Ivan Franco Capelli (born 24 May 1963) is an Italianbroadcaster and formerracing driver, who competed inFormula One from1985 to1993.

Ivan Capelli
Capelli at the1991 United States Grand Prix
Born	Ivan Franco Capelli (1963-05-24)24 May 1963 (age 61) Milan, Italy
Spouse	Jasmine Lipovsek
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Italian
Active years	1985–1993
Teams	Tyrrell,AGS,March,Leyton House,Ferrari,Jordan
Entries	98 (93 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	3
Career points	31
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1985 European Grand Prix
Last entry	1993 Brazilian Grand Prix

Born and raised inMilan, Capelli began competitivekart racing aged 15. He was widely successful acrosslower formulae, winning titles inItalian Formula 3,FIA European Formula 3 andInternational Formula 3000. After making his Formula One debut withTyrrell at the1985 European Grand Prix, he made sporadic appearances for Tyrell andAGS before signing forMarch full-time in1987. He participated in 98Grands Prix, achieving three podiums.

After exiting Formula One, Capelli competed intouring car racing until 2017, becoming a race-winner in theItalian GT Championship and theTrofeo Maserati. From 1998 to 2017, he was acommentator andpundit forRai 1.

Ivan Franco Capelli was born on 24 May 1963 inMilan, Italy.^{[citation needed]} Capelli began his career as akart driver when he was 15 years old, and after four years he moved to theItalian Formula Three Championship.

In 1983 he became Italian Formula Three champion, after dominating the series with nine victories. After that, he moved with theColoni team to theEuropean Formula Three Championship, and here he was the champion again in 1984.

In 1985 he graduated to the EuropeanFormula 3000 Championship with a Genoa RacingMarch-Cosworth and won one race. After making his Formula One debut in 1985 and failing to sign a full-time contract, he contested the 1986 Formula 3000 Championship, still with Genoa Racing, and also raced aBMW in theEuropean Touring Car Championship.

In 1985, Capelli debuted in Formula One, driving aTyrrell at theEuropean Grand Prix, and finished fourth inAustralia. Nevertheless, he was not picked up for a full-time Formula One drive in 1986.

Despite not landing a full-time contract for 1986, Capelli started several F1 races for theAGS team. Meanwhile, Cesare Gariboldi, boss of Genoa Racing, was working withRobin Herd of March to create a new Formula One outfit. Capelli was a core component in their plans. By now, Capelli and Gariboldi had an almost father-son relationship.^{[citation needed]}

In 1987 Capelli was in Formula One full-time with the March team, led by Gariboldi and running Herd's new chassis with aCosworth V8 normally aspirated engine. Capelli also continued with BMW touring cars for theSchnitzer team, as the March budget was tight (so much that they raced at the Belgian Grand Prix with a detuned 3.3-litre sports car engine rather than the full 3.5l Formula One unit), and the Schnitzer team had works status with BMW, allowing him to be on the German company's payroll. Capelli scored March's first point with sixth at theMonaco Grand Prix and March's return to Formula One was generally seen as competent, professional and promising for the future.

In 1988 Capelli had a March chassis designed byAdrian Newey (later a winner of multiple Constructors' Championships as a designer atWilliams,McLaren andRed Bull) combined with aJudd V8 engine (derived from the Brabham-Honda CART engine and the Judd/Honda F3000 unit). March had hoped to be the favoured development partner for this engine, but they found themselves sharing it with the FrenchLigier team as well as the defending F1 Constructors' Champions Williams who had lost their supply of turbochargedHonda engines to McLaren. Capelli was joined in the team by the British Formula 3 Champion, Brazilian rookieMaurício Gugelmin. They made a strong team and theMarch 881 was the surprise of the year. AtSpa-Francorchamps he scored his first podium with a third place behindAyrton Senna's andAlain Prost's McLarens (though this was not known until after the season when theBenettons were disqualified for fuel irregularities). Capelli's best finish was second place at thePortuguese Grand Prix where he finished behind Prost. Even better was ahead for the Italian when he became the first non-turbo driver since1983 to lead a World Championship Grand Prix. This happened on lap 16 of theJapanese Grand Prix atSuzuka when Prost missed a gear coming out of the final chicane and Capelli was able to get ahead before the start/finish line and officially lead the lap. However, Prost used Honda's superior power and was ahead before turn 1. His Judd V8 suffered an electrical failure just three laps later.

