Lael Damasceno

Canadian racing driver who currently drives for Scuderia Ferrari. He's been with the team for two seasons and finished runner up in the 1994 season. Damasceno was a virtually unknown driver when he entered F1. At first it seemed like he was going nowhere, but his career made a change upwards after a consistent 1992, and very successful 1993 season. Lael won his first race for Minardi, and was signed by Ferrari for the 1994 season. Lael has been instrumental in the upturn of Ferrari. His race craft is improving season after season.

Early Life
Born in Toronto, Ontario Canada, to parents of Italian, Brazilian, and Portuguese descent. Lael began karting at the age of 6 for two years and stopped until the age of 15 when he took interest in motor sports again. He won the title first time out. Afterwards he received a test driver role in F3000, from there a race seat in a midfield team for a re-run series where he teamed up with Jakub Otruba.

Career of Lael Damasceno
1990; He makes his début in 1990 for Onyx Euroburn after an invite from his friend and teammate Jakub Otruba. He Started for 2 races, and took an impressive 11th place at Spa.

1991; He was immediately picked up by Leyton House for 1991 after the impressive début. But the promise of a great season went nowhere as Lael was destroyed by the arrival of the more experienced Bryan Westbrook. Lael finished last in the championship, and was the only driver not to score.

1992; For the sake of continuity, March F1 (former Leyton House)decided to keep the Canadian. The team enjoyed a nice swansong with both drivers being competitive. This prompted several lower midfield teams to be interested in the Canadian.

1993; Minardi sign Damasceno, and the change of teams does him good. He took pole position on his début for the Faenza squad, and by mid-season he finally took his maiden win! He finished the championship in 14th scoring all of Minardi's points. The team finished 9th in the constructors championship.

1994; After an impressive 1993, Ferrari signed the Canadian. The beginning of the season didn't look like it was the right decision by the team. Damasceno was settling in but was very off the pace. To add salt to injury, his former team were performing very well. Then things started to look up. Lael finished the season runner up in the title chase with best average qualifying. He's taken 5 podiums with 4 wins, two poles, and a fast lap.

1995 The season started with a win. But it was the only win for Damasceno, and the only win for Ferrari. Benetton and Williams were more than a match for Ferrari. And so, the Prancing Horse lost out on constructors by a huge margin. Damasceno would drop to 4th from runner up in the championship in '94. In an interview, Lael stated that even though he was disappointed with the 1995 season, he was happy to have been consistent enough. Some of the impressive achievements of '95 include, best qualifier in the field, second most amount of podiums, and of course a feature race win.

Personal Life
Away from the track, Lael is a musician. He plays 5 instruments, and he can sing too. Occasionally he entertains the paddock with his songs.