) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Alboreto was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and won five F ...
.


Formula One

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 ...
was the next logical step for Minardi in 1985. In 1991,
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 ...
provided Minardi with V12 engines.


Merge with Scuderia Italia

Money woes hit and in 1994 Minardi joined his team with Scuderia Italia in an effort to survive. In 1996 money ran short again and by year's end Minardi was forced to sell 70% of his team to a new investor consortium. Giancarlo retained 14.5% with the remaining 15.5% distributed between the Scuderia Italia investors (Emilio Gnutti, Giuseppe Lucchini and Vittorio Palazzani) and Defendente Marniga. In an attempt to help saving the team
Flavio Briatore Flavio Briatore (; born 12 April 1950) is an Italian businessman, who serves as executive adviser and '' de facto'' team principal of Alpine in Formula One. As the longtime team principal of Team Enstone (Benetton Formula / Renault F1 Team ...
became the main shareholder after a deal brokered by
Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is a British business magnate, motorsport executive and former racing driver. Widely known in journalism as the "F1 Supremo", Ecclestone founded the Formula One Group in 1987, controlling the c ...
. In 1997 Gabriele Rumi from
Fondmetal Fondmetal S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of alloy wheels, founded in 1972 by Gabriele Rumi. A Formula One constructor of the same name, also owned by Rumi, competed in the and seasons, scoring no championship points. The company also sp ...
entered as a major partner. Minardi and Rumi shared the General Director role from 1997 to 2000.


Red Bull takeover

2001 saw another change in the ownership of the Minardi team with
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n
Paul Stoddart Paul Gerard Stoddart (born 26 May 1955) is an Australian businessman, airline owner and former Minardi Formula One team boss. Personal life Born in Coburg, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and attended Preston Technical School and ...
buying the company, although Giancarlo retained the role of Managing Director, with particular emphasis on the development of young drivers. He left Minardi after the takeover and renaming to
Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso SpA (; ), commonly known as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, was an Italian Formula One constructor. It was one of two Formula One constructors owned by Austrian conglomerate company Red Bull, the other being Red B ...
by the
Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...
energy drink concern in 2006. Subsequently he offered support to both Minardi Team by
GP Racing ''GP Racing'', formerly ''F1 Racing'', was a monthly magazine focused on Formula One racing published from March 1996 to December 2024. In 2025, the publication was merged with its sister brand ''Autosport'' to create a newly combined monthly pub ...
in Euro F3000 and Minardi Piquet Sports in GP2 resulting in significant success for both teams, most notably with Nelson Piquet Jr. himself in GP2 who finished runner up to
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...
in the 2006 championship.


Driver development

Driver development is an area in which Giancarlo is considered to have significant aptitude. He has identified and given breaks to many drivers who subsequently went on to achieve successes with other teams and in other formulas. Drivers such as
Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo "Giano" Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Fisichella won three Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Bo ...
,
Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...
, Mark Webber and
Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli (; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Trulli won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix with Renault in Formula One, Renault. He regularly competed in Formula ...
all had their Formula One debut with Minardi.


Later life

Giancarlo currently resides in Faenza, Italy. He is married to Mara and has one son named after his father Giovanni. His son runs the driver management firm Minardi Management, who represents most notably Mercedes F1 driver
Andrea Kimi Antonelli Andrea Kimi Antonelli (; born 25 August 2006) is an Italian racing driver who competes in Formula One for Mercedes-Benz in Formula One, Mercedes. Born and raised in Bologna, Antonelli is the son of sportscar racing driver Marco Antonelli. Afte ...
. He has two brothers: Giuseppe, who has taken over the Fiat dealership (bankrupt in 2010) and Nando who now runs the truck concession. Giancarlo was the chairman of the football club
Faenza Calcio Faenza Calcio is an Italian professional football team based in Faenza. The team is a member of the Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football.Imola Circuit The Imola Circuit, officially called the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari ( for, it, , Enzo and Dino Ferrari International Circuit), is a motor racing circuit. It is located in the town of Imola, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Ita ...
. In 2022, he became the President of the FIA's Single Seater Commission.


References


External links


Giancarlo's official biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minardi, Giancarlo 1947 births Living people Formula One team owners Formula One team principals Italian motorsport people