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Teodorico " Teo" Fabi (born 9 March 1955) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . In sportscar racing, Fabi won the World Sportscar Championship in 1991 with Jaguar Cars.
Born and raised in Milan, Fabi is the older brother of former Formula One driver Corrado Fabi. He claimed pole position in his rookie year at the 1983 Indianapolis 500; he was the last rookie to win the pole position until 2025. At the 1984 Indianapolis 500, Fabi became the last active Formula One driver to race at the event until Fernando Alonso in 2017.
Fabi returned to the series in for the ICI Roloil Racing Team in a March 802-BMW. He scored three wins, at the Jim Clark Rennen at Hockenheimring, the Eifelrennen at Nürburgring and the Preis Baden-Württemberg at Hockenheimring. He qualified on pole at the Grote Prijs van België Formel 2 at Circuit Zolder and the Preis Baden-Württemberg at Hockenheimring, and set fastest lap in the latter on the way to a victory. Fabi ended the season third in points, with 38 points.
Fabi's Indy car season in 1983 rekindled Formula One teams' interest. With help from Italian dairy company Parmalat, which insisted on having an Italian driver in the team, he joined the Brabham team in 1984 to drive the No. 2 Brabham BT53-BMW as the number two driver to reigning World Champion Nelson Piquet. He also continued to drive in the Champ Car for Forsythe Racing and missed three Grands Prix. In those races his younger brother, Corrado Fabi, drove in his place. The mixed approach led to disappointing results in both categories and mid-season saw Fabi decide to concentrate solely on Formula One. Prior to the change, Fabi's best finish was ninth at the 1984 French Grand Prix and his best start was a sixth at the South African Grand Prix. His performances improved, including a strong run at Italian Grand Prix where he ran second behind Piquet in the first half of the race before retiring with engine failure, the major problem for Brabham during the year. Fabi scored points on three occasions, with a best finish of third at the Detroit Grand Prix and was twelfth in points with nine. Brabham dropped Fabi for 1985 and he initially struggled to find a team. His profile in Italy allowed him to rejoin Toleman (now heavily sponsored by the Benetton Group) when they belatedly joined the championship at the Monaco Grand Prix. Fabi drove the No. 19 Toleman Toleman TG185-Hart 415T. The season got off to a late start because Toleman had lost their supply of tyres when Michelin pulled out of F1 at the end of 1984. They could not access Goodyear tyres and Pirelli would not supply them as they had broken a contract with the Italian company in mid-1984 and gone with Michelin. Benetton bought both Toleman and the Spirit Racing team and transferred Spirit's Pirelli contract to Toleman. The late start meant the TG185 was never truly reliable, but Fabi's speed lead to the marque's only pole position, at the German Grand Prix, at the new Nürburgring. Fabi's race was ruined when a slipping clutch meant he was well down the order at the end of the first lap. The team failed to score any points and Fabi only finished twice (even these races were disrupted by mechanical problems). 1980 World Champion Alan Jones (who also used a Hart engine in his Haas Lola) described it late in the season as "sending a boy to do a man's job" in F1 against the likes of Renault, Scuderia Ferrari, BMW, Honda and TAG-Porsche. Fabi's best finish was twelfth at the Italian Grand Prix and he would again go unranked due to not scoring points.
Fabi drove for Benetton Formula in the No. 19 Benetton B186-BMW M12 after Toleman were fully taken over before the 1986 season to become Benetton, with powerful ( qualifying) engines, and talented young Austrian Gerhard Berger joining. The Benetton was fast but fragile with difficult Pirelli tyres and Fabi often qualified better than he raced. He managed pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix but his best finish was fifth at the Spanish Grand Prix. He gained a reputation for being most competitive on faster circuits and struggling on slower, more technical courses. Both pole positions were at the two fastest circuits on the 1986 calendar, the Österreichring and the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. He ended the season fifteenth in points.
