Norberto Fontana

Norberto Fontana
Born	(1975-01-20) January 20, 1975 Arrecifes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Occupation	Racing driver
Years active	1992–present
Known for	Formula One driver for Sauber in 1997, two-time TC2000 champion, Turismo Carretera champion

Norberto Edgardo Fontana (born 20 January 1975) is an Argentine racing driver who participated in four Formula One Grand Prix events during the 1997 season with the Sauber team, though he did not earn any championship points.

His entry into F1 came as a result of two injuries sustained by Sauber's regular driver Gianni Morbidelli in 1997. At the 1997 European Grand Prix, Fontana attracted attention for allegedly impeding Jacques Villeneuve to benefit rival driver Michael Schumacher. He pursued drives with Tyrrell in 1998 and later with Minardi in 2000, but was ultimately not retained by either team. Between these Formula One attempts, Fontana competed in Formula Nippon. In 2010, he was honored with the Konex Award as one of Argentina's five best racing drivers of the decade.

Early career

Originating from Arrecifes, Buenos Aires, Fontana started his motorsport journey at age eight. After securing second place in the 1989 Youth Kart Championship of Buenos Aires Province, he progressed through various karting categories before transitioning to car racing in 1992 via Formula Renault Argentina. The following year, he shifted to European racing circuits.

He took part in the German Formula Three Championship during 1994 and 1995, clinching the championship title in 1995 along with victory at the renowned Marlboro Masters held at Zandvoort. That season, he outperformed several prominent competitors such as Ralf Schumacher, Alexander Wurz, and Jarno Trulli.

In 1996, Fontana moved into Formula Nippon, joining Nova Engineering and piloting a Lola T96/51 powered by Mugen. Despite encountering multiple challenges, he achieved two runner-up finishes at Fuji Speedway. The subsequent year, driving for Le Mans in a Reynard 97D Mugen, he overcame a slow start to secure a win at Mine Circuit and podium placements at Fuji and Motegi.

Formula One

Fontana became part of the Sauber test squad in 1995 after receiving an invitation from Peter Sauber for a trial session in late 1994. He continued as a test driver throughout both the 1995 and 1996 seasons.

1997

His Formula One debut occurred at the 1997 French Grand Prix when he stepped in for the injured Gianni Morbidelli. Starting from 20th on the grid, his race ended prematurely due to understeering off into a gravel trap. Prior to the British Grand Prix, Peter Sauber contemplated replacing him but ultimately decided to keep Fontana on board. During qualifying there, Fontana failed to stop at a red light indicating a compulsory weight check, resulting in him starting from the back of the grid. Despite experiencing numbness in his right leg during the race, he managed to finish ninth. At Hockenheim, he qualified 18th and finished ninth again despite spinning early on.

At the European Grand Prix held at Jerez, Fontana was penalized with a $5,000 fine for exceeding pitlane speed limits and qualified 18th. In the race itself, he was observed obstructing Jacques Villeneuve—an adversary of Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher—while Sauber utilized Ferrari engines during this period. Fontana completed the race in 14th position, notably overtaking Jos Verstappen while running with two wheels off track.

Attempted comebacks

Fontana was in contention for Tyrrell’s seat in 1998 and even signed a provisional contract; however, British American Tobacco blocked his signing in favor of Ricardo Rosset who brought greater sponsorship backing. In 1999, Fontana tested with Minardi aiming to partner Marc Gené but once again lost out due to financial backing issues.

Post-Formula One

Fontana made a comeback to Formula Nippon, securing 4th place in the overall standings and achieving a victory at Fuji. Concurrently, he took part in the Japanese GT Championship alongside Masanori Sekiya; together, they placed 6th at Suzuka and earned podium finishes at Sendai and Motegi, ultimately ranking 7th in the season.

Touring car racing

Fontana shifted his focus to touring car competitions in Argentina, participating in Turismo Carretera, TC2000, and Top Race V6. He claimed the TC2000 championship titles twice: first in 2002 driving for Toyota and again in 2010 with Ford. Additionally, he secured third-place finishes in the championship during 2004 and 2014. In 2006, he captured the Turismo Carretera championship. Up until 2009, Fontana raced under Toyota, utilizing his connections from his time racing in Japan.

At the age of 49, Fontana entered the TCR South America series in 2022.

He also competed in the 2011 Dakar Rally piloting a buggy.

