Michele Alboreto (; 23 December 1956 – 25 April 2001) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Alboreto was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari, and won five Grands Prix across 14 seasons. In endurance racing, Alboreto won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in with Joest, as well as the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2001 with Audi.
Alboreto's career in motorsport began in 1976, racing a car he and a number of his friends had built in the Formula Monza series. The car, however, achieved very little success and two years later Alboreto moved up to Formula Three. Wins in the Italian Formula Three championship and a European Formula Three Championship crown in 1980 paved the way for his entrance into Formula One with the Tyrrell team.
Two wins, the first in the final round of the season in Las Vegas, and the second a year later in Detroit, earned Alboreto a place with the Ferrari team. Alboreto took three wins for the Italian team and challenged Alain Prost for the 1985 Championship, eventually losing out by twenty points. The following three seasons were less successful, however, and at the end of the season, the Italian left Ferrari and re-signed with his former employers Tyrrell, where he stayed until joining Larrousse midway through .
Further seasons with Footwork, Scuderia Italia and Minardi followed during the tail end of his F1 career. In 1995, Alboreto moved on to sportscars and a year later the American IndyCar series. He took his final major victories, the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hours and 2001 Sebring 12 Hours, with German manufacturers Porsche and Audi, respectively. In 2001, a month after his Sebring victory, he was killed testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany.
Career
1976–1981: Junior formulae
Alboreto started his career in 1976 racing in Formula Monza with a car he and his friends built, known as the "CMR". The car itself proved to be uncompetitive and in 1978 Alboreto, now in a more competitive March, moved over to Formula Italia where he began to take race wins. Two years later Alboreto moved up to Formula Three, racing in a Euroracing-entered March-Toyota in both the European and Italian series.|width=29%|align=right
would prove to be Alboreto's most successful year in Formula One. He took two wins: the first a dominant win at the Canadian Grand Prix with new team mate Stefan Johansson finishing second, and the second at the German Grand Prix where he had a somewhat luckier time, twice being involved in incidents with other cars (once with Johansson at the very first corner of the race, giving his team mate a flat tyre) and with his car trailing oil smoke for much of the event, though a brake problem and a lack of power from the TAG-Porsche engine kept his main title rival Alain Prost from challenging. Alboreto led the points table until Round 11 at Zandvoort, but finished the season in second place with 53 points, 20 points behind new World Champion Prost. Formula One journalist Nigel Roebuck commented that "Alboreto was Prost's only real challenger for the World Championship". At Monza, however, Williams announced he had signed Belgian Thierry Boutsen instead while also confirming that the team's number 2 driver, Alboreto's former Lancia sportscar teammate Riccardo Patrese, would be staying with the team. As it was late in the season, Alboreto was left with few options for the coming season and arguably signalled the end of his time driving for one of the top teams.
1989: Tyrrell and Larrousse
A lack of a drive had left Alboreto in a difficult situation and he later said that he contemplated retirement – an option of which his family were very much in favour. However, he was offered a drive at his former employer Tyrrell, which he accepted. The relationship between Alboreto and team boss, Ken Tyrrell, soon turned sour. At the Monaco Grand Prix, Alboreto was told to drive the 1988 model Tyrrell 017, due to the newer 018 model not being completed. a rival brand to Camel. Alboreto was disappointed, as thanks to his Marlboro backing, the team had managed to fund his wages. Following Alboreto's refusal to cut his ties with his sponsor, Tyrrell replaced him with the up-and-coming French Formula 3000 driver Jean Alesi. Alesi finished fourth in his first Grand Prix for the team at the French Grand Prix. He was, however, soon hired by the French Larrousse team, incidentally co-sponsored by Camel, for the German Grand Prix and the rest of the season. Although his new teammate Philippe Alliot showed that the Lola LC89 with its Lamborghini V12 engine could be a competitive car with high grid positions and challenging for points in various races, Alboreto failed to score a single point for the rest of the season, and twice he even failed to pre-qualify in Spain (where Alliot not only pre-qualified, but then qualified a season high fifth) and in the final round in Australia, while in between those two races the Italian also failed to qualify in Japan. During qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Italian cut one of the chicanes and broke two of his ribs in the process.
