Vitantonio Liuzzi

Vitantonio Liuzzi

Liuzzi at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Born	(1980-08-06) 6 August 1980 Locorotondo, Italy
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Italian
Active years	2005–2007, 2009–2011
Teams	Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Force India, HRT
Entries	81 (80 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	26
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	2005 San Marino Grand Prix
Last entry	2011 Brazilian Grand Prix
Formula E career
Debut season	2014–15
Current team	Trulli GP
Car number	10
Starts	5
Best finish	23rd in 2014–15
Finished last season	23rd

Vitantonio "Tonio" Liuzzi (born 6 August 1980) is an Italian professional racing driver who formerly raced in Formula One for the Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Force India and HRT teams. 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 (2005–2012)

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 (2005)

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 (2006–2007)

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

Following Red Bull's purchase of the Minardi team – thereafter renamed Scuderia Toro Rosso, Italian for Team Red Bull – Liuzzi was rewarded with a full-season seat in the "B-team". At the 2006 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 Sébastien 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 a post-race time penalty, he drove what many consider the best race of his Formula One 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 (2008–2010)

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.

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.

Liuzzi driving for Force India at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix

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. He scored another point at Spa-Francorchamps, after Jaime Alguersuari was penalised post-race for gaining an advantage from cutting the Bus Stop chicane in the closing laps. He matched his career best finish of sixth at the Korean Grand Prix, and eventually finished 15th in the championship with 21 points, a career best.

Although he had a valid contract with Force India for 2011, Liuzzi was replaced by Paul di Resta.

HRT (2011–2012)

Liuzzi driving for Hispania at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Liuzzi was considered as a possible replacement for Robert Kubica at Lotus Renault GP for the 2011 season, after Kubica sustained life-threatening injuries in a rally crash in Italy on 8 February. However, despite rumours suggesting that Kubica wanted Liuzzi to be his replacement, the team opted to employ Nick Heidfeld to fill the role instead.

Subsequently, Liuzzi was announced that he would be testing for Hispania Racing at Circuit de Catalunya, as the Spanish team evaluated him for their second race seat alongside Narain Karthikeyan. Liuzzi was confirmed in this role on 9 March 2011. He did not qualify for the Australian Grand Prix and retired in Malaysia after the team withdrew him for safety reasons. He recorded his first finishes with the team with a pair of 22nd-place finishes in China and Turkey but retired in Spain with a gearbox issue. He took a 16th-place finish in Monaco, and a 13th place in Canada, Hispania's best finish to date. After a 23rd-place finish at Valencia and an 18th at the British Grand Prix, he failed to finish in Germany with electrical problems. Liuzzi finished as the final classified finisher in Hungary (20th), and Belgium (19th), before a first-lap retirement in Italy after contact with Heikki Kovalainen. As a result of the contact, Liuzzi slid across the grass and directly into Vitaly Petrov and Nico Rosberg. He finished as the final classified finisher in Singapore (20th), Japan (23rd) and Korea (21st).

For the Indian Grand Prix, he was replaced by Narain Karthikeyan, who took a race seat in front of his home fans alongside Daniel Ricciardo. Liuzzi returned to his race seat in Abu Dhabi however, and again finished as the final classified finisher, in twentieth place. In the final race at Brazil, he qualified 21st ahead of his teammate Ricciardo and both of the Virgin cars and was running ahead of Ricciardo in the race when he was forced to retire from the race due to an alternator failure on lap 61.

Liuzzi stated in January 2012 that, while he had a contract to continue with the team in 2012, his position within the team was uncertain. In February 2012 it was announced that Narain Karthikeyan had been handed the final race seat; leaving Liuzzi without a drive.

Superstars Series (2012–2013)

Liuzzi competing in the 2014 Super GT season

Without a drive in Formula One, Liuzzi looked for other racing options. He eventually joined the International Superstars Series for the 2012 season, driving for CAAL Racing in a Mercedes C63 AMG. He took his first podium finish at the first race during the first round in Monza, and he took his first win of the season during the second race of that round.

