Vitantonio Liuzzi

Vitantonio Liuzzi

Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Italian
Entries	56
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	17
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	2005 San Marino Grand Prix
Last entry	2024 Miami Grand Prix

Vitantonio "Tonio" Liuzzi (born 6 August 1981) is an Italian race driver who currently drives for the Force India Formula One team. He has homes in Lugano, Switzerland and Pescara, Italy.

Karting

Born in Locorotondo, BA, Apulia, Liuzzi, like many auto racing drivers, began his career in kart racing (at age 9). He won the 1993 Italian Karting Championship, and in 1995 took second in the Karting World Championship and placed fifth in the European Championship. He won the Karting World Championship in 2001. He beat Formula One champion Michael Schumacher at Kerpen, Schumacher's 'home' track.

Formula Renault, F3 and F3000

Liuzzi driving for the Red Bull Junior Team at the Hungary round of the 2003 International Formula 3000 season.

Liuzzi then moved to cars, finishing second in the 2001 German Formula Renault Championship. Racing in the German Formula Three Championship, however, he scored only ninth place. That same year he did win the San Marino International F3 race and had test drives for the Coloni Formula 3000 team and Williams, the Formula One constructor. Red Bull hired Liuzzi for the 2003 F3000 season, in which he finished fourth. He moved to the Arden team for the following F3000 season, where he won seven of the ten races, securing the title with one race left.

Formula One (2005 – present)

Winter 2004 Formula One speculation

Liuzzi's performance in Formula 3000 led to speculation that Ferrari might employ him, 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. He did have a test drive with Sauber in September 2004, but shortly before he tested they announced they had signed former world champion Jacques Villeneuve to a two-year contract. In November 2004 Liuzzi was given a test drive by Red Bull, who hired him for 2005 in January.

Red Bull Racing

Liuzzi driving the third Red Bull Racing car during practice for the 2005 British Grand Prix

Initially it seemed that he might be given the seat along with David Coulthard, but Red Bull chose Christian Klien, leaving Liuzzi as the test driver. Despite good performances by Klien in the first three races, Red Bull abided by an agreement they made before the season that both he and Liuzzi would be able to race. Liuzzi would replace Klien for the San Marino, Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix. Liuzzi scored his maiden point on his debut after both BAR drivers were disqualified at San Marino. Following the Spanish Grand Prix and Monaco, he was given one more race at the European Grand Prix, before his seat was returned to Klien for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Toro Rosso

Liuzzi driving the Toro Rosso STR1 during the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix.

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 seat in the "B-team". 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 the team would score in 2006.

Liuzzi driving for STR at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Liuzzi was confirmed with the team for the 2007 season at the launch of the STR2 on 13 February 2007. Unfortunately, during the first half of his season his races were plagued by mistakes similar to his former team mate's. He seemed likely to score his first points of the season at Canada, but instead he crashed into the infamous "Wall of Champions" at the exit of the final chicane. He also faced constant speculation over keeping his seat, as the team openly courted both Sebastian Vettel and Champcar series champion Sebastian Bourdais. His team mate Scott Speed claimed Red Bull wanted to replace both himself and Liuzzi.Once Bourdais' contract for 2008 was announced, Liuzzi's performances improved. After being denied a world championship point in Japan by to a post-race time penalty, he drove what many consider the best race of his Formula 1 career in China. Narrowly missing out on Q3 by qualifying 11th, he gained three places at the start, then overtook Mark Webber of the 'works' Red Bull team, as well as the BMW of Nick Heidfeld. Throughout the race he kept pace with 5th-placed Jenson Button's Honda, and held off a late charge from Heidfeld to finish 6th and collect three points.

Force India (2009 – Present)

Liuzzi driving for Force India at the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix.

On 10 August 2007 Toro Rosso confirmed that Sébastien Bourdais would drive for them in 2008, leaving Liuzzi without a seat. Liuzzi's manager, former Lotus boss Peter Collins, confirmed that Liuzzi wished to continue his involvement in F1. He had been linked to a test drive role with Williams, but it eventually went to Nico Hülkenberg. He then secured the role of test driver for the Force India F1 team on 10 January 2008. Liuzzi stated he hoped 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 would not expire until the end of 2009.

Liuzzi driving for Force India at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix.

On 3 September 2009, Force India released Fisichella so he could replace Luca Badoer at Ferrari, who had filled in for two races for injured driver Felipe Massa. On 7 September 2009, Force India announced that Liuzzi would drive for them in the remaining five races of the 2009 Formula One season. He made his race debut for Force India at the 2009 Italian Grand Prix and qualified an impressive seventh, given the fact he started the race with a heavier fuel load than his younger teammate Sutil. He was running solidly in the points, before retiring after 22 laps with a transmission problem.

