| Vitantonio Liuzzi | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:Vitantonio Liuzzi.png | ||
| Driver Details | ||
| Nationality |  Italian
| |
| D.O.B. | 6th August 1981 | |
| Début | 2015 Miami ePrix | |
| Titles | 0 | |
| Teams | Trulli | |
| Formula E Career | ||
| Total Entries | 5 (5 Starts) | |
| Wins | Points | FanBoosts |
| 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Poles | 0 | |
| Fastest Laps | 0 | |
| Podiums | 0 | |
Vitantonio Liuzzi (born 6th August 1981) is an Italian racing driver, who made his debut for the Trulli Formula E Team at the 2015 Miami ePrix.[1] Better known as 'Tonio', Liuzzi has raced in Formula One and the FIA World Endurance Championship before completing five rounds of the 2014/15 FIA Formula E Championship.[2]
Background
Liuzzi was a champion karter in Italy, stepping up to the German Formula Renault Championship in 2001, and ending the year as runner-up.[2] The next three years saw Liuzzi move into the German Formula Three Series, International Formula Three, and, ultimately, a fateful 2004 campaign in the FIA International Formula 3000 Championship.[2] A reward for his efforts, which included Liuzzi becoming the last ever International Formula 3000 champion, was a Formula One debut with Red Bull Racing.[2]
The Pinnacle of Motorsport
Liuzzi competed in his maiden Grand Prix at the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix, scoring points for Red Bull on his debut.[2] Three further appearences for Liuzzi came that season, although points were harder to come by, before he was moved to Red Bull's new creation, Toro Rosso, for the 2006 season.[2] As lead driver in the team (alongside rookie F1 racer Scott Speed) Liuzzi claimed the team's first point at the 2006 United States Grand Prix, staying with the team for 2007.[3] In a poor season for the Italian racer, he saved his F1 career with a stunning drive at the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix, finishing sixth and battling with several established names.[3]
Swept out of Toro Rosso, Liuzzi became the test and reserve driver at Force India, a role which he fulfilled for two seasons, alongside duties in the Speedcar Series.[2] After Giancarlo Fisichella moved to Ferrari before the 2009 Italian Grand Prix, Liuzzi was promoted to a full race driver once more, racing in Italy until the end of the season.[3] 2010 saw Liuzzi partner Adrain Sutil in the team for a full season, although he was decidedly slower than his team mate and replaced at the end of the season.[2]
HRT picked up Liuzzi in time for the 2011 season, giving him the responsibility to lead the team, despite speculation that he would be driving in place of Robert Kubica at Team Lotus.[3] Liuzzi achieved HRT's best finish of thirteenth at the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, in a season where he impressed in a noncompetitive car.[2] Yet, HRT opted to demote Liuzzi to test driver in 2012, prompting Liuzzi to invest his time elsewhere.[2]
Superstars and Beyond
2012 saw Liuzzi make his bow in the Superstars International Series, finishing the season as runner-up.[2] Alongside appearances in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and International V8 Supercars, Liuzzi opted to leave HRT (who lasted until December that year before folding), taking up the WEC and Superstars Series full time in 2013.[2] Third in the Superstars and a strong showing for Lotus Rebellion in the WEC showed Liuzzi had lost none of his pace, as he switched to Japanese racing in 2014, competing the Super Formula Championship for the year, as well as the Super GT Championship.[3]
Formula E History
Liuzzi's chance to race in Formula E came at the 2015 Miami ePrix, after Michela Cerruti left the Trulli Formula E Team, citing 'professional reasons'.[1] Liuzzi stepped in, having been approached by team owner Jarno Trulli in Miami, before finishing sixteenth on his début, a fair feat considering Liuzzi had never driven the Spark-Renault SRT_01E before.[4] His second race in Long Beach saw him claim thirteenth, with the Italian becoming increasingly happier in the car.
Yet, the European phase of the season started poorly, with Liuzzi getting involved in the first lap incident, before taking to his second car at the very end of the race, finishing unclassified.[5] His response in Berlin was strong, however, with Liuzzi racking up his first points with ninth, after battling in the lower order of the points for the entire race.[6] His final race came in Moscow, where Liuzzi once again finished, but well off the pace, before being replaced by Alex Fontana at the season finale in London due to other commitments.[7]
2015/16
Liuzzi was resigned by Trulli during the 2015 Donington Test, although the team's struggles with their new car severely hampered their running.[8] Their problems followed them into the opening phase of the season, with all four Trulli cars failing to pass the scrutineering tests held on the first day of each ePrix in both Beijing and Putrajaya. Trulli would ultimately withdraw from the Championship just before the 2015 Punta del Este ePrix, leaving Liuzzi without a drive for the rest of the season.[9]
Full Formula E Record
Shown below are a series of tables outlining Vitantonio Liuzzi's career in Formula E in statistical form.
Formula E Entries
The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for Vitantonio Liuzzi during their FE career:
| Vitantonio Liuzzi's Overall Formula E Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Pos. | Pts. |
| 2014/15 |  Trulli Formula E Team
|
18 | Spark-Renault SRT_01E | 23rd | 2 |
| 2015/16 | Trulli Formula E Team
|
18 | Motomatica JT-01 | NC | 0 |
Career Results
Below is a table showing Vitantonio Liuzzi's full Formula E record.
| FIA Formula E Championship Record | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Rounds | Pos. | Pts. | ||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |||
| 2014/15 | 
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23rd | 2 |
| 16th | 13th | NC | 9th | 17th | |||||||||
| 2015/16 |
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NC | 0 |
| DNP | DNP | CAN | |||||||||||
References
Videos and Images:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 'Vitantonio Liuzzi replaces Michela Cerruti in Miami', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 12/03/2015), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/march/vitantonio-liuzzi-replaces-michela-cerruti-for-miami.aspx, (Accessed 30/04/2015)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 'Drivers' Club: Vitantonio Liuzzi', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 2015), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/drivers-club/vitantonio-liuzzi.aspx, (Accessed 30/04/2015)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 'Vitantonio Liuzzi', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 02/07/2015), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitantonio_Liuzzi (Accessed 04/07/2015)
- ↑ 'Prost powers to first Formula E win', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 14/03/2015) http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/march/prost-powers-to-first-formula-e-win.aspx, (Accessed 30/04/2015)
- ↑ 'Poleman Buemi doubles up', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 09/05/2015), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/may/poleman-buemi-doubles-up.aspx, (Accessed 09/05/2015)
- ↑ 'Di Grassi excluded from DHL Berlin ePrix', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 23/05/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/may/di-grassi-excluded-from-dhl-berlin-eprix.aspx, (Accessed 23/05/2015)
- ↑ 'Alex Fontana gets Trulli call-up', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 25/06/2015), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/june/alex-fontana-gets-trulli-call-up.aspx, (Accessed 25/06/2015)
- ↑ 'Duran switches to Trulli alongside Liuzzi', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 24/08/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/august/duran-switches-to-trulli-alongside-liuzzi.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2015)
- ↑ 'Trulli Formula E Team announce withdrawal from championship', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 15/12/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/december/trulli-announcement.aspx, (Accessed 15/12/2015)