Pedro Lamy

Unlike its former colony Brazil, Portugal has no strong record in producing Formula 1 talent. Mario de Araujo Cabral only finished one race in 1959 and Pedro Chaves never left the purgatory of pre-qualifying in his 1991 attempt with Coloni. This set the bar quite low for Pedro Lamy when he entered the highest level of motor sport in 1993 with Lotus. Lamy put on an impressive performance in junior series, winning the Formula Opel Lotus championship in 1991 and the German F3 series in 1992. In the same year, he also won the prestigious F3 Masters at Zandvoort, coming in second in Macau. Just one point separated him from the F3000 crown in 1993. The F3000 season had barely finished when Lamy already found himself with a Formula 1 drive, finishing the season for Lotus.

Stepping in so late in the season was a tall order and Lamy struggled against his teammate Johnny Herbert, who had helped Lotus to its last points before the legendary team disappeared from F1 for more than a decade. In the 1994 season Lamy only managed to compete in four races as he suffered two broken legs and wrists in a massive shunt during testing at Silverstone. After a year of physio, Lamy returned for the second half of 1995 with the Minardi team, replacing Pierluigi Martini. Consistently outqualifying Luca Badoer, he scored a point at the final GP of 1995. By doing so, he became the first Portuguese driver to ever score in F1. A decade later, Lamy's countryman Tiago Monteiro would better him by coming in third at the 2005 United States Grand Prix. Whether this should count, given he was only one of six cars on the starting line up of this much debated race, is one for the pundits to discuss.

Lamy started a successful career in sports cars after leaving F1, competing in DTM and taking a series of victories in his class in the FIAWorld Endurance Championships. He also won the 24 hours at Le Mans in 2012 in his Chevrolet Corvette C6.R.