(c) 'Who is Who' by Steve Small, 2000

Родился: 20.01.1975 Ресифи Сезонов в Ф1: 1 Лет в Ф1: 1 Гран При: 4 Старты: 4 Победы: - подряд: Подиумы: - подряд: Поул-позиции: - подряд: Первый ряд: - подряд: Быстрые круги: - подряд: Лучший финиш: 9 Лучший старт: 18 Дубли: Хет-трики: Лидирование старт/финиш: Большие шлемы: Круги: 210 - лидирования: Километры: 1069.44 - лидирования: Очки: - за один сезон: - подряд:

Ф1: 1997

Год	Команда	Шасси
1997	Red Bull Sauber Petronas	Sauber C16

Fontana was a highly impressive German F3 champion in 1995 with ten wins from sixteen starts and the Marlboro Masters title to boot. The diminutive Argentinian defeated rivals such as Ralf Schumacher, Jarno Trulli and Alexander Würz but, while these drivers have since established themselves as Grand Prix stars, Norberto has spent the last two and a half seasons trying to regain ground lost after an unimpressive four-race stint at Sauber in 1997 deputising for the injured Gianni Morbidelli.

Norberto could well have grabbed a seat at Sauber at the beginning of 1996 had it not been for a neck injury sustained in an accident at the end-of-year F3 Macau GP in 1995. Instead, he had to be content with the test-driver role with the Swiss team and headed out to Japan to compete in Formula Nippon.

During his three seasons in the Far East Fontana was, predictably, a front-runner. He won four times, but the championship itself was to prove elusive and, with his ultimate goal a place on the Formula 1 grid, Norberto opted to return to Europe in 1999 to contest the FIA F3000 series.

It was not a move which brought much success, the well-funded Red Bull Sauber Junior Team star scoring a meagre four points to finish 13th in the final standings.

(c) 'Who is Who' by Steve Small, 2000