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Giovanna Amati

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Giovanna Amati
Born (1959-07-20) 20 July 1959 (age 65)
Rome, Italy
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityItaly Italian
Active years1992
TeamsBrabham
Entries3 (0 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1992 South African Grand Prix
Last entry1992 Brazilian Grand Prix

Giovanna Amati (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanna ɑ.mɑ.ti]) (born 20 July 1959)[1] is an Italian former professional racing driver. She is the most recent female driver to have entered the Formula One World Championship.[2]

Brought up in a wealthy background, Amati was kidnapped in 1978[3] before being released on an 800 million lira ransom.

She started her racing career in Formula Abarth series, before moving up into Formula Three for 1985–86. An entry into Formula 3000 in 1987 brought little success but the following year, Amati improved her performances. She moved to Japan for 1989 but still had no success. A move back to Europe in 1990 saw better performances that continued into 1991. In 1992, Amati became the fifth and last woman Formula One driver when she signed for Brabham.[4][5]

Early life

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Amati was born in Rome on 20 July 1959,[1] to actress Anna Maria Pancani and theatre-chain owner Giovanni Amati. As a child, she displayed a passion for cars and expressed the wish to attend a motor racing academy when older.[6]

Kidnapping

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At the age of 19, Amati was kidnapped for ransom on 12 February 1978[3] by three gangsters in a group led by Jean Daniel Nieto.[7] Amati was forcibly removed from a car she was sitting in near her parents' villa in Rome and was taken away in a van. Her captors initially took her to a house near her parents' home, but moved her to a remote location after police called at the house.[3][8] Amati was kept in a wooden cage for 75 days and was physically and mentally abused although Nieto occasionally comforted her.[8] Amati was released on an 800 million-lira ($933,000 at the time) ransom on 27 April 1978 after two months of captivity. As the Italian authorities had introduced a policy of freezing the assets belonging to the families of kidnapped people in an attempt to fight organised crime by preventing ransom-payments,[9] Amati's parents were able to pay the ransom by using box office receipts from the film Star Wars,[10] selling family jewellery and borrowing money from their servants' life savings.[8]

Nieto, a French citizen, was later arrested after a meeting with Amati arranged by the police. When he was released, newspapers published stories detailing Amati's Stockholm syndrome and the strong emotional relationship between her and her captor,[11] though Amati herself denied those claims.[3] He was sentenced to 18 years in prison.[3] Nieto escaped prison in 1989 and remained a fugitive until he was arrested again in April 2010.[3][12][13]

Career

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Early career

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To improve her driving skills, Amati attended a motor racing school together with her friend, Elio de Angelis. She began racing professionally in the Formula Abarth series in 1981, winning several times over the next four years. In 1985–86 she moved up to Italian Formula Three, again running a successful campaign and scoring a few wins. In 1987 she graduated to Formula 3000. She entered three races, but only qualified once at Donington.[14] Amati competed again in F3000 in 1988 with Lola and managed to secure two 10th places at Monza and Jerez. In 1989 Amati moved to Japan and competed for a brief period in the Super Formula Championship with little success. In 1990, she returned to Europe to the International F3000. Within the first four rounds, she raced with Roni Motorsports in a Reynard 90D Cosworth before moving to Lola for round five. Her final team change was to Cobra Motorsports for the five remaining races.[14] In 1990, Amati was involved in a crash with British driver Phil Andrews, when they collided during a test session prior to the Brands Hatch race that year. They both reported minor injuries.[15]

In 1991, Amati joined GJ Motorsports driving a Reynard 91D Cosworth for the entire season. She qualified for six rounds and managed to score a few non-point paying top-ten finishes, although she never scored any points. By the end of the year, Amati tested a Formula One car for the first time, completing 30 laps on a Benetton.[14]

Formula One

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Amati signed with the Brabham team in January 1992 to partner Eric van de Poele after the team was unable to sign Japanese F3000 driver Akihiko Nakaya, who was not granted a superlicence due to the FIA not recognising the Japanese F3000 series as a stepping stone in motor racing. Amati was the first female driver to enter a Formula One race since Desiré Wilson in 1980 and the announcement earned a great degree of publicity for the then struggling Brabham team. During the first round in South Africa, mechanics were still busy making her a seat.[16]

In South Africa, Amati's inexperience showed on the track. She spun six times during practice and was unable to qualify after setting a time that was nine seconds slower than pole sitter Nigel Mansell and four seconds slower than teammate van de Poele.[16]

At the Mexican Grand Prix, Amati failed to qualify again, setting a time more than 10 seconds slower than Mansell.[16]

Amati's last attempt to qualify a Formula One car was in Brazil. She and van de Poele lapped respectively 10 and 6 seconds slower than Mansell, and were excluded from the race. Brabham sacked Amati and replaced her with future 1996 World Champion Damon Hill.[16] Hill failed to qualify for the next five races until he successfully put the car on the grid for the 1992 British Grand Prix, although he lapped over eight seconds slower than pole sitter Mansell. As of 2024, Amati is the last female driver who has attempted to qualify a Formula One car.

