Norberto Fontana

Norberto Edgardo Fontana (born 20 January 1975) is an Argentine racing driver. He participated in four Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 29 June 1997 but scoring no championship points.

Fontana's opportunity to race came as a result of two separate injuries sustained by regular Sauber driver Gianni Morbidelli during the 1997 season. During the 1997 European Grand Prix, Fontana had gained attention for apparently blocking Jacques Villeneuve to let rival Michael Schumacher pull away from the Canadian. He attempted to enter with the Tyrrell team for 1998 but was dropped in favour of Brazilian Ricardo Rosset and with Minardi for 2000. In between his time in F1, Fontana raced in Formula Nippon. In 2010, he won the Konex Award as one of the five best Racing Drivers of the last decade in Argentina.

Early career

Fontana was born in Arrecifes, Buenos Aires, as the son of Hector and Clara Fontana. He started racing at the age of eight at the Summer Night Championship in Lujan. In 1989, he began a full season of karting and finished 2nd in the Youth Kart Championship of Buenos Aires Province. The following year, Fontana progressed to a higher level of championship and finished fourth. In 1992, he moved into car racing and competed in the Formula Renault Argentina series before moving into the European series events in 1993.

Fontana raced in the German Formula Three Championship series in 1994 and 1995, winning the 1995 title as well as that year's Marlboro Masters event at Zandvoort circuit. He claimed the title ahead of drivers including Ralf Schumacher, Alexander Wurz, Jarno Trulli and Jan Magnussen.

In 1996, Fontana entered Formula Nippon for the Nova Engineering team driving a Lola T96/51 Mugen. His highlights were finishing second twice in Fuji in a season that included multiple accidents, mechanical failures and poor results. In 1997, he drove for the Le Mans team in their Reynard 97D Mugen. The season started badly but made a comeback to finish fifth in Fuji, a win at Mine and 3rd in Motegi.

At the 1997 European Grand Prix in Jerez, Fontana received a $5,000 fine for speeding in the pit lane and eventually qualified 18th. During the race, Fontana appeared to block Jacques Villeneuve, who was the direct rival of Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher at the time. ITV commentator Martin Brundle pointed out that the Sauber team used Ferrari engines at the time. Fontana eventually finished 14th with his highlight being overtaking Jos Verstappen with two wheels on the grass.

Touring car racing

thumb|right|Fontana driving a [[Toyota Corolla in the TC2000 Championship.]]

Fontana subsequently moved into Argentine touring car racing, driving in the Turismo Carretera, TC2000 and Top Race V6. In the TC2000, he was champion in 2002 (with Toyota) and 2010 (with Ford), and third in 2004 and 2014. In 2006, he was the Turismo Carretera champion. Until 2009, he drove for Toyota, given the relationship he had with the brand when he raced in Japan.

In 2022, at the age of 49, Fontana joined TCR South America.

Fontana also competed at the 2011 Dakar Rally in a buggy.

Racing record

Complete German Formula Three 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

! Engine

! Class

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! DC

! Pts

| 1994

! KMS

! Opel

! A

|style="background:#FFFFFF;"|ZOL 1

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"|ZOL 2

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"|HOC 1

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"|HOC 2

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"|NÜR 1

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"|NÜR 2

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|WUN 1

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"|WUN 2

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"|NOR 1

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"|NOR 2

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"|DIE 1

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"|DIE 2

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|NÜR 1

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|NÜR 2

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"|AVU 1

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"|AVU 2

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"|ALE 1

|style="background:#FFFFFF;"|ALE 2

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"|HOC 1

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"|HOC 2

! 6th

! 118

| 1995

! KMS

! Opel

! A

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|HOC 1

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|HOC 2

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|AVU 1

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|AVU 2

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"|NOR 1

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"|NOR 2

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"|DIE 1

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"|DIE 2

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|NÜR 1

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|NÜR 2

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|ALE 1

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|ALE 2

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|MAG 1

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"|MAG 2

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"|HOC 1

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"|HOC 2

|colspan=4|

!style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1st

!style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 256

Complete Formula Nippon 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

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! DC

! Points

| 1996

! nowrap| Shionogi Team Nova

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SUZ

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| MIN

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| FUJ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| TOK

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SUZ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SUG

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| FUJ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MIN

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SUZ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FUJ

! 5th

! 22

| 1997

! nowrap| Team LeMans

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SUZ

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MIN

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| FUJ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SUZ

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SUG

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| FUJ

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| MIN

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| MOT

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FUJ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SUZ

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 21

| 1998

! nowrap| LEMONed Racing Team LeMans

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| SUZ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MIN

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| FUJ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MOT

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SUZ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SUG

|style="background:#FFFFFF;"| FUJ

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| MIN

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| FUJ

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SUZ

! 4th

! 21

Complete International Formula 3000 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

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! DC

! Points

| 1996

! nowrap| Edenbridge Racing

| NÜR

| PAU

| PER

| HOC

| SIL

| SPA

| MAG

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| EST

| MUG

| HOC

|colspan=2|

! NC

! 0

| 1999

! nowrap| Fortec Motorsport

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| IMO

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| MON

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CAT

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MAG

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SIL

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| A1R

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| HOC

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| HUN

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SPA

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NÜR

|colspan=2|

! 15th

! 4

| 2001

! nowrap| F3000 Prost Junior Team

| INT

| IMO

| CAT

| A1R

| MON

| NÜR

| MAG

| SIL

| HOC

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| HUN

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SPA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MNZ

! 32nd

! 0

Complete Formula One results

(key)

{| 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

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! WDC

! Points

| 1997

! nowrap| Red Bull Sauber Petronas

! nowrap| Sauber C16

! nowrap| Petronas V10

| AUS

| BRA

| ARG

| SMR

| MON

| ESP

| CAN

|style="background:#efcfff;"| FRA

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| GBR

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| GER

| HUN

| BEL

| ITA

| AUT

| LUX

| JPN

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| EUR

! NC

! 0

Complete JGTC 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

! Class

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! DC

! Pts

| 1998

! nowrap| Toyota Castrol Team

! nowrap| Toyota Supra

! GT500

|style="background:#DFFFDF"|SUZ

|style="background:#FFFFFF"|FUJ

|style="background:#FFDF9F"|SEN

|style="background:#DFFFDF"|FUJ

|style="background:#FFDF9F"|MOT

|style="background:#CFCFFF"|MIN

|style="background:#EFCFFF"|SUG

! 7th

! 33

Complete CART results

(key)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! Year

! Team

! No.

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! Rank

! Points

! Ref

| 2000

! nowrap| Della Penna

! 10

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"|MIA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"|LBH

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"|RIO

|MOT

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"|NZR

|style="background:#DFC484;"|MIL Wth

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"|DET

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"|POR

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"|CLE

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"|TOR

|MIS

|CHI

|MOH

|ROA

|VAN

|LS

|STL

|HOU

|SRF

|FON

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"|28th

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"|2

Complete TCR World Tour results

(key)

{| 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

! DC

! Points

| 2024

! nowrap| Cobra Racing Team

! nowrap| Toyota GR Corolla Sport TCR

| VAL 1

| VAL 2

| MRK 1

| MRK 2

| MOH 1

| MOH 2

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SAP 1

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SAP 2

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ELP 1

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ELP 2

| ZHZ 1

| ZHZ 2

| MAC 1

| MAC 2

! 37th

! 4

References

External links

Fontana web