Known simply as 'Tonio', Vitantonio Liuzzi began his racing career winning numerous domestic and international karting championships before making his car racing debut in 2001 and ending as runner-up in the German Formula Renault Championship. The Italian continued to impress with success in the German Formula 3 Championship, International Formula 3 and FIA International Formula 3000 with top team Arden before making his Formula 1 debut in 2005. This came for Red Bull at his home event of Imola where he scored points on his very first appearance. A year later he got his first full season of Formula 1 with Toro Rosso, racing for two seasons before switching to become the test and reserve driver for Force India in 2008 and 2009 and filling in following Giancarlo Fisichella's move to Ferrari. The 2010 season saw Tonio finish 15th for Force India after a difficult season and prompting a move to the new HRT F1 team for the 2011 season. As well as being a consistent finisher for the Spanish outfit, the highlight of the season was a 13th place in Canada, the team's best result to date. He continued as a test and reserve driver for 2012 alongside sportscar racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and Superstars International Series. More recently, he finished third in the 2013 Superstars International Series with three wins and seven podiums and continues to drive for Lotus in the FIA WEC.