Categories: Look backRace and classic pictures

The Neel-y man of Formula One

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He never quite succeeded in making it all the way into Formula One, but Neel Jani came achingly close to getting a Grand Prix outing a decade ago. First he was linked to a reserve seat at Sauber in 2004, and then he was confirmed as the test and reserve driver for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2006 as backup to the team's regular drivers Scott Speed and Tonio Liuzzi.

He didn't get to make any race weekend appearances that year, but the Swiss driver was back in Formula One circles again in 2008 when linked to a test role at Red Bull Racing. He then tried out for a test seat at Force India in 2010 only for the role to go instead to Paul di Resta, leaving Jani once more on the outside looking in.

That's not to say Jani hasn't had his moments in other championships. He was one of the drivers in the inaugural season of GP2 in 2005, and he was a constant presence for Team Switzerland in the A1 Grand Prix World Cup of Motorsport, and there was also a year in America in the Champ Car World Series.

More recently though he's found his true home in sportcars in the FIA World Endurance Championship, including seven consecutive appearances in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He's currently competing with the Porsche Team along with team mates Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb.

To mark Jani's 32nd birthday today, here he is with two of his fellow competitors at this year's Le Mans - Audi Sport Team Joest's Marcel Fassler is the one doing all the heavy lifting, while Toyota Racing's Sebastien Buemi is on the right of the picture.

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.