Career
His early career saw him graduate through the usual channels and he found himself in British Formula 3 driving for the crack Stewart Racing team. In his second season of F3 in 1999 he finished runner-up to Marc Hynes, but it was third-placed Jenson Button who would go on to achieve stardom in F1. Burti impressed when testing the Stewart grand prix car that season and became Jaguar's tester for 2000, mainly down to the lobbying of Jackie Stewart, the outgoing team-boss.
A surprise grand prix debut came on July 16, 2000, at the Austrian Grand Prix, as a replacement for the ill Eddie Irvine. Having tested consistently well for Jaguar in the 2000 Formula One season and with a race start already under his belt, he was promoted to the race team alongside Irvine in 2001, replacing Johnny Herbert. However, after just four races, he fell out of favour and was replaced by ex-Arrows driver Pedro de la Rosa.
Luckily Burti found a seat at Prost, where the underperforming Gastón Mazzacane had been sacked. Burti raced competently for Prost and recorded his highest finish - eighth place - at the Canadian Grand Prix. There was also the odd time when he would qualify ahead of team-mate Jean Alesi. However, a spectacular accident at the German Grand Prix, where he collided with the hobbled Ferrari of Michael Schumacher which launched his car to destruction, and then an almost fatal crash at the Belgian Grand Prix later on in the year saw him having to sit out the rest of the season with facial bruising and concussion. His seat was taken by Czech rookie Tomáš Enge.
Burti subsequently signed to test for the Ferrari team, but that came to an end at the end of his contract in 2004. