Maneuvering karts in Italy, Badoer won two races in his debut season in 1985 and had a series of successful years soon after that, with championship wins in Italy at the kart, Italian F3 and F3000 levels. After eight years in the national circuit, he was too hot to be ignored at Formula One. He debuted with the BMS Scuderia team in 1993 but a faulty Lola chassis meant he was unable to complete six races that season. He managed a best position of seventh place at the 1993 San Marino Grand Prix, which put him one position out of the points’ reckoning. Sadly, this was the closest he would ever come to achieving points as a driver. 1994 saw Scuderia Italia merge with Minardi and he was retained as test driver for Minardi. After the retirement of his experienced teammate Michele Alboreto post that season, he got back into the car for Minardi for the 1995 season. Again he failed to challenge anyone on the grid, let alone the podium, and often found himself languishing in the bottom-half of the pool. He could not be blamed as his team was hugely underfunded, as compared to the biggies of F1, and his best places were two eighth places in Canada and Hungary and a ninth in Japan. 1996 saw him switch sides again, this time for Forti Corse, where he only managed to qualify for six of the ten races that the team lasted before folding up after the Britain GP that year. Ferrari brought him on-board as test driver in 1997, which marked the beginning of a long partnership that lasts to this day. He had a brief stint with Minardi for the 1999 season, which was his last as a professional, competitive racer. In July of the 1999 season, Michael Schumacher broke his leg in an accident and Badoer was expected to take Schumi’s place. But in a controversial move, the team opted for Mika Salo to step into Schumacher’s shoes and Badoer was snubbed. This incident drew heavy criticism from former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi. Since 1999, Badoer has done countless test laps for Ferrari at their Mugello and Fiorano circuits. At the 2005 Winter Olympics in Italy, Badoer displayed one of the team’s 2005 cars in the center of the stadium in an event that was broadcasted all over the globe. He did successive doughnuts with the car, revving its engine as it got engulfed in a cloud of smoke. That probably was his biggest claim to fame. In 2009 after Felipe Massa's crash it was confirmed that Luca Badoer would drive the injured Felipe Massa’s car till the Brazilian was fit to race again. Aged 39, he made his Ferrari debut at the Eropean GP but qualified and finished last. He repeated the same performance at Belgium and his seat called for a replacement. Badoer was replaced by another Italian Giancarlo Fisichella after he finished second at the Belgian Grand Prix. It ended his final hopes to survive as a driver in F1. Badoer can only defend his test driver position with Ferrari to ensure that he continues living his dream to be in Formula One.
In which year was the Constructor's Championship first introduced in Formula 1?
In the year 1958, eight years after the first Driver’s Championship was awarded, F1 awarded the first Constructor’s title to the British team, Vanwall.