IVAN CAPELLI

FROM KARTS TO F1

At the beginning of the 2017 season, thanks to Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy is represented once more at the start of a Formula 1 Grand Prix. Antonio, third driver for Ferrari, is the last in a tradition that has provided a series of important figures to motorsport. Such as, for example, that of Ivan Capelli, an extraordinary driver who, like Giovinazzi, began in karting and made it all the way to Ferrari F1. Here is his story.

My dad and I decided we wanted to give karts a try after watching coverage of a karting championship on Swiss TV. I was 14 and we headed to the shop without knowing a thing and ended up leaving with a 125 cc, for sure not what you want a kid to start on! Sometime later my dad found the phone number of the CIAK (Centro Italiano Assistenza Karting / Italian Karting Assistance Center). He called them up and they confirmed that, yes, I needed a different kind of vehicle. So we headed to the Parma track, walked inside the shop and sold the 125 for a 100 Cadet kart, the hot new thing for beginners back then. I did my first lap right there with help from Gianni Mezzadri and Vittorio Marzi and... I laughed the whole way around. I was so happy to be at the wheel of my very own go-kart in Parma that I bounced from corner to corner like a drunk driver, grinning from ear to ear.