Alboreto won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans with the same car as the previous year, but this time alongside Swede Stefan Johansson, another former F1 teammate, and Dane Tom Kristensen, who would later go onto beat Jacky Ickx's record for winning the most Le Mans 24 Hour races. The trio completed 361 laps, one more than second-placed Gulf Team Davidoff's BMW-powered McLaren F1 GTR. This would prove to be the peak of Alboreto's sportscar success as he failed to finish at Le Mans in 1998 with Porsche once again. However, a fourth place at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans with the newcomer Audi, a third at the 2000 Le Mans 24 Hours, a victory at the 2000 Petit Le Mans and a win at the 2001 Sebring 12 Hours gave the Italian some final success prior to his death a month after his win at Sebring.
Death
thumb|200px|right|An [[Audi R8 (LMP)|Audi R8 as it appeared in 2001 when Alboreto was testing at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz.]]
In late April 2001, Alboreto and a small group of Audi engineers travelled to the EuroSpeedway Lausitz near Dresden in eastern Germany to perform a series of tests on an Audi R8 in preparation for their participation at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Alboreto mainly drove the car in the area of the facility that is used for public racing events, using the tri-oval for quicker laps and the Grand Prix circuit for slower laps, but some testing also took place within the limits of the adjacent proving ground, which features an elongated oval track with two long straights. Initially, Audi gave no reason for the crash, stating the R8 had "already completed thousands of test kilometres on numerous circuits without any problems." Five days later, the conclusions of an investigation into the accident were reported. The tyre failure was attributed to a gradual loss of air pressure, caused by a loose screw that had found its way into the tyre. As there was no indication of a mechanical problem or driver error, the tyre failure was determined to be the sole cause of the crash. The finding motivated Audi to expedite the implementation of a new sensor-based TPMS in their racecars.
Alboreto's death brought much anguish among his family and friends who had longed for him to give up racing due to its dangerous nature. Michele's cousin Marisa told Italian news agency ANSA, "You can't imagine what we're going through as a family. We're really distraught."
On 28 August 2021, it was announced that the final corner at the Monza Circuit, the Curva Parabolica, would be officially renamed the Curva Alboreto during the 2021 Italian Grand Prix weekend to mark the 20th anniversary of Alboreto's death.
Helmet
Alboreto's helmet was blue with a yellow stripe with white edges covering the centre of the helmet. The colours were a tribute to Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson, whose helmet design also used them to reflect the Swedish flag. Alboreto and Peterson first met in 1972 and were friends until the Swedish driver's death in 1978.
Racing career results
Career summary
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%; text-align:center"
!Season
!Series
!Team
!Races
!Wins
!Poles
!F/Laps
!Podiums
!Points
!Position
|-
!rowspan=2|1979
|align=left|European Formula Three
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Euroracing
|6
|0
|2
|1
|2
|19
|6th
|-
|align=left|Italian Formula Three
|?
|3
|?
|?
|?
|47
|style="background:#DFDFDF"|2nd
|-
!rowspan=5|1980
|align=left|European Formula Three
|align=left|Euroracing
|14
|4
|3
|1
|8
|60
|style="background:#FFFFBF"|1st
|-
|align=left|World Sportscar Championship
|align=left|Lancia Corse
|4
|1
|?
|?
|3
|N/A
|NC
|-
|align=left|Italian Formula Three
|rowspan="3" style="text-align:left"|Euroracing
|2
|0
|1
|0
|2
|25
|style="background:#FFDF9F"|3rd
|-
|align=left|German Formula Three
|2
|1
|1
|0
|2
|0
|NC
|-
|align=left|Vandervell British Formula Three
|?
|?
|?
|?
|?
