Born |
Trieste, Italy |
3 October 1941
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Formula One World Championship career | |
Nationality | Italian |
Active years | 1968, 1970–1973 |
Teams | Ferrari, McLaren, March, Surtees, Brabham |
Entries | 36 (30 starts) |
Championships | 0 |
Wins | 0 |
Podiums | 0 |
Career points | 6 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
First entry | 1968 South African Grand Prix |
Last entry | 1973 British Grand Prix |
Andrea Lodovico de Adamich (born 3 October 1941) is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 34 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, making his début on 1 January 1968. He scored a total of 6 championship points. He also participated in numerous non-Championship Formula One races.
De Adamich was born in Trieste, but the family originated from Fiume where his ancestor Andrea Lodovico de Adamich had been the wealthiest and most powerful merchant. Andrea de Adamich was an accomplished saloon and sport-car racer who performed solidly when asked to race in F1 where he was one of the few drivers to have worn spectacles to race.
He won the 1966 European Touring Car Championship at the start of a long relationship with Alfa Romeo and made his GP debut in the 1968 South African race when his Ferrari spun off on oil. Later in the season he won a South American F2 tournament with Ferrari but was not retained by the Italian giants and he returned to the Alfa Romeo fold as they entered F1 supplying engines to a third works McLaren. De Adamich only finished once in 1970 in the McLaren-Alfa and had no more luck the following year when the Alfa engine deal switched to March.
In 1972 De Adamich joined the Surtees team and finished a good 4th in the Spanish GP at Jarama. In 1973 he repeated that placing in the Belgian GP at Zolder in a sponsored Brabham but was unable to complete the season due to injuries sustained in a multiple pile-up at the British GP.
De Adamich retired the following year and became a respected motor sport journalist and TV pundit in his native Italy. From 1978 through 2012 he conducted the TV sport program "Grand Prix" on Italia 1.