Pedro Diniz

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Pedro Diniz

Nationality Brazilian
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1995 - 2000
Teams	Forti, Ligier, Arrows, Sauber
Races	99 (98 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podium finishes	0
Career points	10
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	1995 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last race	2000 Malaysian Grand Prix

Pedro Paulo Diniz (born in São Paulo on May 22, 1970) is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 99 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on March 26, 1995. He scored a total of 10 championship points.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Prior To F1 3 Complete Formula One results 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

Diniz's motor racing career progressed as a result of his father, Abílio dos Santos Diniz, owning the Brazilian distribution company Companhia Brasileira de Distribuiçao and the supermarket chain Pao de Acucar.^[1] He joined the Forti F1 team due to these connections leading to a marketing-deal with Parmalat, backing he took throughout his career.^[2] 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".^[3]

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, and then again at the tough Suzuka circuit. 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, while he was blamed for an incident in Austria which damaged several cars.^[4] He decided to retire at the end of the season, buying into the Prost team, which folded a year later.^[1] By that time his relationship with team-owner Alain Prost had soured.^[5]

[edit] Prior To F1

1987-88 : Karting
1989 : Formula Ford Brazil
1990 : Formula Three Sudamericana
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	ARG 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	PAC 17	JPN Ret	AUS 7	Forti	21st	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	14th	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	MAL Ret	JPN 11		Sauber	14th	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	MAL Ret	Sauber	18th	0

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• PPD Holding official website - Pedro Diniz's company (Portuguese)