Luca Badoer

Luca Badoe is a retired Italian racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1993 to 2009. Born and raised in Veneto, Badoer began karting at a young age, quickly collecting regional and national titles before moving up the ranks. In 1992, he won the International Formula 3000 Championship on his very first attempt. That success earned him a place in Formula One, where between 1993 and 1999 he made 56 Grand Prix starts with Scuderia Italia, Minardi, and Forti.

Nationality	Italian
Born	25 January 1971 Montebelluna, Veneto, Italy

From 1998 to 2010, Badoer was also a key test driver for Ferrari, playing a significant role in their resurgence to championship-winning form. In 2009, he briefly returned to the F1 grid, deputising for the injured Felipe Massa at the European and Belgian Grands Prix.

Badoer holds an unusual record in F1 history: the most race starts without scoring a championship point (50). However, this statistic is often considered misleading since he raced during an era when only the top six finishers earned points. By the modern scoring system introduced in 2010, his career results would have been worth 26 points. His closest call came at the 1999 European Grand Prix, when he was running in fourth for Minardi before a gearbox failure ended his race just 13 laps from the finish.

Formula One Career

1993: Debut with Scuderia Italia

Badoer turned down a long-term offer from Tyrrell to make his Formula One debut with BMS Scuderia Italia in 1993. Unfortunately, the team’s Lola chassis, despite being powered by Ferrari engines, was the slowest on the grid.

South Africa: Retired after 20 laps with gearbox failure.
Brazil: Qualified 21st, finished 12th despite needing a new nose cone after contact.
Donington (Europe): Failed to qualify under new rules limiting the field to 24 cars.
Imola: Ran as high as sixth before finishing seventh — his best-ever F1 result.
Throughout the season, reliability issues plagued the car, though he managed top-15 finishes at Canada and Spa. At Monza, he fought Christian Fittipaldi before finishing 10th.
The season ended early when Lola merged with Minardi, skipping the final two races in Japan and Australia.

Benetton briefly tested Badoer for a potential 1994 seat alongside Michael Schumacher, but chose JJ Lehto instead. Badoer became a Minardi test driver.

1995: Racing for Minardi

Badoer replaced the retiring Michele Alboreto at Minardi. Running an underfunded Ford V8, he endured mixed fortunes:

Crashed out in Argentina after colliding with Mika Salo and Rubens Barrichello.
Best results: 8th in Canada and Hungary, and 9th in Japan.

1996: Forti Corse Struggles

Switching to the struggling Forti Corse, Badoer only qualified for six of the team’s ten entries.

Survived a frightening crash at the 1996 Argentine GP, when Pedro Diniz’s Ligier flipped his Forti upside down.
Managed a 10th-place finish at Imola but spent most of the season at the back.
Forti folded after the 1996 British Grand Prix, leaving him without a drive.

FIA GT Championship: 1997

In 1997, Badoer moved to the FIA GT Championship, racing a Lotus Elise GT1 for GBF Engineering alongside Mimmo Schiattarella. The pair suffered multiple retirements but did finish races in Helsinki (20th) and Donington (12th). During this time, Ferrari hired Badoer as a test driver — a role he would hold for over a decade.

Return to Formula One: Minardi 1999

Badoer rejoined Minardi in 1999.

Melbourne: Ran as high as fifth before gearbox failure.
Missed Brazil after breaking his hand in testing, with Stéphane Sarrazin filling in.
Returned at Imola (still injured) to finish 8th.
Throughout the year, gearbox issues plagued him.

When Michael Schumacher broke his leg at Silverstone, Badoer hoped Ferrari would promote him from test driver to race driver. Instead, the team chose Mika Salo, a decision criticised by Jean Alesi.

His best chance to score points came at the 1999 European Grand Prix, where he was running 4th before gearbox failure ended his race. Overcome with frustration, Badoer broke down in tears after retiring.

In total, he started 48 races between 1993 and 1999 for Scuderia Italia, Minardi, and Forti.

Ferrari Test Driver: 2000s

Unable to secure a race seat after 1999, Badoer devoted himself to Ferrari testing, completing thousands of kilometres at Fiorano and Mugello. His work was credited with helping Ferrari secure their first Drivers’ Championship in 21 years (2000).

He also became known to the public in 2006, when he drove a Ferrari F2005 during the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Turin, performing doughnuts in the centre of the stadium.

Ferrari Comeback: 2009

On 11 August 2009, Ferrari confirmed that Badoer would replace Felipe Massa, who was seriously injured at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, for the 2009 European Grand Prix in Valencia. Michael Schumacher had originally been lined up but was ruled out due to a neck injury.

The comeback was framed as a reward for Badoer’s long service to the team. However, after nearly 10 years away from racing, he struggled:

Qualified last at Valencia, nearly 1.5s off the next car.
Finished 17th out of 18 after being spun by Romain Grosjean.
In Belgium, he again qualified last and finished 14th, the final classified finisher.

Despite support from drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen, criticism mounted. After just two races, Ferrari replaced him with Giancarlo Fisichella. Badoer later blamed negative media coverage for the team’s decision.

Retirement

Badoer retired from Ferrari at the end of 2010, handing over test duties to Jules Bianchi. His final Ferrari outing came at the Bologna Motor Show on 8 December 2010, where he demonstrated the Ferrari F60.

In January 2011, he gave one last symbolic performance for the Scuderia, driving the Ferrari F60 with a special livery on the ice at Madonna di Campiglio. Reflecting on his career, Badoer said his only regret was that he had been able to race for Ferrari just twice.

Luca Badoer Formula One World Championship career

Active years	1993, 1995–1996, 1999, 2009
Teams	Scuderia Italia, Minardi, Forti, Ferrari
Entries	58 (50 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	31
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1993 South African Grand Prix
Last entry	2009 Belgian Grand Prix

Luca Badoer Teammates

7 drivers	Involvement	First Year
Michele Alboreto	16	1993
Pierluigi Martini	9	1995
Pedro Lamy	8	1995
Andrea Montermini	12	1996
Marc Gene	16	1999
Stéphane Sarrazin	1	1999
Kimi Raikkonen	2	2009

Luca Badoer Complete Formula One Results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC
1993	Lola BMS Scuderia Italia	Lola T93/30	Minardi 040 3.5 V12	RSA Ret	BRA 12	EUR DNQ	SMR 7	ESP Ret	MON DNQ	CAN 15	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 13	ITA 10	POR 14	JPN	AUS		NC
1995	Minardi Scuderia Italia	Minardi M195	Ford EDM 3.0 V8	BRA Ret	ARG DNS	SMR 14	ESP Ret	MON Ret	CAN 8	FRA 13	GBR 10	GER Ret	HUN 8	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR 14	EUR 11	PAC 15	JPN 9	AUS DNS	NC
1996	Forti Grand Prix	Forti FG01B	Ford ECA Zetec-R 3.0 V8	AUS DNQ	BRA 11	ARG Ret	EUR DNQ														NC
		Forti FG03	Ford ECA Zetec-R 3.0 V8					SMR 10	MON Ret	ESP DNQ	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR DNQ	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN		NC
1999	Fondmetal Minardi Ford	Minardi M01	Ford VJM1/VJM2 Zetec-R 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	BRA	SMR 8	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN 10	FRA 10	GBR Ret	AUT 13	GER 10	HUN 14	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	EUR Ret	MAL Ret	JPN Ret		NC
2009	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F60	Ferrari 056 2.4 V8	AUS	MAL	CHN	BHR	ESP	MON	TUR	GBR	GER	HUN	EUR 17	BEL 14	ITA	SIN	JPN	BRA	ABU	25th