Pedro Diniz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pedro Diniz
Image:Pedro Diniz.jpg
Formula One Career
Nationality	Image:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazilian
Active years	1995 - 2000
Team(s)	Forti, Ligier, Arrows, Sauber
Grands Prix	98
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podium finishes	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First Grand Prix	1995 Brazilian Grand Prix
First win	N/A
Last win	N/A
Last Grand Prix	2000 Malaysian Grand Prix

Pedro Paulo Diniz (born in São Paulo on May 22, 1970 as a son of Abilio Diniz) was a Formula One driver from Brazil. He participated in 98 grands prix, debuting on March 26, 1995. He scored a total of 10 championship points. He joined the Forti team due to his father's supermarket ownership connections leading to a marketing-deal with Parmalat, backing he took throughout his career. At the 1996 Argentine Grand Prix his car burst into flames after a pit-stop; British newspaper The Sun printed the photo alongside the headline "Diniz in the Oven".<ref>"Stan the Man signs off"</ref>

In 1997 he was teamed with Damon Hill at Arrows, and embarrassed the world champion by outqualifying him at the challenging Spa circuit in Belgium. He remained at the team in 1998 alongside Mika Salo, matching his higher-rated team-mate for points. Two seasons with Sauber were largely unspectacular in terms of results, although he outscored team-mate Jean Alesi in 1999. He had a huge crash in the 1999 European Grand Prix, from which he was lucky to walk away.

While his reputation had advanced from his early days, it dropped again in 2000. At Hockenheim he side-swiped Alesi resulting in a huge crash,<ref>YouTube video of the crash, retrieved August 24 2006</ref> while he was blamed for an incident in Austria which damaged several cars. He retired at the end of the season, buying into the Prost team, which folded a year later. By that time his relationship with Alain Prost had soured.

[edit] Prior To F1

1987-88 : Karting
1989 : Formula Ford Brazil
1990 : Formula Three South America
1991-92 : British Formula Three
1993-94 : Formula 3000

[edit] Complete Formula One Results

(key)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Team	WDC	Points
1995	Forti	BRA 10	BRZ NC	SMR NC	ESP Ret	MON 10	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 13	ITA 9	POR 16	EUR 13	PCF 17	JPN Ret	AUS 7	Forti	N/A	0
1996	Ligier	AUS 10	BRA 8	ARG Ret	EUR 10	SMR 7	MON Ret	ESP 6	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA 6	POR Ret	JPN Ret		Ligier	15th	2
1997	Arrows	AUS 10	BRA Ret	ARG Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN 8	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 7	ITA Ret	AUT 13	LUX 5	JPN 12	EUR Ret	Arrows	=16th	2
1998	Arrows	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	ARG Ret	SMR Ret	ESP Ret	MON 6	CAN 9	FRA 14	GBR Ret	AUT Ret	GER Ret	HUN 11	BEL 5	ITA Ret	LUX Ret	JPN Ret		Arrows	=13th	3
1999	Sauber	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN 6	FRA Ret	GBR 6	AUT 6	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	EUR Ret	MYS Ret	JPN 11		Sauber	=13th	3
2000	Sauber	AUS Ret	BRA DNS	SMR 8	GBR 11	ESP Ret	EUR 7	MON Ret	CAN 10	FRA 11	AUT 9	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 11	ITA 8	USA 8	JPN 11	MYS Ret	Sauber	N/A	0