Vitantonio "Tonio" Liuzzi (born August 6, 19811 in Locorotondo) is an Italian Formula One test driver for the Force India Formula One team. Having once lived in Hemel Hempstead in England where he shared an apartment with Red Bull Racing driver Christian Klien, Liuzzi now lives in Pescara, Italy.
Karting
Vitantonio Liuzzi, like many auto racing drivers, began his career in kart racing (at the age of 9 in 1991). Highlights of his early career include winning the 1993 Italian Karting Championship and, in 1995, taking second place in the Karting World Championship and fifth place in the European Championship. His karting career culminated with winning the Karting World Championship in 2001. In this race he managed to beat Formula One champion Michael Schumacher at Kerpen, the German's 'home' kart track.2
Formula Renault, F3 and F3000
Liuzzi then moved on to cars; he raced in the 2001 German Formula Renault Championship, finishing second. Racing in the German Formula Three Championship, he managed only ninth place overall. However, in that year he won the San Marino international F3 race and had test drives for the Coloni Formula 3000 team and Williams, the Formula One constructor.3 Red Bull took Liuzzi on board for the 2003 F3000 season in which he finished fourth overall. He moved to the Arden team for the following F3000 season. There, he dominated, winning seven of the ten races, and taking the title with one race left.4
Formula One
Winter 2004 Formula One speculation
Having long listed former Formula One world champions Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell as his idols, Liuzzi's form in Formula 3000 led to speculation that Ferrari might want to employ him,5 either as a test driver at their Formula One team, or at Sauber, the Formula One team that Ferrari had a close association with as its longtime engine supplier. Indeed, he had a test drive with Sauber in September 2004,6 but right before that test the team announced they had hired former WDC Jacques Villeneuve to a two-year deal for their open seat.7 In November 2004 he was given another test drive, this time with Red Bull. This led to him joining Red Bull for 2005 in January of that year.8
Red Bull Racing
Initially it seemed that he might be given the race seat alongside David Coulthard, but the team favoured Christian Klien,9 leaving Liuzzi with the position of test driver. Despite Klien's good performances in the first three races of the season, Red Bull abided by an agreement they made with Liuzzi and Klien before the season that they would both have a chance to race. They announced that Liuzzi would replace Klien for the San Marino, Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix. Liuzzi impressed, scoring his maiden point on his debut after both BAR drivers were disqualified from the San Marino race. After the Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix he was given another race at the European Grand Prix, before his seat was handed back to Klien for the Canadian Grand Prix.
Toro Rosso
Following Red Bull's purchase of the Minardi team (renamed Scuderia Toro Rosso: Team Red Bull in Italian), Liuzzi was rewarded with a full-season race seat in the "B-team".10 At the United States Grand Prix, he scored the team's first point, with an eighth place finish after a race-long battle with Coulthard and Nico Rosberg. However, that was the only point he and the team scored in 2006.
Liuzzi was confirmed as staying with the team for the 2007 season at the launch of the STR2 on February 13, 2007.11 The first half of Liuzzi's season was not much better, as his races were littered by mistakes similar to his ex-team mate's. The most notable of which was at Canada where he had the opportunity to score his first points of the season. Instead, he crashed into the infamous "Wall of Champions" at the exit of the final chicane. During the season he also faced constant speculation over the safety of his seat, as the team were openly courting both Vettel and Champcar series champion Sebastian Bourdais. Team mate Scott Speed claimed that Red Bull were aiming to get rid of both himself and Liuzzi.12Once the announcement of Bourdais' contract for 2008 was made, Liuzzi's performances seemed to improve. After being denied a world championship point in Japan due to a post-race time penalty, he drove what many believe was the best race of his F1 career in China. After narrowly missing out on Q3 by qualifying 11th, he gained three spots at the start, and then overtook Mark Webber of the 'works' Red Bull team, as well as the BMW of Nick Heidfeld. Throughout the race he was able to keep pace with 5th-placed Jenson Button's Honda, and held off a late charge from Heidfeld to finish 6th and collect three points.citation needed
Force India
On August 10 2007, it was confirmed by Toro Rosso that Sébastien Bourdais would drive for the team in 2008, leaving Liuzzi without a seat.13 Liuzzi's manager, former Lotus boss Peter Collins, confirmed that Liuzzi wished to continue his involvement in F1.14 He had been linked to a test drive role within Williams, which eventually went to Nicolas Hülkenberg15 but then secured the role of test driver for the Force India F1 team on January 10, 2008.16 He has stated that he wishes to move up to a race seat in 2010 as he is contracted until 2011, but the contracts of his teammates Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella expire at the end of 2009.17
Racing record
Career summary
Complete International Formula 3000 results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
Complete Formula One results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicates fastest lap)
Personal
In addition to his native Italian, Liuzzi speaks English and French. He is also known for his piercings: presently three, in his left upper ear, left eyebrow and left lower ear.
References
- ^ Liuzzi's year of birth is a matter of dispute. Some sources such as the FORIX Formula 1 database and www.formula1news.it [1] nominate it as 1980, whereas other sources such as Liuzzi's official website [2] and www.f1db.com [3] identify it as 1981.
- ^ Schumi returns to kart roots. BBC News, October 28, 2001
- ^ Italians get Williams chance". BBC News, November 6, 2002
- ^ Liuzzi claims F3000 title". BBC News, August 28, 2004
- ^ Ferrari 'seek Liuzzi deal'". BBC News, July 28, 2004
- ^ Liuzzi given Sauber chance. BBC News, September 2, 2004
- ^ http://xserve2.com/ns/ns13501.html - GrandPrix.com. "Sauber announces Villeneuve deal" 15 September 2004.
- ^ Red Bull take on Liuzzi and Klien. BBC News, January 5, 2005
- ^ Red Bull name Klien second driver. BBC News, January 13, 2005
- ^ Toro Rosso confirm Liuzzi and Speed". NewsOnF1, December 6, 2005
- ^ "Toro Rosso confirms Liuzzi but Speed has to wait". grandprix.com. 2007-02-13. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns18035.html. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
- ^ "Speed says Toro Rosso want rid of him and Liuzzi". uk.reuters.com. 2007-07-23. http://uk.reuters.com/article/motorSportsNews/idUKL2389326620070723. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
- ^ "Bourdais signs for Toro Rosso". BBC Sport. 2007-08-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6940058.stm. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
- ^ "Liuzzi aiming to stay in F1 in 2008". autosport.com. 2007-08-13. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/61508. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
- ^ "So what happens to Tonio Liuzzi?". grandprix.com. 2007-08-14. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns19522.html. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
- ^ "Mallya confirms Fisichella at Force India". autosport.com. 2007-01-10. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64588. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
- ^ English, Steven; Lostia, Michele (2009-04-22). "Liuzzi eyes race return in 2010". autosport.com. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74694. Retrieved on 2009-04-22.
External links
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