After a successful karting career in his home country, Luciano Burti came through the junior formula with Paul Stewart Racing. He finished runner-up to Marc Hynes in British Formula 3 in 1999 and remarkably made his F1 debut just one year later. He replaced Eddie Irvine at Jaguar, the ex-Stewart-Ford team, for the Austrian Grand Prix after the Ulsterman came down with a case of appendicitis. He finished the race and the next year was rewarded with a full-time drive at the team. Burti made a reasonable start to the season but was replaced by Pedro de la Rosa after the San Marino Grand Prix. He was immediately offered a seat at Prost but the car wasn't as competitive and throughout his F1 career he failed to score a point. His time in F1 came to an end with a horrific crash at Spa Francorchamps where severe facial bruising and concussion ruled him out for the rest of the season. He later signed for Ferrari as a test driver, but despite racking up considerable mileage, he didn't have his contract renewed in 2004. He has since raced in V8 touring cars in Brazil where he is also an F1 commentator on TV.