Alessandro Nannini

Alessandro "Sandro" Nannini (born 7 July 1959) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from Template:F1 to Template:F1. Nannini won the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix with Benetton.

Born in Siena, Nannini is the younger brother of musician Gianna Nannini. He began his career rallying in a Lancia Stratos before switching to open-wheel racing in 1981. The following year, he started competing for Minardi in European Formula Two, where he remained for three seasons. Nannini also made appearances in the World Sportscar Championship for Martini, winning the 1000km of Kyalami in 1984 and entering three editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was granted an FIA Super License in Template:F1—having been controversially denied one the year prior—and made his Formula One debut at the Template:F1GP with Minardi. After 26 retirements in 30 starts across two seasons at Minardi, Nannini joined Benetton to partner Thierry Boutsen. He retained his seat in Template:F1 after scoring podiums at the British and Spanish Grands Prix. Nannini took his only victory in Formula One at the Template:F1GP, inheriting the win from Ayrton Senna following his infamous disqualification. Several podiums followed in Template:F1 as he was partnered by Nelson Piquet, including a second-placed finish at the Template:F1GP.

In October 1990, Nannini severed his right forearm in a helicopter accident at his vineyard in Siena, ending his Formula One career with one win, two fastest laps and nine podiums. He returned to racing in 1993, competing in four seasons of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft—later known as the International Touring Car Championship—with Alfa Corse, finishing third in the 1996 standings. Nannini became a race-winner in the 1997 FIA GT Championship with Mercedes, before retiring at the end of the year.

Biography

The Minardi M187 driven by Nannini for the 1987 season

Nannini was born in Siena on 7 July 1959.<ref name="WATN">Template:Cite web</ref> He began racing in a Lancia Stratos at national rally events before switching to Formula Italia in 1981. From 1982 to 1984, he raced for Minardi in Formula 2, attracting some attention for his speed in the uncompetitive car. Though his best season saw him only seventh overall in 1983, he was signed by Lancia to drive their fast but fragile LC2 prototype in the World Sportscar Championship, setting fastest lap at the 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans (set while battling for the race lead with the Kremer Racing Porsche 956 of Template:F1 F1 World Champion Alan Jones about 4 hours after the start) where he finished eighth with Frenchman Bob Wollek, and later that year winning the 1984 1000 km of Kyalami with Riccardo Patrese.

After three seasons (1982, 1983 and 1984) as their F2 driver, for Template:F1, Nannini was Giancarlo Minardi's first choice to drive his new Formula One car, but he was controversially denied a Super Licence by the sports governing body FISA, with his former F2 teammate Pierluigi Martini taking the drive instead. After this, Nannini continued with Lancia in the 1985 World Sportscar Championship. With his best results being third placings in round 2 (Monza) and 3 (Silverstone), both times pared with Patrese, he finished 8th in the Drivers' Championship.

For 1986, Nannini was finally granted a Super Licence and signed up with Minardi's Grand Prix team, where he stayed until 1987. The car was uncompetitive and unreliable (Nannini was classified only four times from 30 starts with the team), largely due to its disappointing Motori Moderni V6 engine. However, Nannini's raw speed and talent was noticed by many, especially after he largely outperformed the more experienced Andrea de Cesaris in 1986 (to the point where de Cesaris would demand to have Nannini's car if his younger teammate was faster than him). The following year, in his spare time, Nannini paired with veteran road race driver Giorgio Marin to win the 1987 Mille Miglia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Nannini driving for Benetton at the 1988 Canadian Grand Prix.

Benetton signed Nannini for 1988 to drive alongside Thierry Boutsen. He generally performed very well, often out-pacing the highly regarded Belgian if not matching his consistency. He scored his first point in his second race for the team and took two third places on his way to tenth overall in the championship.

With Boutsen leaving for Williams, Nannini was promoted to team leader at Benetton alongside young Englishman Johnny Herbert and delivered a number of strong performances, especially at Suzuka. There he lay third behind the two McLaren's of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost when they collided, giving Nannini the lead. Prost retired whereas Senna rejoined after being push-started and pitted to replace his front wing, trailing Nannini in the race. Nannini was eventually passed by Senna who went on to cross the finish line first, however, the Brazilian was subsequently disqualified for missing the chicane following his collision with Prost. The disqualification handed Nannini what proved to be his only Formula One win. He rounded off the season with an impressive second place in torrential rain at Adelaide, moving him to sixth overall in the championship.<ref name=F1Racing>Template:Cite journal</ref>

For 1990, he was joined in the team by triple World Champion Nelson Piquet and reverted to being the number two driver. However, he impressed by largely matching the pace of the more illustrious Brazilian. At Hockenheim he led the race by deciding against stopping for tyres, his Benetton-Ford V8 resisting the more powerful McLaren-Honda V10 of Ayrton Senna for 16 laps before fading grip dropped him to second (Senna had already pitted for tyres which was what had handed Nannini the lead). He also challenged at the following Hungarian Grand Prix, hounding leader and former teammate Thierry Boutsen (on his way to his 3rd and last F1GP win) until being controversially pushed off the track and into retirement by the following Senna.

