Alex Caffi

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Alex Caffi 1991.jpg
Alex Caffi
Nationality 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Italian
Years 1986 - 1991
Team(s) Arrows/Footwork, Dallara and Osella
Races 75 (56 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 0
Points 6
Poles 0
Fastest laps 0
First race 1986 Italian Grand Prix
First win
Last win
Last race 1991 Australian Grand Prix
Video Slide show of Alex Caffi's F1 career


Alessandro "Alex" Caffi (born 18 March 1964) is a former Formula One driver from Italy. He participated in 75 Grands Prix, debuting on September 7, 1986. In 2006 he raced in the inaugural season of the Grand Prix Masters formula for retired Formula One drivers.

Biography

Caffi was born in Rovato (province of Brescia), in Northern Italy.

He spent three years in Italian Formula Three from 1984 to 1986, finishing runner-up in 1984 and 1985, then 3rd in 1986. 1986 also saw him land a one-off drive with the Osella Formula One team, and Caffi scored a rare finish for them, coming home 11th.

The small Italian team were impressed by his sensible approach, and signed him for a full season for 1987. The Alfa Romeo powered car was uncompetitive and unreliable, Caffi never finishing once, though he was classified 12th at the San Marino Grand Prix. Nevertheless, the quiet Italian drew good notices for his attitude and skill in such a poor car (notably qualifying 16th for the Monaco Grand Prix).

For 1988, he switched to the new Scuderia Italia team who were running a Dallara chassis, again drawing good notices and peaking with 7th place at the Portuguese Grand Prix. 1989 saw the team expand to two cars, with Andrea de Cesaris taking the other, and a switch to Pirelli tyres. Caffi impressed, finishing 4th at the Monaco Grand Prix, and running 2nd at the United States Grand Prix before de Cesaris knocked him off. The second half of the season was less impressive as Pirelli struggled to find consistent race tyres, but was distinguished by Caffi starting 3rd at the Hungarian Grand Prix (though the aforementioned race tyres saw him finish 7th).

Caffi was noted as a promising talent, and was tempted to Arrows for 1990. The team had been bought by the Japanese Footwork Corporation, and were planning a major championship assault in 1991 with a new Porsche V12 and Michele Alboreto, while 1990 was to be an interim year. Caffi injured himself in a pre-season cycling accident, missing the first race of the season, retiring from the second with exhaustion and failing to qualify for the third. However, he bounced back with 5th place at the Monaco Grand Prix, and generally gave solid, if unspectacular, displays elsewhere.

1991 was to be an unmitigated disaster, sadly. The Porsche V12 was grossly overweight and seriously underpowered, and Caffi failed to qualify for the first four races. He then broke his jaw in a road car accident following the Monaco Grand Prix, ironically after he had escaped injury in a serious crash during the race weekend. Footwork then drafted in Stefan Johansson to cover, and when Caffi returned to fitness, he found the team were trying to keep the Swede on. He managed to get back into his seat via a legal injunction, but then failed to qualify for the next six races. He finally got through to the Japanese Grand Prix, finishing 10th, but Aguri Suzuki had already been announced as a replacement for 1992. He again got through for the Australian Grand Prix, but had no drive for the following season.

He had no option but to sign for the new Andrea Moda team. However, registration problems with the FIA meant he managed no more than a few practice laps at the South African Grand Prix, and the team arrived late for the Mexican Grand Prix and were not allowed to run. After this, Caffi was replaced by Roberto Moreno, and his time in Formula One was over.

After a brief career in Spanish and Italian Touring Cars, Caffi found his niche in sportscars, racing in GTs, FIA Sportscar, and ALMS.

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 WDC Points
1986 Osella Squadra Corse Osella FA1G Alfa Romeo V8 BRA
ESP
SMR
MON
BEL
CAN
USA
FRA
GBR
GER
HUN
AUT
ITA
NC
POR
MEX
AUS
- 0
1987 Osella Squadra Corse Osella FA1I Alfa Romeo V8 BRA
Ret
SMR
12
BEL
Ret
MON
Ret
USA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
HUN
Ret
AUT
Ret
ITA
Ret
POR
Ret
ESP
DNQ
MEX
Ret
JPN
Ret
AUS
DNQ
- 0
Osella FA1G FRA
Ret
1988 Scuderia Italia Dallara 3087 Cosworth V8 BRA
DNPQ
- 0
Dallara 188 SMR
Ret
MON
Ret
MEX
Ret
CAN
DNPQ
USA
8
FRA
12
GBR
11
GER
15
HUN
Ret
BEL
8
ITA
Ret
POR
7
ESP
10
JPN
Ret
AUS
Ret
1989 Scuderia Italia Dallara 189 Cosworth V8 BRA
DNPQ
SMR
7
MON
4
MEX
13
USA
Ret
CAN
6
FRA
Ret
GBR
DNPQ
GER
Ret
HUN
7
BEL
Ret
ITA
11
POR
Ret
ESP
Ret
JPN
9
AUS
Ret
19th 4
1990 Footwork Arrows Racing Arrows A11B Cosworth V8 USA
Inj
BRA
Ret
SMR
DNQ
MON
5
CAN
8
MEX
DNQ
FRA
Ret
GBR
7
GER
9
HUN
9
BEL
10
ITA
9
POR
13
ESP
Inj
JPN
9
AUS
DNQ
16th 2
1991 Footwork Grand Prix International Footwork A11C Porsche V12 USA
DNQ
BRA
DNQ
- 0
Footwork FA12 SMR
DNQ
MON
DNQ
CAN
Inj
MEX
Inj
FRA
Inj
GBR
Inj
Cosworth V8 GER
DNPQ
HUN
DNPQ
BEL
DNQ
ITA
DNPQ
POR
DNPQ
ESP
DNPQ
JPN
10
AUS
15
1992 Andrea Moda Formula Coloni C4B Judd V10 RSA
EX
- 0
Moda S921 MEX
DNP
BRA
ESP
SMR
MON
CAN
FRA
GBR
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
POR
JPN
AUS


External links