Fabi continued at Benetton Formula in 1987, driving the No. 19 B187-Ford Cosworth GBA V6 and was joined by Thierry Boutsen. While the package was not as fast, it was more consistent, allowing him to score points on five occasions. The Ford V6 suffered from unreliability early in the season due to the use of higher turbo boost in an effort to keep up with the Honda-powered cars from Williams and Team Lotus and the TAG-engined . When the boost was reduced from around mid-year, reliability returned but speed was sacrificed. Fabi had a best finish of third, at the Austrian Grand Prix, held at one of Fabi's favourite tracks, the Österreichring. During the season Benetton signed young Italian charger Alessandro Nannini, for the 1988 season to partner Boutsen. In Fabi's final Formula One race, at the Australian Grand Prix, he took his frustration of not being able to find a drive for 1988 out on Boutsen, spending many laps deliberately blocking his teammate and not letting himself be lapped despite the blue flags and orders from the team to move over. When Boutsen confronted Fabi after the race, the Italian angrily told him to "come back and see me when you have a pole position". (Boutsen was third in this race, and ended his career following the 1993 season with three wins and one pole position). Fabi ended the season ranked a career-best ninth.
Fabi competed in 71 Formula One Grands Prix. He scored three pole positions, two fastest laps and two thirds in his career, scoring a total of 23 points.
In 1984, Fabi returned with Forsythe Racing in their No. 33 Skoal Bandit March 84C-Cosworth DFX. He qualified third at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and was second at the Dana Jimmy Bryan 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. He was eighteenth and nineteenth due to a crash at Long Beach and a blown engine at Phoenix. At the Indianapolis 500 Fabi qualified fourteenth and retired in twenty-fourth place due to a fuel system failure after 104 laps and leading for 14 laps. His best finish was third at the Stroh's/G.I. Joe's 200 at Portland International Raceway. Following the Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix Fabi left Indy car racing to concentrate on the Formula One season. Fabi ended his partial season twenty-fifth in points.
Brabham dropped Fabi for 1985 Fabi returned to Indy car racing in 1988 with Porsche Motorsports in their No. 8 Quaker State March 88P-Porsche Indy V8. The Porsche engine was less competitive than the Ilmor-Chevrolet and Cosworth engines. Despite the setbacks Fabi managed a best finish of fourth at the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix at Pennsylvania International Raceway. Fabi's return to the Indianapolis 500 was also a disappointment as he qualified seventeenth and finished thirtieth after losing a wheel after 30 laps. He ended the season ranked tenth with 44 points.
In 1989, Fabi drove the No. 8 Quaker State March 89P-Porsche Indy V8. The engine and team began to compete regularly for wins with Fabi qualifying on pole at the Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200 at Portland International Raceway and the Red Roof Inns 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course where he led for 71 of 84 laps to get what would be his last Indy car victory. The engine also began to be competitive on the ovals, as highlighted by a second at the Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway. At the Indianapolis 500 Fabi qualified thirteenth and again finished thirtieth after retiring due to ignition problems after 23 laps. After his Mid-Ohio victory Fabi moved into third place in points. At the final two races of the season, the Firestone Indy 225 at Pennsylvania International Raceway and the Champion Spark Plug 300K at Laguna Seca Raceway, Fabi retired due to handling issues at Nazareth and a crash at Laguna Seca. At the end of the season he was fourth with 141 points.
Fabi returned with Porsche Motorsports in 1990 to drive their No. 4 Foster's-Quaker State March 90P-Porsche Indy V8. Prior to the start of the season Porsche was going to build an all carbon fibre chassis with their constructor, March Engineering. In January, Porsche's competitors voted against the use of the car and as a result Porsche had to use the year-old March 89P chassis. Fabi qualified seventh at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on the but finished tenth. A new March 90P was used at the Indianapolis 500 and Fabi started twenty-third and retired in eighteenth due to transmission problems after 162 laps. Fabi later qualified on pole position for the Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver.He led one lap but crashed after seven laps and finished twenty-seventh. Fabi achieved a best finish of third, at the Marlboro Grand Prix at the Meadowlands, at Meadowlands Sports Complex, and ended the season fourteenth in points. At the end of the season Porsche withdrew from Indy car racing so Fabi moved to the World Sportscar Championship in 1991 and won the championship.
