Despite showing promise in his early career, he won the Italian Formula 3 title in 1989, he seldom had the chance to prove his ability in a top quality car in Formula One. He made his debut with Minardi in 1990 but failed to qualify for his first grand prix and struggled in the remaining three races of the season. He stayed with the small Italian squad in 1991 and, despite retiring from more races than he finished, he did put in some good performances. His big opportunity came at the end of the season when he was drafted in to replace Alain Prost at Ferrari for the final race in Australia. He finished sixth, but only scored half a point as the race lasted just 14 laps before being called off due to bad weather.

A drive with Footwork in 1994 and 1995 yielded eight more points and a podium at the final race of 1995 in Adelaide. He got one more chance in the top flight with Sauber in 1997 but only competed in seven races before leaving the F1 scene for good to drive touring and sports cars. As recently as 2008 he won the Speedcar championship against big names such as Johnny Herbert, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jean Alesi.

Laurence Edmondson