|4
|13th
|-
!rowspan=3|1981
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left|Tyrrell Racing Team
|10
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|NC
|-
|align=left|European Formula Two
|align=left|Minardi
|10
|1
|1
|1
|2
|13
|8th
|-
|align=left|World Sportscar Championship
|align=left|Martini Racing
|4
|1
|0
|1
|1
|37
|52nd
|-
!rowspan=2|1982
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left|Team Tyrrell
|16
|1
|0
|1
|2
|25
|8th
|-
|align=left|World Sportscar Championship
|align=left|Martini Racing
|8
|3
|1
|1
|3
|63
|5th
|-
!rowspan=3|1983
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left|Benetton Tyrrell Team
|15
|1
|0
|0
|1
|10
|12th
|-
|align=left|World Sportscar Championship
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Martini Racing
|5
|0
|0
|0
|0
|2
|85th
|-
|align=left|European Endurance Championship
|1
|0
|0
|0
|0
|12
|28th
|-
!1984
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left|Ferrari
|16
|1
|1
|1
|4
|30.5
|4th
|-
!1985
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left|Ferrari
|16
|2
|1
|2
|8
|53
|style="background:#DFDFDF"|2nd
|-
!1986
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left|Ferrari
|16
|0
|0
|0
|1
|14
|9th
|-
!1987
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left|Ferrari
|16
|0
|0
|0
|3
|17
|7th
|-
!1988
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left|Ferrari
|16
|0
|0
|1
|3
|24
|5th
|-
!rowspan=2|1989
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Formula One
|align=left|Tyrrell Racing Organisation
|5
|0
|0
|0
|1
|rowspan=2|6
|rowspan=2|13th
|-
|align=left|Team Larrousse
|5
|0
|0
|0
|0
|-
!1990
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left|Footwork Arrows Racing
|13
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|NC
|-
!1991
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left nowrap|Footwork Porsche
Footwork Ford
|9
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|NC
|-
!1992
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left|Footwork Mugen-Honda
|16
|0
|0
|0
|0
|6
|10th
|-
!1993
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left|Lola BMS Scuderia Italia
|9
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|NC
|-
!1994
|align=left|Formula One
|align=left|Minardi Scuderia Italia
|16
|0
|0
|0
|0
|1
|25th
|-
!rowspan=3|1995
|align=left|Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Schübel Engineering
|13
|0
|0
|0
|0
|4
|22nd
|-
|align=left nowrap|International Touring Car Championship
|7
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|28th
|-
|align=left|IMSA GT Championship
|align=left|Euromotorsport Racing
|3
|0
|2
|0
|1
|49
|27th
|-
!rowspan=3|1996
|align=left|Indy Racing League
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Scandia Racing
|3
|0
|0
|0
|0
|189
|11th
|-
|align=left|IMSA GT Championship
|2
|0
|0
|1
|1
|0
|NC
|-
|align=left|24 Hours of Le Mans
|align=left|Joest Racing
|1
|0
|0
|0
|0
|N/A
|DNF
|-
!1996–97
|align=left|Indy Racing League
|align=left|Scandia Racing
|2
|0
|0
|0
|1
|62
|32nd
|-
!1997
|align=left|24 Hours of Le Mans
|align=left|Joest Racing
|1
|1
|1
|0
|1
|N/A
|style="background:#FFFFBF"|1st
|-
!1998
|align=left|24 Hours of Le Mans
|align=left|Porsche AG / Joest Racing
|1
|0
|0
|0
|0
|N/A
|DNF
|-
!rowspan=2|1999
|align=left|American Le Mans Series
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Audi Sport Team Joest
|1
|0
|0
|0
|1
|24
|43rd
|-
|align=left|24 Hours of Le Mans
|1
|0
|0
|0
|1
|N/A
|4th
|-
!rowspan=2|2000
|align=left|American Le Mans Series
|align=left|Audi Sport North America
|3
|1
|0
|0
|2
|44
|27th
|-
|align=left|24 Hours of Le Mans
|align=left|Audi Sport Team Joest
|1
|0
|0
|0
|1
|N/A
|style="background:#FFDF9F"|3rd
|-
!rowspan=2|2001
|align=left|American Le Mans Series
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Audi Sport North America
|1
|1
|0
|0
|1
|31
|22nd
|-
|align=left|European Le Mans Series
|1
|1
|0
|0
|1
|N/A
|NC
|-
!colspan="10"|
|}
Complete World Sportscar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
! Year
! Entrant
! Class
! Chassis
! Engine
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! 12
! 13
! 14
! 15
!