In 1992, Fabi drove at the ITT Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit at Belle Isle Park to substitute for Mario Andretti who suffered injuries at the Indianapolis 500. He drove for Newman-Haas Racing in their No. 2 Texaco Havoline/K Mart Lola T92/00-Ford Cosworth XB. He qualified third and finished sixth.
Fabi moved to Chaparral Cars for 1993 in the No. 8 Pennzoil Lola T93/00-Ilmor-Chevrolet, achieving a best finish of fourth at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. After the race Fabi was third in points, 10 points out of the lead behind Nigel Mansell and Mario Andretti. At the Indianapolis 500 Fabi started seventeenth and finished ninth. After Long Beach his best finish was sixth, at the Marlboro 500, at Michigan International Speedway. Fabi ended up eleventh with 64 points.
For 1994, Fabi drove for the re-organized Hall Racing (VDS Racing withdrew from the team following 1993) in the No. 11 Pennzoil Reynard 94i-Ilmor Indy V8. During the season Fabi's best finishes were a trio of thirds, at the ITT Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit, the Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway and the Texaco/Havoline 200 at Road America. Fabi qualified twenty-fourth for the Indianapolis 500 and finished seventh, his best result in the race. He was ninth in points with 79.
In 1995 Fabi returned with Forsythe Racing in the No. 33 Combustion Engineering/Indeck Reynard 95i-Ford Cosworth XB. He had a best finish of third, at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. At the Indianapolis 500 Fabi started fifteenth and finished eighth. Fabi won pole at the Miller Genuine Draft 200 at the Milwaukee Mile, led for 27 laps but finished fourth, two laps down. At the New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Fabi qualified second and led for 42 laps, only to finish twelfth, four laps down. He also started second at the Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway, and finished fourth. He ended the season ninth with 83 points.
Fabi was unable to get a car to drive for 1996, as Forsythe Racing hired Indy Lights driver Greg Moore. He was to drive for PacWest Racing in their No. 21 Motorola Reynard 96i-Ford Cosworth XD to replace Mark Blundell, who was injured at the IndyCar Rio 400 at Autódromo de Jacarepaguá. He did compete in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix at Nazareth Speedway. In both races he qualified nineteenth, and finished eighteenth at Long Beach. Blundell returned for the U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway and Fabi was withdrawn from the car. Fabi scored no points for the first time in his career and finished thirty-sixth.
Fabi returned to the series in 1982 for Martini Racing in the No. 51 Lancia LC1-Lancia. Fabi would win the 1000km of Nürburgring at the Nürburgring with Michele Alboreto and Riccardo Patrese. Fabi also competed in the Group 6 class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the same car with Alboreto and Rolf Stommelen. The car qualified fourth but finished thirty-fourth after retiring on their ninety-second lap due to engine failure. He ended the season ranked fourth with 66 points.
In 1983, Fabi drove the No. 4 Martini Racing Porsche 956 in the No. 4 Lancia LC2-Ferrari. He won the 1000km of Imola at the Autodromo Dino Ferrari with Hans Heyer. The team eventually had involvement from Lancia and the car became a Lancia LC2-Lancia and he drove this car in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Michele Alboreto and Alessandro Nannini in the C Class. The car started second but finished forty-sixth after retiring after 27 laps with gearbox failure. Fabi then drove the team's second car, No. 5 which started fourth and finished thirty-sixth after retiring after 121 laps due to fuel pressure problems. Fabi's win at Imola did not count towards the World Endurance Championship for Drivers and as a result he was unranked in the championship.
