Pedro Diniz

Diniz at the 1995 British Grand Prix

Diniz entered Formula One, the highest category of circuit racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body, with the Forti team, as team-mate to Roberto Moreno in 1995.[5] In addition, this was the first of a three-year contract with Diniz and his backers.[6] Despite his lack of success in F3000, he was guaranteed a seat as his family and sponsors were paying a significant amount of the team's budget.[6] Furthermore, retired driver René Arnoux was employed as a consultant and driver coach for Diniz.[7] The season started with Diniz scoring three consecutive finishes, albeit outside of the points scoring positions—but was not classified for the races in Argentina and San Marino. He did not finish the next race in Spain due to a gearbox problem and finished tenth in Monaco. Diniz retired from the next five races he entered, primarily from car issues and spun off into retirement at Magny-Cours. He subsequently finished every remaining race of the season, apart from the Grand Prix held at Suzuka where he spun off. He finished the season scoring no points and was unclassified in the Drivers' Championship.[8] Diniz's good finishing record enabled him to establish himself as a steady, dependable driver.[6] In December, Diniz signed for the Ligier team for 1996, despite team owner Tom Walkinshaw initially refusing to hold talks with the Brazilian driver.[9] Ligier eventually signed Diniz after a shootout test session against other drivers in which Diniz was the fastest, also impressing the team with his approach and technical feedback. At the end of the season, Diniz and his sponsors were described as "throwing their money away" on the uncompetitive Forti.[10] But the more significant impact of his first year in F1 was that the Brazilian had done nothing to assuage critics who had said he was a "pay driver". It took him several years to prove that he was not just in the sport because of his funding.[11]

Diniz started the season by finishing outside of the points in the opening two races—tenth in Australia and eighth in Brazil. At the Argentine Grand Prix, his car burst into flames after a pit-stop due to its fuel valve sticking open; British newspaper The Sun famously printed the photo alongside the headline "Diniz in the Oven".[12] After failing to finish at Monaco, a race which his teammate Panis won, Diniz scored his first career point with a sixth-place finish at Catalunya. Six straight retirements followed before he scored another sixth-place finish at Monza. Following his poor season with Forti in 1995 little was expected of him for 1996, so there was mild surprise when he managed to out-qualify the better rated Panis at Hockenheim and establish himself as a driver capable of scoring points. He finished the season 15th in the Drivers' Championship with two points, six places and 11 points behind Panis.[13]

After the season concluded, it was announced that Diniz would leave Ligier for the Arrows team for 1997, partnering reigning World Champion Damon Hill. An important factor was the amount of sponsorship Diniz brought to Arrows, estimated to be worth $13 million.[14]

1997

For 1997, Diniz was confident heading into the season and his decision to join Arrows, saying: "The all-round strength of the package Tom [Walkinshaw] has put together for 1997 made the decision very easy for me".[3] Diniz started his season with a finish in Australia and later suffered from consecutive retirements in the next five races. He managed to finish eighth in Canada, before picking up further consecutive retirements in the next four races. Diniz managed to secure a seventh-place finish in Belgium, however he had been running in an excellent third place before a problem at his first pit stop dropped him out of contention. Diniz suffering a further retirement in Italy, however he managed to secure finishes in the next three consecutive races, which included a points scoring finish at the Luxembourg Grand Prix and retired from the final race of the season at the European Grand Prix. Diniz's reputation grew throughout the season from a mere pay driver to a genuine racing driver, he managed to out-qualify teammate Hill in Belgium and Japan, two of the most technically challenging tracks on the calendar, also having a number of strong race performances. In October, Arrows announced that Diniz had signed a one-year extension to his contract, remaining with the team for 1998.[3] Diniz finished the season in sixteenth place in the Drivers' Championship, with two points, and finished four places behind team-mate Hill.[15]

1998

Diniz remained at Arrows for 1998, partnered by Mika Salo. Diniz endured a torrid start: his car suffered gearbox problems in the opening three rounds and endured engine failures in the races at San Marino and Spain. He scored his first point of the season with a sixth-place finish in Monaco and managed to finish the races in Canada and France. Diniz suffered three more consecutive retirements, and finished the races in Hungary and Belgium, in eleventh and fifth respectively. Diniz finished the season by retiring in the final three races. He finished 14th in the Drivers' Championship, and was tied on points with team-mate Salo.[16]

At the end of the season, Diniz became embroiled in a contract dispute. On 12 October, Diniz chose to leave Arrows and signed a contract to join Sauber,[17] having been previously linked to a seat at BAR.[18] Arrows, however, insisted that they had the right to exercise their option to keep Diniz. Diniz argued that the Arrows option contained a clause allowing him to leave if Arrows did not deliver performances required by the driver. The dispute went to Formula One's Contract Recognition Board, who ruled in favour of Diniz on 22 February.[19] Arrows later sued Diniz for £4 million, for breach of contract.[20] The case was later heard by the Commercial High Court in London in February 2001 and ruled that Arrows owner Tom Walkinshaw pay Diniz £500,000 in compensation.[21] Arrows later applied for an appeal against the decision, and the Court of Appeal ruled in Diniz's favour in February 2002.[22]

1999

For 1999, Diniz partnered experienced driver Jean Alesi at Sauber. He endured a torrid start: He was forced into retirement in the first five races held in the season; and in the sixth race of the season held in Canada, he managed to score his first point of the season with a sixth-place finish. Diniz suffered a retirement at the next round in France, before clinching consecutive sixth-place finishes in the next two races and later suffered further consecutive retirements in the following six races. In late August, it was announced that Diniz would remain at Sauber for 2000.[23] At the European Grand Prix, Diniz was hit by Benetton driver Alexander Wurz who sent the Sauber driver into a barrel roll and suffered a bruised knee and shoulder, resulting from his car's roll hoop becoming damaged.[24] The season was somewhat of a disappointment for both the team and the driver, however although Diniz only finished four races all season he scored points in three of them. Diniz finished the season fourteenth in the Drivers' Championship and scored three points.[4]

2000

Diniz at the 2000 Canadian Grand Prix

For 2000, Diniz again competed with Sauber and was partnered with Mika Salo. Team principal Peter Sauber stated Diniz and Salo would have equal status and that the former would use his experience over the upcoming season.[25]

Diniz started off the season by retiring with transmission problems in Australia. He, along with Salo, were forced to withdraw from the Brazilian Grand Prix due to potentially dangerous wing failures during the weekend.[26] He managed to finish in the next two races—eighth in San Marino and eleventh at the British Grand Prix—which was followed by a retirement at the Spanish Grand Prix due to a spin on the first lap. He was involved in a collision with Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton in Austria for which he received a stop-go penalty,[27] and in Germany, Diniz collided with Prost driver Jean Alesi forcing both drivers to retire.[28] Diniz finished the year scoring no points and was unclassified in the Drivers' Championship.[4]

Diniz became unhappy at Sauber over a test session shoot out at Mugello against fellow countryman Enrique Bernoldi.[29] He held talks with the Prost and Sauber teams during October,[30] and could not find a race seat with either team. Diniz decided to withdraw from active motorsport and his family purchased a 40 percent stake of the Prost team for $10 million and took a management role within the team.[31]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key)

^† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.