However, the momentum did not continue. March had financial problems and a sponsor,Leyton House, acquired a controlling interest. Gugelmin finished third in his home race atJacarepaguá in 1989, but this was done in the 1988 car. The definitive 1989 Leyton House March was a disappointment, and neither driver challenged for the top in the rest of the year. Capelli in particular only finished once throughout the season (12th in Belgium) and went far enough to be classified on one further occasion (Monaco where he dropped out from 6th place near the end and was classified 11th). Despite this, he was one of only six drivers to start in all of the 16 races of the 1989 season (the others were the McLaren drivers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, the Williams duo Riccardo Patrese and Thierry Boutsen, and Benetton's Alessandro Nannini). Team spirit remained intact despite the death of Gariboldi in a car crash and midway through the season Capelli felt happy enough in the team to take up his option for 1990. The new decade started poorly, though. Newey's car (given the prefix CG in honour of Gariboldi) had excellent aerodynamics and exclusive use of Judd's updated V8 engine, but it was intolerant of bumps. It was so bad on the notoriously bumpyMexico City track that neither driver could control the car and both failed to qualify. Nevertheless, in the next atPaul Ricard inFrance came a complete turnaround in form. Capelli led Gugelmin in a Leyton House 1–2 throughout much of the race. Gugelmin finally retired, and Capelli was overtaken near the end by theFerrari of Prost with only 3 laps remaining and went on to finish second. Revisions to the car had made it more competitive (ironically Newey left the team shortly before the race to join Williams), but it was the billiard table-smooth track which allowed the result. Despite some promising showings atSilverstone andHockenheim, it remained their best race of the season.

In 1991, Leyton House was responsible not only for chassis development but also bankrolled the ambitiousIlmorV10 engine programme. With so many new ingredients, results were again sparse, although Capelli often qualified and raced well. When Leyton House's ownerAkira Akagi was arrested in connection with theFuji Bank fraud, the team was in a precarious state. Capelli had signed forScuderia Ferrari for the '92 season, so he voluntarily stepped down, allowing pay driverKarl Wendlinger to finish the season and personally paid to attend the races he missed to offer support to the team and advice to his rookie substitute.^{[citation needed]}

In1992, Capelli became the first Italian with a regular drive withFerrari sinceMichele Alboreto in1988, afterGianni Morbidelli's one-off race for the team theseason before. The Scuderia had gone through a tough time in 1991, but with a new car, the F92A, expectations were high. The new car was not competitive and before the season began Capelli was showing his disappointment. A driver who enjoyed the convivial atmosphere of a family-type team, he struggled to integrate with the bureaucratic structure of the early 1990s Ferrari. Losing motivation, the team in turn lost confidence in him and his teammateJean Alesi gained the upper hand. Capelli was sacked before the season's end. It was the last time untilFelipe Massa in 2011 that a Ferrari driver failed to finish on the podium during a season.

This experience seemingly broke his spirit, but those who had worked with him in March still had faith, notably Ian Phillips, then Jordan's team manager. Taking aJordan seat for 1993 alongside young rookieRubens Barrichello, whom the team hoped would prosper under the more experienced driver, Capelli failed to rediscover the spark that not long ago had marked him as a champion of the future. After failing to qualify for the second race inBrazil, he left the team by mutual consent, being replaced byThierry Boutsen. He did not race in Formula One again.

Following his exit from Formula One, Capelli raced from1994 to1996 with aNissan Primera with mixed results in the GermanSuper Tourenwagen Cup forBMS Scuderia Italia and in some rounds of theSpanish Touring Car Championship in1995 and1996.

Capelli became a Formula One commentator from 1998 until 2017 on the Italian TV stationRai 1.

^† As Capelli was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

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

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

^† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

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

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

‡ – Guest driver – Not eligible for points.

• Ivan Capelli career summary at DriverDB.com
• F1 Rejects article on Capelli's 1992 season
• Official site