Hot from karting, Ivan went direct to Formula Three and dominated the Italian series at his second attempt, in 1983. Staying with Enzo Coloni's team for 1984, he won the Monaco race and later the European Championship ahead of Gerhard Berger and Johnny Dumfries. A limited Formula 3000 campaign in 1985 produced a win at the Osterreichring and promoted Ivan to the Tyrrell Formula One team for a couple of races. Amazingly, he was fourth on his second outing, in Australia, yet no offer for 1986 was forthcoming. So Ivan returned to Formula 3000, winning the title for Genoa Racing. He joined March for 1987 and claimed a point at Monaco, but 1988 was better, as he was in the points six times, chasing Alain Prost's McLaren in Portugal before settling for second.

The 1989 season was an unmitigated disaster, as the March chassis handled like a pig, but 1990 was much better and Ivan led the French Grand Prix for 46 laps before Alain Prost pushed his Ferrari ahead with just three laps to go. Third place at the following race looked to be his reward, but a fuel pipe frayed and he was out. After a troubled season in 1991 he was signed for Ferrari for 1992, but points were few and far between, and after just two races for Jordan in 1993, he was fired. He now commentates for Italian television.

Reproduced from The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Formula One published by Carlton Books