Esteban Tuero facts for kids
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Tuero in 2017
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| 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 Eduardo Tuero (born April 22, 1978) is a former Argentine racing driver. He competed in Formula One for the Minardi team in 1998. At just 19 years old, he became one of the youngest Formula One drivers ever. He raced alongside Shinji Nakano but left the sport after that season.
Contents
Esteban Tuero: A Young Racing Star
Early Life and First Races
Esteban Eduardo Tuero grew up in Argentina, where Formula One racing was very popular. The Argentine Grand Prix race track was close to his home. His family loved motor racing, and his father was a race car driver too.
Esteban started karting (a type of racing with small vehicles) when he was seven. He raced karts until 1992. The next year, he moved up to "Formula" car racing.
Climbing the Racing Ladder
In 1993, Esteban began racing cars in Argentina. He became a champion in Formula Honda in 1994. Even though he was only 14, he started traveling to other countries in South America to race.
In 1995, Esteban moved to Europe to continue his racing career. He won the Italian Formula 2000 National Trophy easily. He also got a chance to race in Italian Formula Three. In 1996, he joined a bigger team called Coloni Motorsport. His racing skills started to get attention from Formula One teams. Even though he was only 18, Minardi hired him as a test driver. This meant he would help the team test their cars.
From Europe to Japan
During the 1996 Formula Three season, Esteban had some good races. He even finished first in one race but was later disqualified for using illegal fuel.
Esteban decided to leave Formula Three halfway through the season. He moved to International Formula 3000, which is another step up in racing. He didn't do very well there, so he moved to the Formula Nippon series in Japan in 1997. He only scored one point, but he drove enough miles to get a special license called an F1 Super License. This license is needed to race in Formula One. Minardi was impressed with his testing work and offered him a racing spot for the 1998 season.
His Time in Formula One
The 1998 Formula One Season
When Esteban was chosen to race for Minardi in 1998, some people worried he was too young and didn't have enough experience. However, the FIA (the main racing organization) gave him his Super License. At 19, he became the third-youngest Formula One driver at that time.
In his first race in Australia, he qualified in a good position, ahead of his teammate. But during the race, he made some mistakes and had to stop early because of engine problems. In the next two races in Brazil and Argentina, he also had to stop early.
His first full race finish was in San Marino, where he came in 8th place. He finished 15th in Spain. However, he then had five races in a row where he didn't finish due to spins or other issues. He finished 16th in Germany, but then retired again in the next two races. He finished 11th in Italy before another retirement.
His last race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix, was also his last Formula One race. He crashed into another driver, Toranosuke Takagi, and hurt his neck. Esteban didn't score any points in his Formula One season.
Leaving Formula One
Minardi planned for Esteban to race for them again in 1999. But just before he was supposed to test the new car, he announced he was leaving Formula One. He decided to move back to Argentina.
Life After Formula One
After leaving Formula One, Esteban joined the Argentinian TC2000 touring car racing series in 1999. He struggled at first but later won two races. He continued racing in TC2000 for several years and had some successful performances.
In 2008, he also raced part-time in the FIA GT Championship. Esteban Tuero officially retired from racing after the 2016 TC2000 season.
Sources
- Esteban Tuero career summary at DriverDB.com
- Profile at www.grandprix.com
See also
In Spanish: Esteban Tuero para niños