On 12 October 1990, the week after the Template:F1GP, where he had finished third, Nannini was involved in a helicopter crash at his Siena vineyard when the ground beneath the landing helicopter gave way. In the ensuing accident, Nannini suffered a severed right forearm.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The injury healed thanks to microsurgery but it ended his Formula One career. Nannini had been reconfirmed by Benetton for 1991 but Ferrari had a long-standing interest in the driver and were considering him as a replacement for the departing Nigel Mansell, while it was also know that McLaren boss Ron Dennis had also been keeping an eye on him.<ref name=F1Racing/>

Nannini driving for Alfa Romeo at Donington Park during the 1994 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft season.

Once sufficiently recovered, Ferrari offered Nannini a test drive on its private Fiorano Circuit in 1992. Nannini completed a total of 38 laps driving Jean Alesi's Ferrari F92A, which featured a specially modified steering wheel. In 1996, Benetton's Flavio Briatore also honoured the promise of a test drive, which took place at Estoril<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> aboard a B196.

Despite only regaining partial use of his right hand, Nannini was able to carve out a career in touring car racing with Alfa Romeo in the 1990s,<ref name=F1Racing/> placing fourth overall in the 1994 DTM championship and third in the 1996 International Touring Car Championship.

Nannini competed for Mercedes in the 1997 FIA GT Championship, finishing sixth overall and winning a race at Suzuka, before hanging up his helmet. He now runs a chain of upmarket cafes bearing his name, with branches as far flung as Indonesia.<ref>Caffe Nannini website</ref>

2007 saw Nannini's return to the track after a decade in retirement. He agreed to take part in the short-lived Grand Prix Masters championship for Formula One veterans, which included former Benetton teammate Johnny Herbert.

He is a member of the Italy–USA Foundation.

