Today there was the very sad news of racing driver Alessandro “Alex” Zanardi’s passing at age 59. A heroic and inspiring figure for many millions around the world, he sadly often had a traumatic life alongside many moments of triumph.
The Italian racer also had bags of natural charisma and was clearly a lovely bloke and dedicated family man. He raced in Formula 1 without success, but won the American CART championships in 1997 and 1998.
However, he’s likely going to be most remembered for his incredible determination to overcome a terrible 2001 CART accident that cost him his legs. If any man deserves your respect, it’s Alex Zanardi.
The Legend That is Alex Zanardi
Zanardi had his first taste of Formula 1 in the early 1990s with lower grid teams. In poor machinery he wasn’t able to make a name for himself, plus he was very lucky to survive a terrifying accident at Spa in August 1993. That ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Although he didn’t break any bones, he was left with major concussive trauma. Medical understanding of this was poor 30 years ago, so he was left to piece his mind back together with months of sitting in darkened rooms as makeshift intensive therapy.
Happier days were ahead, as his run in the US CART series brought him those two major title wins. That’s what put him on the map and got F1 team bosses interested in him again.
The 1999 F1 season was our first full year watching the sport. The Williams team (a big name on the grid, one of the places to be) had two new drivers that year, with Ralf Schumacher and the man himself Mr. Zanardi.
Team owner Sir Frank Williams had huge hopes for the Italian driver. He was fearless, dramatic, and ready to roll. He did stuff like this at Laguna Seca in 1996!
Unfortunately, one of our memories from 1999 is Zanardi’s horrendous season. It was a disaster.
He didn’t click with the cars and didn’t score a single point all year, whilst Ralf Schumacher was scoring podiums and regular points. There’s an excellent BBV10’s podcast episode dedicated to what went wrong.
At the end of the podcast, a guest speaker acknowledges Sir Frank Williams and Alex Zanardi loved each other. Despite the struggles of the working partnership, they could always crack a joke together and got on famously.
Williams later added his biggest regret in F1 was not being able to get the most out of Zanardi.
He left the sport at the end of 1999. After a brief hiatus, the driver returned to CART in 2001 and had a middling season. Then on 15th September 2001 (a handful of days after the 9/11 attacks) he had a horrendous accident at the American Memorial track. It’s remarkable he didn’t die, but he did require a double leg amputation.
He began appearing publicly again in 2002 and instantly showed incredible resilience. There’s a great interview with him from that year with former F1 driver Mark Blundell (the pair were good friends).
After his rehabilitation he returned to racing in the European Touring Car Championship (in a modified car). He ended up scoring four wins between 2003 and 2009.
Then he turned his attention to a totally different sport. Handcycling! He was immediately a natural. He competed in the 2012 Summer Paralympics representing Italy and won a bunch of Golds at the 2012 London Paralympics, before winning more Golds at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics. He also added triathlons into the mix.
Nine years ago, for his 50th birthday, he provided this interview to Sky Sports about his approach to life.
Unfortunately, again, his life took another dark turn. In June 2020, he suffered a major head injury during the Obiettivo tricolore handcycling race. He was placed in a medically induced coma and needed extensive facial reconstructive surgery.
He returned to his home after 18 months of hospital rehabilitation. By that point he was speaking again, but he didn’t provide anymore media interviews after the accident.
The motorsport community hoped he’d recover fully. This has been a very sad development, but Zanardi does leave behind an incredible legacy that’ll continue to inspire many millions of people around the world.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said this of him:
“A great champion and an extraordinary man, capable of turning every trial of life into a lesson in courage, strength, and dignity.”
His book Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory: A Memoir of Racing Success, Adversity, and Courage (2004) is well worth a read to relive his journey.
RIP to a legend.
He was a part of our life from 1999 onward, when we were just teenagers. F1 may not have gone his way, but everything that followed turned him into one of the most important sporting figures in history.