Super GT and Super Formula (2014)

Liuzzi driving the Dallara SF14 for Real Racing in 2014.

In 2014, Liuzzi moved to Japan and is competing in Super GT (GT500 class) and Super Formula. In his first season of Super GT, he is driving for Autobacs Racing Team Aguri and co-driving with Kosuke Matsuura.

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	Formula One	BMW Williams F1 Team	Test driver
	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	Formula One	Sauber	Test driver
		Red Bull Racing
	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	Formula One	Force India F1 Team	Test driver
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	19	0	0	0	0	21	15th
2011	Formula One	Hispania Racing F1 Team	18	0	0	0	0	0	23rd
	International V8 Supercars Championship	Tony D'Alberto Racing	2	0	0	0	0	48	78th
2012	International Superstars Series	CAAL Racing	16	2	1	0	9	181	2nd
	Campionato Italiano Superstars		10	1	0	0	3	92	3rd
	Formula One	Hispania Racing F1 Team	Test driver
	FIA WEC	Lotus	4	0	0	0	0	3	59th
	International V8 Supercars Championship	Tony D'Alberto Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2013	International Superstars Series	Mercedes-AMG Romeo Ferraris	16	3	2	3	7	189	3rd
	Campionato Italiano Superstars		10	2	1	2	6	158	2nd
	FIA WEC – LMP2 Endurance Trophy	Lotus	6	0	0	0	0	8	25th
	FIA WEC – LMP							0.75	39th
2014	Super GT	Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	8	0	0	0	0	14	16th
	Super Formula	HP Real Racing	9	0	0	0	0	1.5	16th
2014–15	Formula E	Trulli GP	5	0	0	0	0	2	23rd
2015	FIA WEC	Team ByKolles	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Stock Car Brasil	Schin Racing Team	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
	GT Asia Series – GT3	FFF Racing Team by ACM	8	1	0	0	1	38	24th
2015–16	Formula E	Trulli GP	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC*

^* Season still 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	NÜR 2	MAG 4	SIL 3	HOC 4	HUN 9	MNZ 4	4th	39
2004	Arden International	IMO 1	CAT 1	MON 1	NÜR 11	MAG 1	SIL 1	HOC 1	HUN 2	SPA 2	MNZ 1	1st	86

Complete Formula One results

(key)

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 13		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 10	ITA 12	SIN Ret	JPN Ret	KOR 6	BRA Ret	ABU Ret	15th	21
2011	Hispania Racing F1 Team	Hispania F111	Cosworth CA2011 V8	AUS DNQ	MAL Ret	CHN 22	TUR 22	ESP Ret	MON 16	CAN 13	EUR 23	GBR 18	GER Ret	HUN 20	BEL 19	ITA Ret	SIN 20	JPN 23	KOR 21	IND	ABU 20	BRA Ret	23rd	0

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

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	DC	Points
2008–09	Italy	NED SPR	NED FEA	CHN SPR	CHN FEA	MYS SPR	MYS FEA	NZL SPR	NZL FEA	RSA SPR	RSA FEA	POR SPR 4	POR FEA Ret	GBR SPR 10	GBR SPR 9	16th	17

Complete Speedcar Series results

(key)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pos	Points
2008–09	UP	DUB 1 1	DUB 2 C	BHR 1 Ret	BHR 2 8	LOS 1 2	LOS 2 1	DUB 1 12	DUB 2 Ret	BHR 1 3	BHR 2 1	3rd	45

