Alessandro Nannini

Alessandro "Sandro" Nannini (born 7 July 1959) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . 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 —having been controversially denied one the year prior—and made his Formula One debut at the 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 after scoring podiums at the British and Spanish Grands Prix. Nannini took his only victory in Formula One at the , inheriting the win from Ayrton Senna following his infamous disqualification. Several podiums followed in as he was partnered by Nelson Piquet, including a second-placed finish at the .

In October 1990, Nannini's right forearm was severed 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

Nannini was born in Siena on 7 July 1959. He began racing in a Lancia Stratos at national rally events before switching to Formula Italia in 1981 and winning the championship in his first year. 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 F1 World Champion Alan Jones about four 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 , 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 paired 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.

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.

For 1990, Nannini 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 third 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 , 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. 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. 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,

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.

Nannini 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, as well as having competed in Indy NXT in 2023 and 2026.

Racing record

Career summary

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 Pts Minardi Team Srl Minardi Fly 281B BMW SIL HOC THR NÜR MUG VAL PAU SPA HOC DON MAN PER MIS 10th 8 Minardi Team Srl Minardi M283 BMW SIL THR HOC NÜR VAL PAU JAR DON MIS PER ZOL MUG 7th 11 Minardi Team Srl Minardi M283 BMW SIL HOC THR VAL MUG PAU HOC MIS PER DON BRH 10th 9

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 Pts Minardi Team Minardi M185B Motori Moderni Tipo 615–90 1.5 V6t BRA ESP SMR MON BEL CAN DET FRA GBR GER HUN ITA POR MEX AUS NC 0 Minardi M186 AUT Minardi Team Minardi M187 Motori Moderni Tipo 615–90 1.5 V6t BRA SMR BEL MON DET FRA GBR GER HUN AUT ITA POR ESP MEX JPN AUS NC 0 Benetton Formula Ltd. Benetton B188 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 BRA SMR MON MEX CAN DET FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS 10th 12 Benetton Formula Ltd. Benetton B188 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 BRA SMR MON MEX USA CAN 6th 32 Benetton B189 Ford HBA1/4 3.5 V8 FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS Benetton Formula Ltd. Benetton B189B Ford HBA4 3.5 V8 USA BRA 8th 21 Benetton B190 SMR MON CAN MEX FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS

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 Pts 1993 Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti ZOL1 ZOL2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 WUN1 WUN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 NOR1 NOR2 DON1 DON2 DIE1 DIE2 ALE1 ALE2 AVU1 AVU2 HOC1 HOC2 8th 121 1994 Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti ZOL1 ZOL2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 MUG1 MUG2 NÜR1 NÜR2 NOR1 NOR2 DON1 DON2 DIE1 DIE2 NÜR1 NÜR2 AVU1 AVU2 ALE1 ALE2 HOC1 HOC2 4th 149 1995 Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti HOC1 HOC2 AVU1 AVU2 NOR1 NOR2 DIE1 DIE2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ALE1 ALE2 HOC1 HOC2 11th 44

Complete FIA GT Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)