THE ROMAN KLEMM-INTERVIEW - PEDRO LAMY:
„I Didn't Want to Lose Anymore"

Words and picures: Roman Klemm

Every era of sports history has its "guaranteed stars of the future." Examples of such juniors with extraordinary talent include Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Jos Verstappen, later his son Max, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Räikkönen, Kimi Antonelli and currently Freddie Slater. At the beginning of the 1990s, the Portuguese Pedro Lamy undoubtedly belonged to this group as well. He was winning everything in junior formulas. Continuing a victorious career in Formula 1 seemed like a logical formality. In Lamy's case (as with Verstappen Sr.), it turned out how important it is to debut with the right team. Not everyone "hit the jackpot" (like Senna with Toleman, Schumacher with Jordan, or Hamilton with McLaren) with a team that allowed them to show their talent in Grand Prix as well. We talked a bit about Pedro's promising career, which due to poor equipment and serious accidents was sportingly heading nowhere and led him to the role of FIA steward, in Monza at the end of 2025.

Cars didn't play a role at the beginning of your career? 

I started with motocross. However, my dad bought me my first go-kart when I was 6 years old, and from the age of 13, I focused only on them. I soon became a national champion. 

You also became a national champion after switching to single-seaters in F-Ford1600. Where was the Portuguese championship held and what was its level? 

If I remember correctly, we alternated only between our Estoril and Spain's Jerez de la Frontera. About the level of the championship, I can say this: just two strong drivers are enough to race on the edge. We confirmed our qualities so much that we didn't even compete in the annual FF1600 Festival at Brands Hatch - there was nothing to prove and no reason to spend so much money.

 How did your switch to 'slicks-and-wings' single-seaters go? 

GM-Lotus (Opel-Vauxhall) was just launching its one-make-formula, and I started there with Derek-Bell-Racing. But it was really a very weak team, so I moved to Draco-Racing. The transition from FF1600 to F-Opel didn't seem as difficult to me as the transition from go-karts to FF1600. In 1991, I became the European champion, and twice we won the Nations Cup, which the manufacturer held at the end of the season. 

There is always a tradition that in such series, where only one brand of car/engine competes, people cheat. What do you think about that?

 So you've heard that people cheat in F2 and F3 today? I don't know… There are always simply people who do something better than others, or who find some loophole in the rules. Seen this way, there is cheating even in F1.

 1991 was followed by your absolutely stellar 1992 season in Formula 3.

 
I had already tried cars of this stronger class at the end of 1991 in Dave Price's team. I competed in the international championship for Willi Weber's team with a Reynard chassis and sensational Opel-Spiess engines. I had excellent rivals like Marco Werner, Michael Krumm, Jörg Müller, and Sascha Maassen, yet I won 11 races that season and became the champion. Additionally, I won the Marlboro Masters and, in fact, I should have also won in Macau, where I only finished second… Overall, an excellent season. 

You were also among the fastest in Formula 3000 right from your debut… 
That was because I always paid attention to choosing good teams. Crypton-F3000 had excellent mechanics and outstanding engineers. Only the owner didn't know anything at all. At the end of the season, he didn't pay for the engines and the team went bankrupt. I won in Pau and lost the championship by just one point to Olivier Panis. It didn't really upset me - I knew that my rivals were also really very good.

 You debuted in Formula 1 the same year...

For the last four races of the season, I received an offer from Lotus. Among them was also my home race in Estoril - who would turn down such an opportunity? My father mainly searched for sponsors within his circle of friends and acquaintances, and back then it was easier than it is today. 
With Lotus, we then signed up for a complete F1 1994 season, which was a big mistake. They did have Mugen-Honda engines, but the team was already 'bankrupt' at that time. I was too young to realize it, and my manager Domingos Piedade probably didn't have a sharp enough view. At the beginning of the season, I finished 10th in Brazil and 8th in Aida as a good result in the second race. However, these results should not be overrated or compared with today, when all cars finish the race. Back then, I only benefited from the retirement of faster drivers. After Monaco, I had a serious accident during testing at Silverstone, and my season was over...

Thankfully, no. I have the ability to erase negative experiences from my memory. What remained for me are the pains from my badly broken legs at the time - I still feel them today.

You only returned to Formula 1 a year later after recovering... 
From the middle of the 1995 season, I joined Giancarlo Minardi. Their M195 model was a pleasant and well-handling single-seater, and I finished in the top 10 with it four times. The team was full of very nice people, and I still have a very warm relationship with Giancarlo. At the end of the year, I even scored points as the first Portuguese F1-driver in Adelaide, finishing 6th! But that didn't change the fact that Minardi's purchased Ford-Cosworth engines were worthless. I stayed with them for the entire 1996 season as well, but I must admit that racing in the middle of the pack no longer satisfied me. I was basically used to winning in motorsport - I didn't enjoy losing. Therefore, I left F1. 

You then became a specialist in prototypes and GT cars. You started 20 times at Le Mans... 
I finished second at Le Mans in a factory Peugeot 908 in 2007 and 2011. I must admit that even these second-place finishes didn't satisfy me much. Well, still better than third…

In various championships from WEC Prototype World Championship to DTM, you were then a factory-paid driver for car manufacturers like Mercedes, Peugeot, BMW, and Aston Martin for two decades. I heard from many of your colleagues that it was possible to make quite a good living from it? 

I don't know about that. I definitely didn't become a millionaire over those years. They simply paid me what was paid back then…

When did you decide to end active racing? 
It was in 2020. I still felt fast enough, but the offers kept getting worse…

So how does one become an FIA steward? 
FIA invited me to see if I would be interested in taking over some young driver training sessions, and I had nothing against it. Since then, I've been „in it." In the last seasons, I have been a permanent FIA advisor/steward in F2 and F3. But I must admit, it was a bigger change for me than I expected. I no longer lived the life I was used to as a racer - almost nothing remained from what I had done my whole life.

How does your typical weekend at a Grand Prix unfold? 

I arrive at the circuit on Wednesday, and on Thursday morning we walk the track with the race director and all FIA stewards. I then spend all the sessions in front of the screen, and if the director has any problem, I help him to solve it. I also have the authority to point out problems that others might have overlooked. In F2/F3 we are three of us, two permanent stewards and one national one. 

Have you ever felt sorry for penalized drivers? 
Penalties have to be given; otherwise, there would immediately be anarchy here. We always try to explain to the penalized what was not right. The goal is for them to understand why they are being penalized and to avoid it next time. Sure, sometimes we "mess up" too. Several drivers have sat here who broke down in tears, others had outbursts of anger.