After the 1990 IndyCar season proved to be a backward step, Fabi returned to the series in 1991 with Tom Walkinshaw Racing/Silk Cut Jaguar in the No. 34 Jaguar XJR-12 and Jaguar XJR-14. Fabi won the Castrol BRDC Empire Trophy at the Silverstone Circuit with Derek Warwick. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Fabi drove the team's Jaguar XJR-12-Jaguar 7.4L V12 with Bob Wollek and Kenny Acheson for the C2 class. In the race, the car started twenty-seventh and finished third with 358 laps complete. Fabi went on to win the World Endurance Championship for Drivers with 86 points.
Fabi competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Toyota Team Tom's in the No. 8 Toyota TS010-Toyota with Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace in the C1 Class. They started fourth and finished eighth, with 331 laps completed, and fifth in class. Fabi ended the season twenty-seventh in points with eight points.
| FIA European Formula 3 | Astra Racing Team | 14 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 45 | 4th |
| European Formula Two | March Engineering | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 10th |
| BMW M1 Procar Championship | BMW Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| World Sportscar Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| All-Japan Formula Two | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 3 | 17th | |
| World Sportscar Championship | Lancia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| Can-Am | Paul Newman | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | NC |
| World Sportscar Championship | Oreca | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 132nd |
| Formula One | Candy Toleman | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| Toleman | ||||||||
| World Sportscar Championship | Martini Racing | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 64th |
| PPG Indy Car World Series | Forsythe Racing | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 25th |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | Toyota Team Tom's | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 8th |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | Peugeot Sport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 2nd |
| 1977 ! nowrap | Teo Fabi ! Toyota | LEC | NÜR | ZAN | Circuit Zolder | ÖST | Imola Circuit | PER | Monza Circuit | CET | Ring Knutstorp | Kassel Airport | Donington Park | JAR | VLL | ! NC ! 0 | |
| 1978 ! nowrap | Astra Racing Team ! Toyota | ZAN | NÜR | ÖST | Circuit Zolder | Imola Circuit | NÜR | Dijon-Prenois | Monza Circuit | PER | MAG | Ring Knutstorp | KAR | Donington Park | Kassel Airport | JAR | VLL ! 4th ! 45 |
| ! nowrap March Engineering ! nowrap | March 792 ! BMW | SIL | Hockenheimring | Thruxton Circuit | Eifelrennen | VAL | Mugello Circuit | PAU | Hockenheimring | ZAN | PER | MIS | Donington Park ! 10th ! 13 | ||
| ! nowrap ICI Racing Team ! nowrap | March 802 ! BMW | Thruxton Circuit | Hockenheimring | Eifelrennen | VAL | PAU | SIL | Zolder | Mugello Circuit | ZAN | PER | MIS | Hockenheimring | 3rd | 38 |
| !rowspan=2 nowrap Candy Toleman ! nowrap | Toleman TG181B ! rowspan="3" nowrap="" | Hart 415T 1.5 L4Turbocharger | RSA | BRA | ! rowspan="3" NC ! rowspan="3" | 0 | ||||||||||||
| ! nowrap Brabham ! nowrap | Brabham BT53 ! nowrap | BMW M12/13 1.5 L4Turbocharger | BRA | RSA | BEL | SMR | FRA | MON | CAN | DET | DAL | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | EUR | POR ! 12th ! 9 |