Post-Formula One career

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Amati went into the Porsche SuperCup for 1993 to win the Women's European Championship. From 1994 to 1996, she raced in the Ferrari Challenge. She took a sabbatical in 1997 before returning in 1998 with a Ferrari 355. She also raced in the International Sports Racing Series driving an Alfa Romeo Giudici Gaiero SPN. Amati competed in the 1998 Sebring 12 Hours in a BMW M3, driving alongside Craig Carter and Andy Petery but retired due to clutch trouble. She also entered the 1000 km of Monza alongside Loic Depailler, Marco Lucchinelli, and Xavier Pompidou but they were unable to start. Amati then finished 11th at Le Mans during a two-hour race alongside Guido Knycz and Giovanni Gulinelli.[17] In 1999, Amati raced in the SportsRacing World Cup driving a Tampolli RS2-RTA99 for the Cauduro Tampolli team alongside Angelo Lancelotti in the SR2 class. She finished third in the SR2 class at the end of the year.

Following her retirement from motor sport, Amati worked briefly as a sport commentator, writing columns for Italian motorsport publications and providing television commentary.[17]

Racing record

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Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

Year Entrant Chassis Engine Tyres 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points
1987 BS Automotive Lola T87/50 Ford Cosworth A SIL VAL SPA PAU DON
16 		PER
DNQ 		BRH BIR IMO
DNQ 		BUG JAR NC 0
1988 Colt Racing Lola T88/50 Ford Cosworth A JER
10 		VAL
Ret 		PAU
DNQ 		SIL
DNQ 		MNZ
10 		PER
12 		BRH
DNQ 		BIR
DNQ 		BUG ZOL DIJ NC 0
1990 Roni Motorsport Reynard 90D Ford Cosworth A DON
Ret 		SIL
DNQ 		PAU
DNQ 		JER
DNQ 		NC 0
Lola T89/50 MNZ
DNQ
Colin Bennett Racing Reynard 90D Mugen Honda PER
DNQ 		HOC
15 		BRH
DNQ 		BIR
DNQ 		BUG
DNQ 		NOG
1991 GJ Motorsports Reynard 91D Ford Cosworth A VAL
DNQ 		PAU
Ret 		JER
DNQ 		MUG
14 		PER
Ret 		HOC
9 		BRH
19 		SPA
DNQ 		BUG
7 		NOG
Ret 		NC 0
Source:[18][19]

Complete Formula One results

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(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
1992 Motor Racing Developments Ltd. Brabham BT60B Judd 3.5 L V10 RSA
DNQ 		MEX
DNQ 		BRA
DNQ 		ESP SMR MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN AUS NC 0
Source:[18][20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Giovanna Amati". oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  2. ^ Diepraam, Mattijs. "8W – Who – Giovanna Amati". 8W Forix. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Patrick Nathanson (13 November 2015). "Giovanna Amati: The remarkable story of F1's last female driver". BBC. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Giovanna Amati". Silhouet. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Queens of Speed". ESPN. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  6. ^ "Sequestrò Giovanna Amati nel '78, arrestato dopo 22 anni di latitanza - Corriere della Sera". www.corriere.it (in Italian). Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  7. ^ "A Disillusioned Italian Kidnap Victim Discovers That Home May Not Be Where the Heart Is". people.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  8. ^ a b c "How "Star Wars" Once Saved a Grand Prix Driver". formula1blog. Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Man arrested on date with girl he kidnapped". The Montreal Gazette. 26 May 1978.
  10. ^ "Tearful reunion with victim brings kidnap confession". The Montreal Gazette. 29 May 1978. p. 6.
  11. ^ "Love leads to French gangster's arrest". The Modesto Bee. 26 May 1978. p. C6.[dead link]
  12. ^ "The Kidnapping of Giovanna Amati". F1 Rejects. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  13. ^ "Arrestato dopo 22 di latitanza Daniel Nieto, il bandito gentiluomo ("Gentleman criminal" Daniel Nieto arrested after 22 years)". La Repubblica (in Italian). 24 April 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  14. ^ a b c "Giovanna Amati Biography (Before Formula One)". F1 Rejects. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  15. ^ Smith, Sam The Amati-ville Horror: Surviving an 160mph F3000 crash Motorsport. January 4, 2016
  16. ^ a b c d "Giovanna Amati Biography (Formula One)". F1 Rejects. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  17. ^ a b "Giovanna Amati Biography (After Formula One)". F1 Rejects. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  18. ^ a b "Giovanna Amati". Motor Sport. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  19. ^ "Giovanna Amati Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  20. ^ "All championship race entries, by Giovanna Amati". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
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