! Pts
|-
| 1980
! nowrap| Lancia Corse
! Gr.5
! nowrap| Lancia Beta Monte Carlo
! nowrap| Lancia 1.4 L4t
| DAY
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| BRH<br>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| MUG<br>
| MNZ
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SIL<br>
| NÜR
| LMS
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| GLN<br>
| MOS
| VAL
| DIJ
|colspan=4|
!colspan=2|
|-
| 1981
! nowrap| Martini Racing
! Gr.5
! nowrap| Lancia Beta Monte Carlo
! nowrap| Lancia 1.4 L4t
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| DAY<br>
| SEB
|style="background:#000000; color:white"| <span style="color:white;">MUG</span><br>
| MNZ
| RSD
| SIL
| NÜR
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| LMS<br>
| PER
| DAY
|style="background:#FBFFBF;"| GLN<br>
| SPA
| MOS
| ROA
| BRH
! 52nd
! 37
|-
| 1982
! nowrap| Martini Racing
! Gr.6
! nowrap| Lancia LC1
! nowrap| Lancia 1.4 L4t
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MNZ<br>
|style="background:#FBFFBF;"| SIL<br>
|style="background:#FBFFBF;"| NÜR<br>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| LMS<br>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SPA<br>
|style="background:#FBFFBF;"| MUG<br>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FUJ<br>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| BRH<br>
|colspan=7|
! 5th
! 63
|-
| 1983
! nowrap| Martini Racing
! C
! nowrap| Lancia LC2
! nowrap| Ferrari 268C 2.6 V8t
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| MNZ<br>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SIL<br>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NÜR<br>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| LMS<br>
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SPA<br>
| FUJ
| KYA
|colspan=8|
! 86th
! 2
|-
!colspan="22"|
|}
;Footnotes:
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
|-
! Year
! Team
! Co-Drivers
! Car
! Class
! Laps
!
!
|-
!
|align="left" nowrap| Martini Racing
|align="left" nowrap| Eddie Cheever<br> Carlo Facetti
|align="left" nowrap| Lancia Beta Monte Carlo
| Gr. 5
| 322
| 8th
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2nd
|-
!
|align="left" nowrap| Martini Racing
|align="left" nowrap| Teo Fabi<br> Rolf Stommelen
|align="left" nowrap| Lancia LC1
| Gr. 6
| 92
| DNF
| DNF
|-
!
|align="left" nowrap| Martini Lancia
|align="left" nowrap| Piercarlo Ghinzani<br> Hans Heyer
|align="left" nowrap| Lancia LC2
| C
| 121
| DNF
| DNF
|-
!
|align="left" nowrap| Joest Racing
|align="left" nowrap| Pierluigi Martini<br> Didier Theys
|align="left" nowrap| TWR Porsche WSC-95
| LMP1
| 300
| DNF
| DNF
|-
!
|align="left" nowrap| Joest Racing
|align="left" nowrap| Stefan Johansson<br> Tom Kristensen
|align="left" nowrap| TWR Porsche WSC-95
| LMP
| 361
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1st
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1st
|-
!
|align="left" nowrap| Porsche AG<br> Joest Racing
|align="left" nowrap| Stefan Johansson<br> Yannick Dalmas
|align="left" nowrap| Porsche LMP1-98
| LMP1
| 107
| DNF
| DNF
|-
!
|align="left" nowrap| Audi Sport Team Joest
|align="left" nowrap| Rinaldo Capello<br> Laurent Aïello
|align="left" nowrap| Audi R8R
| LMP
| 346
| 4th
|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd
|-
!
|align="left"| Audi Sport Team Joest
|align="left"| Christian Abt<br> Rinaldo Capello
|align="left"| Audi R8
| LMP900
| 365
|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd
|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd
|-
!colspan="8"|
|}
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
|-
! Year
! Entrant
! Chassis
! Engine
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! 12
!
! Pts
|-
|
! nowrap| Minardi Team
! nowrap| Minardi Fly 281
! BMW
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SIL<br />
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| HOC<br />
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| THR<br />
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NÜR<br />
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| VAL<br />
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MUG<br />
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| PAU<br />
|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| PER<br />
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SPA<br />
| DON
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| MIS<br />
| MAN
! 8th
! 13
|-
!colspan="18"|
|}
<sup>†</sup> Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.<br>
<sup>‡</sup> Race was stopped with less than 75% of laps completed, half points awarded.
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%;"
|-
! Year
! Team
! Car
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! 12
! 13
! 14
!
! Pts
|-
| 1995
! nowrap| Schübel Engineering
! nowrap| Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| HOC<br>1<br>
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| HOC<br>2<br>
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| AVU<br>1<br>
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| AVU<br>2<br>
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NOR<br>1<br>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NOR<br>2<br>
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| DIE<br>1<br>
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| DIE<br>2<br>
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NÜR<br>1<br>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NÜR<br>2<br>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ALE<br>1<br>
|style="background:#FFFFFF;"| ALE<br>2<br>
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| HOC<br>1<br>
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| HOC<br>2<br>
! 22nd
! 4
|-
!colspan="19"|