Alex Caffi

For the Italian ice hockey goaltender, seeAlex Caffi (ice hockey).

Alex Caffi

Caffi in1991
Born	(1964-03-18)18 March 1964 Rovato,Italy
Formula OneWorld Championship career
Nationality	Italian
Active years	1986–1991
Teams	Arrows/Footwork,DallaraandOsella
Entries	77 (56 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	6
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1986 Italian Grand Prix
Last entry	1991 Australian Grand Prix
NASCAR Whelen Euro Seriescareer
Debut season	2016
Car number	1
Former teams	Alex Caffi Motorsport
Starts	8
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	19th in2016
Finished last season	42nd in2018
24 Hours of Le Manscareer
Years	1999,2004,2007
Best finish	6th(1999)
Class wins	0

Alessandro Giuseppe"Alex"Caffi(born 18 March 1964)is an Italian racing driver, formerFormula Onedriver, and team owner.He participated in 75 Grands Prix, debuting on 7 September 1986.In 2006 he raced in the inaugural season of theGrand Prix Mastersformula for retired Formula One drivers.He currently serves as the team owner ofNASCAR Whelen Euro Seriesteam Academy Motorsport and had acted as anowner-driverduring the team's previous guise as Alex Caffi Motorsport.

Early life

Caffi was born inRovato(province of Brescia), inNorthern Italy.He spent three years in ItalianFormula Threefrom 1984 to 1986, finishing runner-up in 1984 and 1985, then third in 1986.1986 also saw him land a one-off drive with theOsellaFormula Oneteam.

Formula One career

1980s

1986

Caffi was handed his Formula One debut byOsella,at his, and the team's home race, theItalian Grand Prix,in place of CanadianAllen Berg.Qualifying 27thand last in hisFA1H(because of a quirk where for this race, and the following one inPortugal,27 cars were allowed to start) Caffi drove sensibly and steadily to stay out of trouble and come home last of the runners, albeit six laps downand unclassified.

1987

Osella were impressed by his sensible approach, and signed him for a full season in1987.TheAlfa Romeo-poweredFA1Iwas uncompetitive and unreliable; Caffi finished no races out of 16 and failed to qualify twice, though he was classified once.At the opening round, theBrazilian Grand Prix,Caffi retired after 21 laps due to exhaustionas the heat and physically demanding nature of the car proved too much.

TheSan Marino Grand Prix,three weeks later, provided Caffi with his only classification of the year, 12th, despite running out of fuel five laps from the finish.Then came a run of 10 consecutive retirements; inBelgium,Monaco,where he qualified an excellent 16th and ran as high as 10th, theUnited States,where he qualified 19th,France,Great Britain,Germany,Hungary,Austria,ItalyandPortugal.

As the season drew to a close, Caffi failed to qualify for two of the final four races inSpainandAustralia,bookending retirements inMexico,where he ran as high as 7th due to attrition, andJapanwhere he ran out of fuel.Despite finishing so few races, none were down to driver error, though Caffi was unclassified in the Drivers' Championship.

1988

1988saw Caffi switch to the newScuderia Italiateam.Early season form was thin. Their challenger for the season, the Dallara built and Ford-Cosworth poweredF188was not ready for the first race inBrazil,so to fulfil the championship's requirements of entering every race, a modifiedFormula 3000car, the3087,was used as a stop-gap.Not surprisingly, Caffi failed to pre-qualify.

The new car arrived in time forSan Marino,but fortunes failed to improve as Caffi retiredand an excellent 17th in qualifying atMonacowas ruined when he crashed all alone on the opening lap, the first blot on his career copybook. Caffi's third retirement in a row inMexicoand failure to qualify inCanadaonly added to the nightmare.

Mid-season though saw a turnaround in both Caffi's, and the team's season, with four finishes on the spin; 8th in theUnited States,12th inFranceafter qualifying 14th, 11th inGreat Britainand 15th inGermanyafter qualifying 19th.

Form during the following five races was patchy. Three top-10 finishes; 8th inBelgiumafter qualifying 15th, 7th inPortugal(his best career finish at the time) after qualifying 17th and 10th inSpainafter qualifying 18th, were scattered around a couple of retirements; inHungarywhere he qualified in the top-10 for the first time in 10th, andItaly.

1988 concluded with a brace of retirements inJapan,where he spun off, and after qualifying 11th inAustralia.For the second season in a row Caffi was unclassified in the Drivers' Championship.

1989

Caffi driving theDallara 189at the1989 Belgian Grand Prix.

Scuderia Italia expanded to a two-car outfit for the1989season, with fellow ItalianAndrea de Cesarisin the secondPirellishodF189.As with the previous year, Caffi failed to pre-qualify for the opening round inBrazil,butSan Marino,next on the calendar, saw Caffi qualify 9th and finish just outside the points in 7th.