On 27 November 2009 Force India announced that it kept Adrian Sutil and Liuzzi as drivers for 2010.

Liuzzi achieved his first-points scoring finish since the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix in the season-opening 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. He finished ninth in the race, picking up two points due to the introduction of a new points system in Formula One in 2010. At the following round in Australia, he finished seventh in changeable weather conditions collecting a further six points. In Monaco Liuzzi finished ninth, scoring another two points for Force India. At the Canadian Grand Prix, Liuzzi qualified in a career-best sixth, which improved to fifth after Mark Webber's gearbox change. In the race, Liuzzi finished ninth after tangling with Felipe Massa at the first corner.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2001	Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup	GM Motorsport	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Formula Renault 2000 Germany		8	1	1	3	4	139	2nd
2002	German Formula Three	Opel Team BSR	18	0	2	0	3	25	9th
	French Formula Three		2	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC†
	Italian Formula Three		1	1	1	?	1	9	8th
	Masters of Formula Three		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	8th
	European Formula Three Cup		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
	Macau Grand Prix	Team Kolles Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
2003	International Formula 3000	Red Bull Junior Team F3000	10	0	1	0	2	39	4th
	World Series by Nissan	RC Motorsport	2	0	0	0	0	2	25th
2004	International Formula 3000	Arden International	10	7	9	3	9	86	1st
2005	Formula One	Red Bull Racing	4	0	0	0	0	1	24th
2006	Formula One	Scuderia Toro Rosso	18	0	0	0	0	1	19th
2007	Formula One	Scuderia Toro Rosso	17	0	0	0	0	3	18th
2008–09	Speedcar Series	UP Team	9	3	1	4	5	45	3rd
	A1 Grand Prix	A1 Team Italy	4	0	1	0	0	7	16th
2009	Formula One	Force India F1 Team	5	0	0	0	0	0	22nd
2010	Formula One	Force India F1 Team	12	0	0	0	0	12*	14th*

^* Season in progress.
^† As Liuzzi was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	DC	Points
2003	Red Bull Junior Team F3000	IMO 4	CAT Ret	A1R 4	MON Ret	NUR 2	MAG 4	SIL 3	HOC 4	HUN 9	MNZ 4	4th	39
2004	Arden International	IMO 1	CAT 1	MON 1	NUR 11	MAG 1	SIL 1	HOC 1	HUN 2	SPA 2	MNZ 1	1st	86

Complete Formula One results

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

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	WDC	Points
2005	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull RB1	Cosworth TJ2005 3.0 V10	AUS TD	MAL TD	BHR TD	SMR 8	ESP Ret	MON Ret	EUR 9	CAN	USA	FRA TD	GBR TD	GER TD	HUN TD	TUR TD	ITA TD	BEL TD	BRA TD	JPN TD	CHN TD	24th	1
2006	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR1	Cosworth TJ2006 3.0 V10 14 Series	BHR 11	MAL 11	AUS Ret	SMR 14	EUR Ret	ESP 15	MON 10	GBR 13	CAN 13	USA 8	FRA 13	GER 10	HUN Ret	TUR Ret	ITA 14	CHN 10	JPN 14	BRA 16		19th	1
2007	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR2	Ferrari 056 2.4 V8	AUS 14	MAL 17	BHR Ret	ESP Ret	MON Ret	CAN Ret	USA 17	FRA Ret	GBR 16	EUR Ret	HUN Ret	TUR 15	ITA 17	BEL 12	JPN 9	CHN 6	BRA 13			18th	3
2009	Force India F1 Team	Force India VJM02	Mercedes FO 108W 2.4L V8	AUS	MAL	CHN	BHR	ESP	MON	TUR	GBR	GER	HUN	EUR	BEL	ITA Ret	SIN 14	JPN 14	BRA 11	ABU 15			22nd	0
2010	Force India F1 Team	Force India VJM03	Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8	BHR 9	AUS 7	MAL Ret	CHN Ret	ESP 15	MON 9	TUR 13	CAN 9	EUR 16	GBR 11	GER 16	HUN 13	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	KOR	BRA	ABU	14th*	12*

^* Season in progress.

Personal

In addition to his native Italian, Liuzzi speaks English and French. He was previously known for his piercings in his left upper ear, left eyebrow and left lower ear. He is currently engaged to Francesca Caldarelli.

External links

• The official website for Vitantonio Liuzzi
• Vitantonio Liuzzi profile and statistics