Pedro Lamy was the son of a second-hand car dealer who progressed to F1 through karting, Formula Ford, Formula Three and then Formula 3000, almost taking the title in his first season. At 21 he was set for what many believed was a promising F1 career but at Lotus he struggled and suffered a brace of crashes, at Silverstone surviving a bad crash where his car ended up on fire in a pedestrian track under the circuit. His injuries kept him out of racing until the middle of 1995 when he joined Minardi, and although he kept his seat in 1996 he achieved little and left F1 at the end of the year. He went on to have a successful career in sports car racing.