Momentum continued ontoMonacowith another top-10 in qualifying, 9th,followed by the first Formula One points for himself and the team with an excellent drive to 4th.13th inMexicowas followed by retirement in theUnited States,when Caffi, who qualified 6thand at one stage was running 2ndonly toAlain Prost,was pushed into the wall rather comically whilst trying to lap teammate Andrea de Cesaris.

A second points finish of 6th inCanadawas another highlight but Caffi's season rarely peaked after that with just two finishes in the final 10 races; 7th inHungary(after qualifying a stunning 3rd) and 9th inJapan.

Failure to finish inFrance,Germany,Belgium,after spinning off,Italy,Portugalwhere he qualified 7th then collided with three-time World Drivers' ChampionNelson Piquet,SpainandAustralia,where he qualified 10th before spinning off, along with a failure to pre-qualify inGreat Britainrounded off an inconsistent year.Four points and 19th in the Drivers' Championship were Caffi's rewards.

1990s

1990

Caffi, by now gaining a reputation as a promising talent, was tempted toArrowsfor 1990as Japan's Footwork Corporation were investing in the team throughout the year (to the extent that Arrows was renamed Footwork from 1991 to 1996) andPorschehad agreed to supply engines to the squad. Caffi was signed to drive the secondA11alongside another Italian,1985World Drivers' Championship runner-upMichele Alboreto.

Injury caused by a pre-season cycling accident forced Caffi to sit out the opening race in theUnited States,with GermanBernd Schneiderfilling the gap.Retirement inBraziland failure to qualify inSan Marinoonly compounded Caffi's woes.

The following four races were patchy with a 5th, and two points, inMonacofollowed by an 8th inCanada,failure to qualify inMexicoand retirement inFrance.Five consecutive top-10 finishes mid-season; inGreat Britain,Germany,Hungary,BelgiumandItalybrought about a consistency to Caffi's performance.

His, and everybody's,Portuguese Grand Prixwas ended early when he crashed into theLolaofAguri Suzukiand the resulting foot injuries ruled Caffi out of the next race,Spain,with Schneider once again deputising.

Another positive performance of 9th inJapanwas cancelled out by failure to qualify for the final round inAustralia.Over the course of the season Caffi scored all the team's points and outperformed the more experienced Alboreto to end 1990 with two points and 16th in the Drivers' Championship.

1991

As Caffi's career gradually rose in stock throughout the previous year,1991looked promising for the Italian. Unfortunately, the season turned out to be anything but. ThePorsche 3512V12was cumbersome and underpowered, whilst both cars, theA11Cand theFA12were little better.

For the first time in his Formula One career, Caffi failed to qualify for any of the opening four races; in theUnited States,Brazil,San Marino,andMonaco.

The latter would be best remembered for a huge crash in practice,when Caffi slid off line and into the barriers at the Swimming Pool series of corners. The impact was so heavy, the car broke in three; the gearbox and rear wing broke free from the engine, which in turn came clear of the tub.Despite suffering no serious injuries as a result of the crash,Caffi was injured shortly after in a road accident.

As a result, Footwork drafted inStefan Johanssonfor the races inCanada,Mexico,FranceandGreat Britainand when Caffi returned to fitness, he discovered the team were trying to keep the Swede on. He managed to regain his seat via a legal injunction, but the struggles re-commenced with failure to qualify inBelgiumcompounded by pre-qualification failures inGermany,Hungary,Italy,PortugalandSpain.

The season ended on a slightly higher note, as Caffi finished 10th inJapanand kept his head above water to finish 15th in the deluge inAustralia.A season of catastrophe yielded no points and no classification in the Drivers' Championship.

1992

Footwork signed Aguri Suzuki to partner Michele Alboreto ahead of the1992seasonand Caffi was, rather abruptly, shown the door. With little time to find a drive, and most seats taken, he had no option but to sign for the newAndrea Modateam,alongside ItalianEnrico Bertaggia.The team, owned by shoe-magnate and playboyAndrea Sassetti,had bought out theColonisquad in 1991 and planned to use theirC4chassis withJudd V10power for the new season.

However, registration problems with the FIA (involving Sassetti's refusal to pay the $100,000 entrance fee for new teams) meant that Caffi managed no more than a few exploratory laps at theSouth African Grand Prix,the opening round of 1992.Before the next round inMexico,the team's new car, theNick Wirth-designedS921,was built and prepared but freight delays forced Sassetti to withdraw both Caffi and Bertaggia from the Mexican event.

