Alessandro Nannini (Siena, 7 July 1959) is a Italian politician and a former racing driver.

After debuting in rally racing in 1980, Nannini moved to Formula Fiat Abarth, where he won in 1981. In 1982 He raced in European Formula 2, hired by Minardi Team.

His debut in Formula 1 was in 1986, at the drive of Minardi, Team for which he raced also the following season: many retirements, dued to the insufficient reliability of the car, and almost no significant results. Nevertheless, he managed to put himself in the spotlight for his determination and speed, becoming one of the most promising young man of that time.

Alessandro Nannini was an unlucky talent: a driver for only 5 years, he managed to improve his own records and earn several championship points in the last three seasons, but on the 12th of October 1990 he was the victim of an unbelievable accident. He landed his helicopter badly in front of his estate and was thrown out, one of the rotor blades severed his right arm, which was later reattached, but this put an end to his F1 dreams.

Steering Wheels:

• 1986 was the driver's rookie year in F1 and was marked by track failures caused by unreliable cars, the Minardi M185B and M186. Even so, the young Nannini was noticed by those in the know for his grit when behind the wheel and two years later he was hired by Benetton, which he did not even leave even when Ferrari offered him a contract for the 1991 season.


• This steering wheel in our collection comes from the B188, a single-seater from the Benetton team, with which Nannini managed to finish on the podium twice (British and Spanish GP) and also score two 6th places and a 5th place, at the San Marino, French and Japanese GP.

(Source: Wikipedia; Formula1.com)