Piercarlo Ghinzani - Formula One Career

Formula One Career

He participated in 111 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 17 May 1981. He spent much of the 1980s racing for the small Osella team, and he only ever took one points finish. Following sporadic F1 appearances in 1981, and racing in Group C as a teammate to Michele Alboreto and Riccardo Patrese, Ghinzani's first full season with the Osella team was in '83. Despite achieving no points finishes he was retained for 1984. He suffered burns in a serious crash at the Kyalami circuit, but later that year scored his only career points in the Dallas GP, a race marked by high attrition and crumbling tarmac. Remaining with Osella for 1985, in the latter half of that year Ghinzani was drafted into the Toleman team to partner fellow Italian Teo Fabi. Despite the competitiveness of the car, he was hamstrung by reliability problems and unable to score a proper finish. The following year saw him return to the Osella team, while for 1987 he was contracted to the Ligier team, alongside former Grand Prix winner René Arnoux. The plans for the team to run Alfa Romeo engines were scuppered, however, by Arnoux's scathing pre-season comments, and the team had to hastily adapt their cars to fit Megatron engines. He occasionally ran in the points, notably in Germany, but suffered the indignity of being disqualified at Silverstone. 1988 saw Ghinzani run with Zakspeed, but his final season saw him reunited with Osella. In his final season he only qualified 3 times, and his final Grand Prix saw him hit from behind by Nelson Piquet in torrential rain.

Ghinzani also holds the record for the most Formula 1 appearances without qualifying in the top ten.