Complete German Formula Three results

(key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole positions) (Races shown in italics indicate fastest laps)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Pts
1994	KMS	Opel	A	ZOL 1 C	ZOL 2 15	HOC 1 11	HOC 2 8	NÜR 1 Ret	NÜR 2 9	WUN 1 1	WUN 2 8	NOR 1 5	NOR 2 20	DIE 1 Ret	DIE 2 13	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 1	AVU 1 3	AVU 2 2	ALE 1 Ret	ALE 2 DNS	HOC 1 2	HOC 2 Ret	6th	118
1995	KMS	Opel	A	HOC 1 1	HOC 2 1	AVU 1 1	AVU 2 1	NOR 1 3	NOR 2 4	DIE 1 3	DIE 2 3	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 1	ALE 1 1	ALE 2 1	MAG 1 1	MAG 2 1	HOC 1 4	HOC 2 20	colspan=4|	1st	256

Complete Formula Nippon results

(key) (Events highlighted in bold represent pole positions) (Events in italics denote fastest laps)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final Position	Points
1996	Shionogi Team Nova	SUZ 14	MIN 2	FUJ 1	TOK Ret	SUZ 8	SUG Ret	FUJ 2	MIN Ret	SUZ 11	FUJ Ret	5th	22
1997	Team LeMans	SUZ 9	MIN 8	FUJ 6	SUZ Ret	SUG 7	FUJ 2	MIN 1	MOT 3	FUJ Ret	SUZ Ret	3rd	21

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Entries in bold signify pole position) (Entries in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final Standing	Points
1996	Edenbridge Racing	NÜR	PAU	PER	HOC	SIL	SPA	MAG	EST Ret	MUG	HOC	NC	0
1999	Fortec Motorsport	IMO Ret	MON 5	CAT Ret	MAG Ret	SIL 5	A1R 8	HOC Ret	HUN Ret	SPA 14	15th	4
2001 International Formula 3000 season  │2001	nowrap  │ F3000 Prost Junior Team │Autódromo José Carlos Pace│INT │Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari│IMO │Circuit de Catalunya│CAT │Österreichring│A1R │Circuit de Monaco│MON │Nürburgring│NÜR │Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours│MAG │Silverstone Circuit│SIL │Hockenheimring│HOC │style="background:#CFCFFF;"│Hungaroring│HUN Template:Small│14 │style="background:#EFCFFF;"│Spa-Francorchamps│SPA Template:Small│Ret │style="background:#EFCFFF;"│Autodromo Nazionale Monza│MNZ Template:Small│Ret	32nd	0

Full Formula One Results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
1997	Red Bull Sauber Petronas	Sauber C16	Petronas V10	AUS	BRA	ARG	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA Ret	GBR 9	GER 9	HUN	BEL	ITA	AUT	LUX	JPN	EUR 14	NC	0

Full JGTC Results

(key) (bold indicates pole position, italics signify fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car Model	Class Category	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	DC	Points
1998	Toyota Castrol Team	Toyota Supra	GT500	Suzuka International Racing Course 6	Fuji Speedway C	Sendai Hi-Land Raceway 3	Fuji Speedway 8	Twin Ring Motegi 3	Mine Circuit 16	Sportsland Sugo Ret	7th	33

Complete CART Results

(key)

Year	Team Name	Car Number	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Final Standing	Points Total

|- | 2000

! nowrap | Della Penna Motorsports
!10 
|style="background:#CFCFFF;" |MIA
 
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" |LBH
 
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" |RIO
 
|MOT
 
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" |NZR
 
|style="background:#DFC484;" |MIL
Wth 
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" |DET
 
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" |POR
 
|style="background:#CFCFFF;" |CLE
 
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" |TOR
 
|MIS 
|CHI 
|MOH 
|ROA 
|VAN 
|LS 
|STL 
|HOU 
|SRF 
|FON 
!28th  
!2  

|}

Full TCR World Tour Performance

(legend)

Season	Racing Team	Vehicle	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Overall Position	Total Points
2024	Cobra Racing Team	Toyota GR Corolla Sport TCR	VAL 1	VAL 2	MRK 1	MRK 2	MOH 1	MOH 2	SAP 1 19	SAP 2 16	ELP 1 Ret	ELP 2 12	ZHZ 1	ZHZ 2	MAC 1	MAC 2	37th	4

External links

• Fontana official website