The 2011 Formula One season came to a close at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, with Mark Webber sweeping to victory after team mate Sebastian Vettel decided he'd got a little bored of winning everything all season and wanted to have a look at what the crowd below looked like from a different step on the podium.
Two laps behind them, Jarno Trulli in his Caterham-Lotus-Superteam Malaysia F1 car plodded across the line, whilst his compatriot Tonio Liuzzi fizzled out 8 laps before with an alternator problem, capping off a dreadful season for Italian motorsport. For the first time since 1996, when the majestic talents of the likes of Andrea Montermini, Luca Badoer, Giovanni Lavaggi and Giancarlo Fisichella (in his Minardi days) an Italian driver failed to score a single point.
If you think Italy, and think F1, and immediate thoughts are of Ferrari, and the tifosi, not the likes of Trulli or Liuzzi. And is it any wonder? Realistically, an Italian driver hasn't fought for the world title since 1985, when Michele Alboreto had a decent go at it whilst Alain Prost tried desperately to throw it away in the first half of the season, before getting a stern talking to, and pulling it all together in the latter stages to breeze past the Ferrari man.
And whilst the likes of Fisichella and Riccardo Patrese both sat in world-championship winning machinery, much like every British tennis fan who watched Tim Henman at Wimbledon every year, we all knew in our heart of hearts, neither were ever likely to challenge for the title against their more established team mates.
With both Trulli and Liuzzi's seats looking, to use a technical term "a little bit iffy" for next year, given the promise of other driver's wallets, it begs the question, where is the new breed of Italian drivers for the tifosi to also cheer on? Germany has Vettel, Britain has a great trio of drivers (though admittedly Button may not have as many years left as Lewis or Paul), Alonso isn't going anywhere just yet, then there’s the likes of Ricciardo for Australia, Vergne and Bianchi for France, Bottas for Finland, Brazil has Senna, even the likes of Canada (Robert Wickens) and Mexico (Perez and Esteban Gutierrez). So where are the upcoming Italians?
In a parallel universe, we wouldn’t be asking this question. Just a few years ago, there was a clear abundance of Italian driving talent in full view. Trulli and Fisichella both has their chances at Renault, when Renault was doing the unthinkable and actually winning races through skill, and not kindly asking their drivers to crash into walls on purpose, whilst both Liuzzi and the great Giorgio Pantano looked destined for great careers, with both testing for top teams following fairly dominant junior success.
But for one reason or another that never happened, and consequently since then, we haven't had an Italian on the podium since Trulli finished second at Suzuka in 2009, and haven't had a winner since Fisi won the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix. Both Pantano and Liuzzi's careers have all but fizzled out, so is there anyone coming to save the Italian grace?
Luca Filippi finished second in the GP2 Series this year, but at the age of roughly 87, his chances of nailing a drive are slim to none, barring him popping into his local bank, masked up, and exiting with a large bag marked 'swag'. Edoardo Mortara impressed a lot of people by winning back-to-back Macau grands prix, but has since toddled off to the DTM, and unless he does "a di Resta" – by which I mean, Mercedes goes and plonks him in an F1 seat somewhere, rather than the Italian F1 coverage labeling him "the greatest rookie in the history of everything ever", as the BBC did with Paul this year.
The best F1 bets for the future lie with three others though; Davide Valsecchi, Kevin Ceccon and Mirko Bortolotti. Valsecchi nearly nailed a drive with HRT last year, and with strong ties to the Caterham team, and the possible need for a new driver soon, should Trulli soon be shipped off to the nearest home, by choice or not, and apparently has a fair bit of cash in his wallet. Ceccon meanwhile, won the AutoGP crown this year, whilst not being the most prestigious of series, won it at the tender age of 18, giving him plenty of time to mature in GP2 next year, having nailed a drive with Coloni. Bortolotti meanwhile, test drove for Williams at the recent young drivers test, and won the F2 title this year, suggesting some promise at least.
So it all may not be lost for Italian drivers. Whilst Ferrari will no doubt be the heart and soul of Italian motorsport, it’d still be nice to see an Italian on the top step of the podium in the not-too-distant future.
