Pierluigi Martini

Pierluigi Martini (born 23 April 1961) is an Italian former racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1984 to 1985 and from 1988 to 1995, participating in 124 Grands Prix and scoring 18 championship points while becoming synonymous with the Minardi team—spending virtually his entire Formula One career with the Italian outfit and achieving the team's early milestones including their first championship point, first race led, and joint-best finish of fourth place. Martini's uncle Giancarlo Martini had raced during the 1970s for Scuderia Everest, a team owned by Giancarlo Minardi, creating family connections that would define Pierluigi's career. After winning races in the 1986 International Formula 3000 Championship driving a Pavesi Ralt RT20-Cosworth and challenging Ivan Capelli for the title (finishing runner-up), Martini made his Formula One debut at the 1984 Italian Grand Prix for Toleman, replacing suspended Ayrton Senna.

Aside from this single Toleman outing and a one-season stint with Scuderia Italia in 1992, Martini's entire Formula One career was spent with Minardi from 1988 to 1995. His sixth-place finish at the 1988 Detroit Grand Prix gave Minardi their very first World Championship point—a historic moment for the small Italian team. At the 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril, Martini briefly led the race, becoming the only driver ever to lead a Grand Prix in a Minardi car—an achievement that remains unique in the team's history. His most impressive qualifying performance came at the 1990 United States Grand Prix at Phoenix, where he qualified second on the front row alongside Gerhard Berger's pole-sitting McLaren—a giant-killing feat that demonstrated Martini's skill could occasionally overcome Minardi's equipment disadvantage.

Minardi's joint-best finishes of fourth place came at the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix and 1991 Portuguese Grand Prix, with Martini achieving the latter—the only time a Minardi finished on the lead lap in the team's Formula One history. After leaving Formula One in 1995, Martini transitioned to endurance racing and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1999 with BMW, validating his talent extended beyond Formula One. Martini remains one of Minardi's most iconic drivers, embodying the underdog team's spirit throughout his long association with them and achieving results that far exceeded the team's limited resources.