Gianni Morbidelli (born 13 January 1968) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 70 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 11 March 1990. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 8.5 championship points. He currently competes in the TCR International Series. Racing career Early career Morbidelli was born in Pesaro. His father, Giancarlo Morbidelli, was the founder of the Morbidelli motorcycle company which had some success in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Morbidelli started karting in 1980. He won the EUR-AM championship in 1986, before moving to Italian Formula Three. He became Italian Formula 3 and Formula 3 European Cup champion in 1989, as well as winning two races in Italian Touring Cars. He then moved to the Scuderia Italia Formula One team, doing the first 2 races of the F1 season as stand-in for Emanuele Pirro, before concentrating on Formula 3000. He won 1 race and finished 5th in the 1990 championship, as well as undertaking test driver duties for Scuderia Ferrari for that year. Formula One Resuming his F1 career at the end of the season, Morbidelli competed in the final two races of the season with Minardi, where he remained until the end of . He briefly joined Ferrari for the 1991 Australian Grand Prix, drafted in after Alain Prost was fired by the team, where Morbidelli earned his first Formula One points, earning half a point for 6th after a rain-shortened race. A lack of sponsorship led to him leaving Minardi to rejoin Italian Touring Cars for 1993, where he drove an Alfa Romeo 155 to two wins for Alfa Corse, before being hired by Footwork Arrows for . He managed four-point-scoring positions in two years with the team, including his only podium place finish in the 1995 Australian Grand Prix, earning third place in a race of high attrition. Morbidelli became Footwork Arrows' most successful driver, with a total of eight points for the team. Morbidelli also competed in the Italian Superturismo Championship for 1995, scoring two race wins, and, after spending a year out in 1996 testing for Jordan, gained another podium that year. Back in Formula One for , he raced in several mid-season events for Sauber as a replacement for Nicola Larini. He scored no points and was not classified in the championship for that year. His unsuccessful season, and two injuries by separate testing accidents, led to Morbidelli retiring