Esteban Tuero
| Born |
22 April 1978 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |
 Argentine |
| Active years | 1998 |
| Teams | Minardi |
| Entries | 16 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1998 Australian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1998 Japanese Grand Prix |
Esteban Tuero (born 22 April 1978) is an Argentine racing driver who raced for the Minardi Formula One team in 1998. At 19, he became the then-third-youngest (now sixth youngest) F1 driver in history when he landed his seat alongside Shinji Nakano, but left the sport at the end of the season.
Esteban Tuero was born at a time when the likes of Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost were just beginning their careers. The Argentine Grand Prix was based near to his home, at the Oscar Gálvez race circuit. This meant that Formula One was popular where he grew up and, though the grand prix was discontinued in 1981, the sport was one of the biggest in the country.
Tuero was born to a family who had a huge interest in motor racing, his father being a minor race car driver, and so Esteban was groomed for the big time from an early age by beginning karts at the age of seven. He would drive karts until 1992, moving up to the Formula series the following year.
Tuero moved up to car racing in 1993, spending a season with the Crespi team in Formula Renault. In 1994, he switched to Formula Honda with the Kissling team, becoming champion. All of his career so far had been in his native Argentina, so despite the pressures of racing in a Formula series whilst only 14, he was given his first taste of traveling the continent with a few races in South American Formula Three, driving a Ralt/Opel with the INI team.
In 1995, he moved to Europe, his father knowing his career would need to go there in order to gain momentum. He won the Italian Formula 2000 National Trophy by a large margin in a Dallara 392, and was also given a taste of Italian Formula Three in a Dallara 395. In 1996, he joined the bigger Italian F3 team Coloni Motorsport, driving a Dallara 396 with an Alfa Romeo engine. His performances in the series started generating interest from Formula One teams, with Benetton in the frame for signing him. It would be Minardi, though, who secured his services as a test driver for the team, despite being just 18 years old.
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