Matteo Nannini, a son of a first cousin of Alessandro, is also a racing driver, and has raced at the Formula 3 level as recently as 2021,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as having competed in Indy NXT in 2023.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1982	European Formula Two	Minardi	12	0	0	0	1	8	10th
	World Sportscar Championship	Martini Racing	1	0	0	0	1	16	18th
1983	European Formula Two	Minardi	12	0	0	0	1	11	7th
	World Sportscar Championship	Martini Racing	2	0	0	0	1	15	22nd
1984	European Formula Two	Minardi	11	0	0	0	1	9	10th
	World Sportscar Championship	Martini Racing	5	1	1	2	2	35	16th
1985	World Sportscar Championship	Martini Racing	7	0	5	0	2	50	8th
1986	Formula One	Minardi Team	14	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	World Sportscar Championship	Martini Racing	2	0	2	1	1	15	34th
		Porsche Kremer Racing	1	0	0	0	0
1987	Formula One	Minardi Team	16	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	World Touring Car Championship	Alfa Corse	4	0	0	0	0	59	24th
1988	Formula One	Benetton Formula Ltd.	16	0	0	1	2	12	10th
1989	Formula One	Benetton Formula Ltd.	16	1	0	0	4	32	6th
1990	Formula One	Benetton Formula Ltd.	14	0	0	1	2	21	8th
1993	Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft	Alfa Corse	21	2	3	2	5	121	8th
1994	Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft	Alfa Corse	24	5	3	3	5	149	4th
1995	Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft	Alfa Corse	13	0	0	0	2	44	11th
	International Touring Car Championship		8	0	0	0	0	17	15th
1996	International Touring Car Championship	Martini Alfa Corse	24	7	6	7	7	180	3rd
1997	FIA GT Championship	AMG-Mercedes	5	1	1	0	5	34	5th
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Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Template:Tooltip	Pts
Template:F2	Minardi Team Srl	Minardi Fly 281B	BMW	SIL Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	THR Template:Small	NÜR Template:Small	MUG Template:Small	VAL Template:Small	PAU Template:Small	SPA Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	DON Template:Small	MAN Template:Small	PER Template:Small	MIS Template:Small	10th	8
Template:F2	Minardi Team Srl	Minardi M283	BMW	SIL	THR Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	NÜR Template:Small	VAL Template:Small	PAU Template:Small	JAR Template:Small	DON Template:Small	MIS Template:Small	PER Template:Small	ZOL Template:Small	MUG Template:Small		7th	11
Template:F2	Minardi Team Srl	Minardi M283	BMW	SIL Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	THR Template:Small	VAL Template:Small	MUG Template:Small	PAU Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	MIS Template:Small	PER Template:Small	DON Template:Small	BRH Template:Small			10th	9
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24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Martini Racing	Template:Flagicon Paolo Barilla Template:Flagicon Jean-Claude Andruet	Lancia LC2-Ferrari	C	135	DNF	DNF
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Martini Racing	Template:Flagicon Bob Wollek	Lancia LC2-Ferrari	C1	326	8th	8th
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Martini Racing	Template:Flagicon Bob Wollek Template:Flagicon Lucio Cesario	Lancia LC2-Ferrari	C1	360	6th	6th
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Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Template:Abbr	Pts
Template:F1	Minardi Team	Minardi M185B	Motori Moderni Tipo 615–90 1.5 V6t	BRA Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	DET Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small		ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	AUS Template:Small	NC	0
		Minardi M186													AUT Template:Small
Template:F1	Minardi Team	Minardi M187	Motori Moderni Tipo 615–90 1.5 V6t	BRA Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	MON Template:Small	DET Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	AUS Template:Small	NC	0
Template:F1	Benetton Formula Ltd.	Benetton B188	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	BRA Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	DET Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	AUS Template:Small	10th	12
Template:F1	Benetton Formula Ltd.	Benetton B188	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	BRA Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	USA Template:Small	CAN Template:Small											6th	32
		Benetton B189	Ford HBA1/4 3.5 V8							FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	AUS Template:Small
Template:F1	Benetton Formula Ltd.	Benetton B189B	Ford HBA4 3.5 V8	USA Template:Small	BRA Template:Small															8th	21
		Benetton B190				SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	JPN	AUS
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Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1993	Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti	ZOL 1 Template:Small	ZOL 2 Template:Small	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	WUN 1 Template:Small	WUN 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	NOR 1 Template:Small	NOR 2 Template:Small	DON 1 Template:Small	DON 2 Template:Small	DIE 1 Template:Small	DIE 2 Template:Small	ALE 1 Template:Small	ALE 2 Template:Small	AVU 1 Template:Small	AVU 2 Template:Small	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small			8th	121
1994	Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti	ZOL 1 Template:Small	ZOL 2 Template:Small	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	MUG 1 Template:Small	MUG 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	NOR 1 Template:Small	NOR 2 Template:Small	DON 1 Template:Small	DON 2 Template:Small	DIE 1 Template:Small	DIE 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	AVU 1 Template:Small	AVU 2 Template:Small	ALE 1 Template:Small	ALE 2 Template:Small	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	4th	149
1995	Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	AVU 1 Template:Small	AVU 2 Template:Small	NOR 1 Template:Small	NOR 2 Template:Small	DIE 1 Template:Small	DIE 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	ALE 1 Template:Small	ALE 2 Template:Small	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small											11th	44
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• † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Complete International Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1995	Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti	MUG 1 Template:Small	MUG 2 Template:Small	HEL 1 Template:Small	HEL 2 Template:Small	DON 1 Template:Small	DON 2 Template:Small	EST 1 Template:Small	EST 2 Template:Small	MAG 1 Template:Small	MAG 2 Template:Small																	15th	17
1996	Martini Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	EST 1 Template:Small	EST 2 Template:Small	HEL 1 Template:Small	HEL 2 Template:Small	NOR 1 Template:Small	NOR 2 Template:Small	DIE 1 Template:Small	DIE 2 Template:Small	SIL 1 Template:Small	SIL 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	MAG 1 Template:Small	MAG 2 Template:Small	MUG 1 Template:Small	MUG 2 Template:Small	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	INT 1 Template:Small	INT 2 Template:Small	SUZ 1 Template:Small	SUZ 2 Template:Small	3rd	180
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Complete FIA GT Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Template:Tooltip	Points
1997	AMG Mercedes	GT1	Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR	Mercedes-Benz LS600 6.0L V12	HOC Template:Small	SIL Template:Small	HEL Template:Small	NÜR Template:Small	SPA Template:Small	A1R Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	DON Template:Small	MUG Template:Small	SEB Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	5th	34
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See also

• Formula One drivers from Italy

External links

• Alessandro Nannini's full biography at 8W
• Caffe Nannini official website