| ! nowrap Benetton Group Toleman ! nowrap | Toleman TG185 ! nowrap | Hart 415T 1.5 L4Turbocharger | BRA | POR | SMR | MON | CAN | DET | FRA 14† | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | BEL | EUR | RSA | AUS ! NC ! 0 |
| ! nowrap Benetton Formula BMW Team ! nowrap | Benetton Formula B186 ! nowrap | BMW M12/13 1.5 L4Turbocharger | BRA | ESP | SMR | MON | BEL | CAN | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | AUT | ITA | POR | MEX | AUS ! 15th ! 2 |
| ! nowrap Benetton Formula ! nowrap | Benetton Formula B187 ! nowrap | Ford Cosworth GBA 1.5 V6Turbocharger | BRA | SMR | BEL | MON | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | AUT | ITA | POR 4† | ESP | MEX | JPN | AUS ! 9th ! 12 |
Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
| 1983 ! nowrap | Forsythe Racing ! rowspan=2 | 33 ! nowrap | March 83C ! nowrap | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | ATL | INDY | MIL | CLE | MCH | ROA | POC | RIV | MOH | MCH | CPL | LAG | PHX | 2nd | 146 ! | |||||
| 1984 ! nowrap | Forsythe Racing ! nowrap | March 84C ! nowrap | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | LBH | PHX | INDY | MIL | POR | MEA | CLE | MCH | ROA | POC | MOH | SAN | MCH | PHX | LAG | CPL | 25th | 15 ! | |||
| 1988 ! nowrap | Porsche Motorsports ! rowspan=2 | 8 ! nowrap | Porsche 2708 ! nowrap | Porsche Indy V8 | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | POR | CLE | TOR | MEA | MCH | POC | MOH | ROA | NAZ | LAG | Tamiami Park | 10th | 44 ! | |||
| 1989 ! nowrap | Porsche Motorsports ! nowrap | March 89P ! nowrap | Porsche Indy V8 | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | MCH | POC | MOH | ROA | NAZ | LAG | 4th | 141 ! | ||||
| 1990 !rowspan="2" nowrap | Porsche Motorsports !rowspan=2 | 4 ! nowrap | March 89P !rowspan="2" nowrap | Porsche Indy V8 | PHX | LBH | 14th | 33 !rowspan=2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1992 ! nowrap | Newman-Haas Racing ! 2 ! nowrap | Lola T92/00 ! nowrap | Ford Cosworth | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | DET | POR | MIL | NHA | TOR | MCH | CLE | ROA | VAN | MOH | NAZ | LAG | 21st | 8 ! | |||
| 1993 ! nowrap | Chaparral Cars ! 8 ! nowrap | Lola T93/00 ! nowrap | Ilmor-Chevrolet | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MCH | NHA | ROA | VAN | MOH | NAZ | LAG | 11th | 64 ! | |||
| 1994 ! nowrap | Chaparral Cars ! 11 ! nowrap | Reynard 94i ! nowrap | Ilmor Indy V8 | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MCH | MOH | NHA | VAN | ROA | NAZ | LAG | 9th | 79 ! | |||
| 1995 ! nowrap | Forsythe Racing ! 33 ! nowrap | Reynard 95i ! nowrap | Ford Cosworth | MIA | SRF | PHX | LBH | NAZ | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | ROA | TOR | CLE | MCH | MOH | NHA | VAN | LAG | 9th | 83 ! | ||
| 1996 ! nowrap | PacWest Racing ! 21 ! nowrap | Reynard 96i ! nowrap | Ford Cosworth | MIA | RIO | SRF | LBH | NAZ | 500 Wth | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MCH | MOH | ROA | VAN | LAG | 36th | 0 ! | |||
| 1983 | March 83C | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | 1 | 26 | Forsythe Racing |
| 1984 | March 84C | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | 14 | 24 | Forsythe Racing |
| 1988 | March 88P | Porsche Indy V8 | 17 | 28 | Porsche Motorsports |
| 1989 | March 89P | Porsche Indy V8 | 13 | 30 | Porsche Motorsports |
| 1990 | March 90P | Porsche Indy V8 | 23 | 18 | Porsche Motorsports |
| 1993 | Lola Cars | Ilmor-Chevrolet | 17 | 9 | Chaparral Cars |
| 1994 | Reynard 94i | Ilmor Indy V8 | 24 | 7 | Chaparral Cars |
| 1995 | Reynard 95i | Ford Cosworth | 15 | 8 | Forsythe Racing |
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