Complete V8 Supercar results

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	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	Final Pos	Points
2011	Tony D'Alberto Racing	Ford FG Falcon	YMC R1	YMC R2	ADE R3	ADE R4	HAM R5	HAM R6	BAR R7	BAR R8	BAR R9	WIN R10	WIN R11	HID R12	HID R13	TOW R14	TOW R15	QLD R16	QLD R17	QLD R18	PHI Q	PHI R19	BAT R20	SUR R21 Ret	SUR R22 19	SYM R23	SYM R24	SAN R25	SAN R26	SYD R27	SYD R28			78th	48
2012	Tony D'Alberto Racing	Ford FG Falcon	ADE R1	ADE R2	SYM R3	SYM R4	HAM R5	HAM R6	BAR R7	BAR R8	BAR R9	PHI R10	PHI R11	HID R12	HID R13	TOW R14	TOW R15	QLD R16	QLD R17	SMP R18	SMP R19	SAN Q	SAN R20	BAT R21	SUR R22 Ret	SUR R23 DNS	YMC R24	YMC R25	YMC R26	WIN R27	WIN R28	SYD R29	SYD R30	NC	0 +

+ Not Eligible for points

Complete International Superstars Series 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	DC	Points
2012	CAAL Racing	Mercedes C63 AMG	MNZ R1 3	MNZ R2 1	IMO R1 6	IMO R2 Ret	DON R1 5	DON R2 3	MUG R1 5	MUG R2 5	HUN R1 1	HUN R2 2	SPA R1 3	SPA R2 2	VAL R1 4	VAL R2 7	PER R1 3	PER R2 9	2nd	181
2013	Mercedes-AMG Romeo Ferraris	Mercedes C63 AMG	MNZ R1 1	MNZ R2 2	BRN R1 4	BRN R2 Ret	SVK R1 1	SVK R2 Ret	ZOL R1 5	ZOL R2 7	ALG R1 2	ALG R2 2	DON R1 DSQ	DON R2 DSQ	IMO R1 1	IMO R2 2	VAL R1 5	VAL R2 4	3rd	181

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2012	Lotus	LMP2	Lola B12/80	Lotus 3.6 L V8	SEB	SPA	LMS	SIL Ret	SÃO 13	BHR 9	FUJ 12	SHA	59th	3
2013	Lotus	LMP2	Lotus T128	Praga Judd 3.6 L V8	SIL Ret	SPA 6	LMS	SÃO	COA DNS	FUJ 10	SHA Ret	BHR Ret	25th	8
2015	Team ByKolles	LMP1	CLM P1/01	AER P60 Turbo V6	SIL Ret	SPA Ret	LMS	NÜR	COA	FUJ	SHA	BHR	NC	0

Complete Super GT results

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

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
2014	Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	Honda NSX-GT	GT500	OKA 8	FUJ Ret	AUT Ret	SUG 15	FUJ 10	SUZ 4	BUR Ret	MOT 12	16th	14

Complete Super Formula 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	DC	Points
2014	HP Real Racing	SUZ 8	FUJ 8	FUJ 10	FUJ Ret	MOT 14	AUT Ret	SUG Ret	SUZ 15	SUZ 11	16th	1.5

Complete Formula E 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	Pos	Points
2014–15	Trulli GP	Spark-Renault SRT 01E	BEI	PUT	PDE	BNA	MIA 16	LBH 13	MON NC	BER 9	MOS 17	LON	LON	23rd	2
2015–16	Trulli GP	Spark-Motomatica JT-01	BEI DNP	PUT DNP	PDE	BNA	MEX	LBH	PAR	BER	MOS	LON	LON	NC*	0*

^* Season still 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 married to Francesca Caldarelli which made Liuzzi a brother-in-law of Andrea Caldarelli.

In 2013, Liuzzi and Johnny Herbert mentored 6 contestants in a primetime ITV4 reality series, with the aim of taking players of the Gran Turismo videogames to the Dubai 24 Hour race as real drivers. Other countries in Europe had heats mentored by Sébastien Buemi.

External links

• Official website
• Vitantonio Liuzzi on Twitter
• Vitantonio Liuzzi career summary at DriverDB.com