Born: 1978, Brazil
After success in karting, Formula Renault and Formula 3, Bernoldi moved to Formula 3000 with the Red Bull Junior Team in 1999.
That same year, he clinched a deal as test driver for the Sauber Formula One team. When Sauber signed F1 new comer, Kimi Raikkonen to race for them in 2001 alongside Nick Heidfeld it seemed Bernoldi's hopes of securing a seat were dashed.
However, Bernoldi - backed by much sponorship - interested Arrows F1 and the team decided to boot out contracted driver Pedro de la Rosa in favour of Bernoldi and put him alongside Jos Verstappen for season 2001. During that season Bernoldi outqualified Verstappen less than 5 times and failed to consistently out-pace his team mate in racing and unfortunately never scored a championship point.
This debut season was to prove controversial in two ways for Bernoldi - his slow racing at Monte Carlo angered following racing driver David Coulthard in a much faster McLaren, the Scotsman suggesting after the race that Bernoldi should have let him pass. Secondly, Verstappen slamed Bernoldi, suggesting he was the worst team mate he had ever had, mainly because he would not collaborate in any way on technical matters - Verstappen arguing this was needed for team progress.
Despite these difficult factors, Bernoldi remained with Arrows for 2002, probably due to his sponsorship. He was however, over-shadowed by new team mate, Frentzen. When Arrows folded that season, Bernoldi disapeared from Formula One for a while. He made a surprise return as a test driver for the BAR team for 2005.
Enrique Bernoldi @ Wikipedia - Biography & race results
