Ivan Capelli

Ivan Capelli came within three laps of winning a Grand Prix in a car that had failed to qualify the race before. An Italian born in 1963, he made his debut in 1985 with Tyrrell and made his name with March, a small team with a very clean car designed by Adrian Newey, who was then drawing his first Formula 1 cars.

In 1988 he was second in Portugal and third in Belgium, and finished seventh in the championship, his best year. The team became Leyton House, and in 1990, at Paul Ricard, Capelli led most of the race without stopping for tyres. Alain Prost passed him three laps from the end, with the Leyton's engine starting to falter, and he finished second.

That took him to Ferrari in 1992, the dream of any Italian driver, and it was the worst year of his career. The car was poor, he did not adapt and the team replaced him before the last two races. He raced two Grands Prix with Jordan in 1993 and called it a day.

Three podiums, all with the same small team, and a lesson Formula 1 keeps repeating: the best car of his career was not the most famous one.