Alessandro "Sandro"Nannini (born 7 July 1959) is an Italian formerracing driver, who competed inFormula One from1986 to1990. Nannini won the1989 Japanese Grand Prix withBenetton.

Alessandro Nannini
Born	(1959-07-07)7 July 1959 (age 65) Siena, Italy
Relatives	Gianna Nannini (sister) Matteo Nannini (first cousin once removed)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Italian
Active years	1986–1990
Teams	Minardi,Benetton
Entries	78 (76 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podiums	9
Career points	65
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	2
First entry	1986 Brazilian Grand Prix
First win	1989 Japanese Grand Prix
Last entry	1990 Spanish Grand Prix

Born inSiena, Nannini is the younger brother of musicianGianna Nannini. He began his careerrallying in aLancia Stratos before switching toopen-wheel racing in 1981. The following year, he started competing forMinardi inEuropean Formula Two, where he remained for three seasons. Nannini also made appearances in theWorld Sportscar Championship forMartini, winning the1000km of Kyalami in1984 and entering three editions of the24 Hours of Le Mans. He was granted anFIA Super License in1986—having been controversially denied one the year prior—and made his Formula One debut at theBrazilian Grand Prix with Minardi. After 26 retirements in 30 starts across two seasons at Minardi, Nannini joinedBenetton to partnerThierry Boutsen. He retained his seat in1989 after scoring podiums at theBritish andSpanish Grands Prix. Nannini took his only victory in Formula One at theJapanese Grand Prix, inheriting the win fromAyrton Senna followinghis infamous disqualification. Several podiums followed in1990 as he was partnered byNelson Piquet, including a second-placed finish at theGerman Grand Prix.

In October 1990, Nannini severed his right forearm in a helicopter accident at hisvineyard 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 theDeutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft—later known as theInternational Touring Car Championship—withAlfa Corse, finishing third in the1996 standings. Nannini became a race-winner in the1997 FIA GT Championship withMercedes, before retiring at the end of the year.

Nannini was born inSiena on 7 July 1959.^[1] He began racing in aLancia Stratos at national rally events before switching toFormula Italia in 1981. From 1982 to 1984, he raced forMinardi inFormula 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 byLancia to drive their fast but fragileLC2 prototype in theWorld Sportscar Championship, setting fastest lap at the1984 24 Hours of Le Mans (set while battling for the race lead with theKremer RacingPorsche 956 of1980 F1 World ChampionAlan Jones about 4 hours after the start) where he finished eighth with FrenchmanBob Wollek, and later that year winning the1984 1000 km of Kyalami withRiccardo Patrese.

After three seasons (1982,1983 and1984) as their F2 driver, for1985, Nannini wasGiancarlo Minardi's first choice to drive his newFormula One car, but he was controversially denied aSuper Licence by the sports governing bodyFISA, with his former F2 team matePierluigi Martini taking the drive instead. After this, Nannini continued with Lancia in the1985 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 disappointingMotori Moderni V6 engine. However, Nannini's raw speed and talent was noticed by many, especially after he largely outperformed his far more experienced teammateAndrea de Cesaris in 1986 (to the point where de Cesaris would demand to have Nannini's car if his younger team mate was faster than him). The following year, in his spare time, Nannini paired with veteran road race driver Giorgio Marin to win the 1987Mille Miglia.^[2]

Benetton signed Nannini for 1988 to drive alongsideThierry 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 forWilliams, Nannini was promoted to team leader at Benetton alongside young EnglishmanJohnny Herbert and delivered a number of strong performances, especially atSuzuka. There he lay third behind the twoMcLaren's ofAyrton Senna andAlain 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 atAdelaide, moving him to sixth overall in the championship.^[3]

For 1990, he was joined in the team by triple World ChampionNelson Piquet and reverted to being the number two driver. However, he impressed by largely matching the pace of his more illustrious team mate. AtHockenheim he led the race by deciding against stopping for tyres, hisBenetton-FordV8 resisting the more powerfulMcLaren-HondaV10 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 followingHungarian Grand Prix, hounding leader and former team mate 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 theSpanish Grand Prix, where he had finished third, Nannini was involved in ahelicopter crash at his Siena vineyard when the ground beneath the landing helicopter gave way. In the ensuing accident, Nannini suffered a severed right forearm.^[4] The injury healed thanks to microsurgery but it ended his Formula One career. Nannini had been reconfirmed by Benetton for 1991 butFerrari had a long-standing interest in the driver and were considering him as a replacement for the departingNigel Mansell, while it was also know thatMcLaren bossRon Dennis had also been keeping an eye on him.^[3]

Once sufficiently recovered, Ferrari offered Nannini a test drive on its privateFiorano Circuit in 1992. Nannini completed a total of 38 laps drivingJean Alesi'sFerrari F92A, which featured a specially modified steering wheel. In 1996, Benetton'sFlavio Briatore also honoured the promise of a test drive, which took place atEstoril^[5] aboard aB196.

Despite only regaining partial use of his right hand, Nannini was able to carve out a career in touring car racing withAlfa Romeo in the 1990s,^[3] placing fourth overall in the1994 DTM championship and third in the1996 International Touring Car Championship.

Nannini competed forMercedes in the1997 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 asIndonesia.^[6]

2007 saw Nannini's return to the track after a decade in retirement. He agreed to take part in the short-livedGrand Prix Masters championship for Formula One veterans, alongside drivers including his former Benetton teammate Johnny Herbert.

He is a member of theItaly–USA Foundation.

Matteo Nannini, a son of a first cousin of Alessandro, is also a racing driver, and has raced at theFormula 3 level as recently as 2021,^[7] as well as having competed inIndy NXT in 2023.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

• † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

• Formula One drivers from Italy

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