F1 driver 1989-1991 for Benetton and Scuderia Italia, McLaren test driver and five-time Le Mans winner with Audi.

Biography

Pirro made his Formula One debut in 1989, driving for the Benetton team. He'd made his way through all the traditional single-seater junior series' including Formula 3000 and Formula Two, before joining McLaren as a test driver. He was granted the race drive at Benetton as replacement for Johnny Herbert, but could only manage a single points finish on the final race of that year in Australia.

For the 1990 season he moved to Scuderia Italia, where he retired from all but three of the 14 races he attended. The following year was a similar disappointing story, with just a points finish at the tricky Monaco to send him off with. He retired from F1 and moved instead to endurance racing, competing with Audi in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with success in the form of five class wins.

With the introduction of drivers to the stewarding panel, Pirro made his officiating debut at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of 2010.