After two races Caffi had had enough, voiced his displeasure of the situation and was fired by Sassetti, with Brazilian super-subRoberto Morenotaking his seat.No points from both races meant no classification in the Drivers' Championship, but more significantly, it signalled the end of the Italian's Formula One career at the age of 28.

Later life

After F1 he raced on and off in sports and touring cars, mainly in the United States, where in 1998 he had an IRL test at Pikes Peak Raceway.After a brief career in Spanish and ItalianTouring Cars,Caffi found his niche in sportscars, racing in GTs,FIA Sportscar,andALMS.He returned to International motorsport in the IRC Rally Monte-Carlo 2011, driving a Skoda Fabia S2000. 25 years after his Formula 1 career Italian Alex Caffi won on the streets of the Principality during the Monaco Grand Prix Historique 2016. Caffi was one of the high-profile winners during the 10th running of the GP Historique when he guided the Kessel Racing Ensign N176 to victory in the Pre 1977 3-litre F1 race.

In 2016, Caffi formed his own racing team Alex Caffi Motorsport. Alex Caffi Motorsport entered theNASCAR Whelen Euro Serieson the same year as its formation, competing on a part-time basis for its debut season before stepping up to full-time competition in 2017.The team took part in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series under the Alex Caffi Motorsport guise for five seasons before it was rebranded to Academy Motorsport in 2021 after entrepreneur Federico Monti became the co-owner of the team.Academy continues to compete in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series to this day,currently fielding the #1Ford Mustangand #5EuroNASCAR FJ 2020in both EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2.

When he is not racing he is an instructor at the official Subaru Italia safety driving and racing school.

Racing record

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	OsellaFA1G	Alfa RomeoV8	BRA	ESP	SMR	MON	BEL	CAN	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	AUT	ITA NC	POR	MEX	AUS	NC	0
1987	Osella Squadra Corse	OsellaFA1I	Alfa RomeoV8	BRA Ret	SMR 12	BEL Ret	MON Ret	DET Ret		GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	POR Ret	ESP DNQ	MEX Ret	JPN Ret	AUS DNQ	NC	0
		OsellaFA1G							FRA Ret
1988	Scuderia Italia	Dallara3087	CosworthV8	BRA DNPQ																NC	0
		Dallara188			SMR Ret	MON Ret	MEX Ret	CAN DNPQ	DET 8	FRA 12	GBR 11	GER 15	HUN Ret	BEL 8	ITA Ret	POR 7	ESP 10	JPN Ret	AUS Ret
1989	Scuderia Italia	Dallara189	CosworthV8	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	ArrowsA11B	CosworthV8	USA	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	JPN 9	AUS DNQ	16th	2
1991	Footwork Grand Prix International	FootworkA11C	PorscheV12	USA DNQ	BRA DNQ															NC	0
		FootworkFA12				SMR DNQ	MON DNQ	CAN	MEX
		FootworkFA12C	CosworthV8							FRA	GBR	GER DNPQ	HUN DNPQ	BEL DNQ	ITA DNPQ	POR DNPQ	ESP DNPQ	JPN 10	AUS 15
1992	Andrea Moda Formula	ColoniC4B	JuddV10	RSA EX																NC	0
		Andrea ModaS921			MEX DNP	BRA	ESP	SMR	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN	AUS
Sources:

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1999	Courage Compétition	Andrea Montermini Domenico Schiattarella	Courage C52-Nissan	LMP	342	6th	5th
2004	Seikel Motorsport	Gabrio Rosa Peter van Merksteijn Sr.	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	GT	148	DNF	DNF
2007	Spyker Squadronb.v.	Andrea Belicchi Andrea Chiesa	Spyker C8Spyder GT2-R	GT2	145	DNF	DNF
Sources:

Complete Grand Prix Masters results

(key) Races inboldindicate pole position, races initalicsindicate fastest lap.

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5
2006	Team Altech	Delta MotorsportGPM	Nicholson McLaren 3.5V8	QAT	ITA C	GBR 5	MAL C	RSA C
Source:

Complete NASCAR results

(key) (Bold– Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics– Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Whelen Euro Series – Elite 1

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series– Elite 1 results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	NWES	Pts	Ref
2016	Alex Caffi Motorsport	23	Ford	VAL	VAL	VEN	VEN	BRH	BRH	TOU	TOU	ADR 7	ADR 5	ZOL 20	ZOL 6		19th	284
2018		1		VAL	VAL	FRA 22	FRA 11	BRH	BRH	TOU	TOU	HOC	HOC	ZOL	ZOL		42nd	41
2019				VAL	VAL	FRA 28	FRA 18	BRH	BRH	MOS	MOS	VEN	HOC	HOC	ZOL	ZOL	42nd	28

External links

• Official site(in Italian and English)