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Giorgio Mondini is the first to admit that he came into motorsport "very late", though in truth he was only twenty.
That said, compared to many of the current crop of F1 racers and test drivers, who were often karting long before their teens, twenty probably is quite late.
Giorgio did do some Karting as a youngster, signing up for the Swiss-French Championship at the age 14, which he admits was more of a "free-for-all" than real racing.
His father, a former racer himself, wanted to nurture his son's talent, but was also determined that he should have a proper formal education. Consequently, in addition to his normal education, the youngster was enrolled at the Henry Morough Racing School driver training school at Perrugia, where he got his basic training in Formula Ford.
A couple of years down the line, Giorgio was enrolled at the Axai school in Vallelunga, and it was here that he further honed his talents, finally obtaining his racing licence.
Between the ages of 16 and 18 his racing career was put on hold. However, in his own words: "My dad arranged driving training for me at Magny-Cours and I was still in the area to be able to take advantage of it. I know the circuit by heart, I bet I've done 1,500 laps there!"
At the age of 19, he did some Formula Renault 2000 testing, and it was here that he came up against drivers such as Nicolas Lapierre.
He then spent a year in England, learning the language, before returning home to contest the Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup. "The races often did not go as I expected," he admits, "but it was a good experience".
He contested the Winter Series, and got off to a fine start by taking second at Misano, however, a crash at Vallelunga, in which he wrecked his car, brought his role in the competition to an early end.
In 2002 he remained in the Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup, now partnered by fellow-Swiss driver, Neel Jani. It was a tough season for Giorgio, and though the results didn't go his way, not helped by the fact, due to the lack of a decent budget, that he was driving a three-year-old car, he was still learning.
After a fairly successful campaign in the American Formula Renault 2000 Winter Series, Giorgio was given a drive with Euorointernational in the Formula Renault V6 Championship.
Sadly it was a dreadful year for Giorgio who was badly injured in a road accident in Monaco, and therefore unable to contest the Formula Renault V6 event that supported the Grand Prix. Subsequently, he was emotionally damaged by a number of tragedies within his family, including the death of a younger brother.
2004 was altogether better, and Giorgio won the V6 Championship, with 3 wins, 3 pole positions and 8 podiums.
"Two months before the end of the 2004 season, I was the driver to beat," he recalls. "I had to learn how not to react to provocation on the track, to be careful, and to curb my enthusiasm in order to be able to end up on the top step of the podium. Living at a healthy pace helps a lot to face and handle the situation. At the end of 2004, I finished champion of Formula Renault V6, the consecration!"
In 2005 he began the year scheduled to contest the World Series by Renault with Eurointernational, however, after a few rounds he switched to GP2, driving for David Price Racing, having signed a management deal with Nicholas Todt, son of Ferrari boss, Jean Todt.
The highlight of Giorgio's year undoubtedly came on December 1, when he drove a Renault F1 car at Barcelona, posting a best time just 1s slower than Robert Kubica who subsequently joined BMW as third driver.
On February 2, on the eve of the launch of the Midland F1 Racing M16, the Russian team announced that Giorgio would drive the car in the Friday practice sessions at nine rounds of the 2006 Formula One World Championship. However, the Bahrain Grand Prix isn't one of them, for Giorgio will be busy driving the Swiss entry in the A1 Grand Prix Championship at Laguna Seca.
Things certainly seem to be looking up for this 'late starter'.
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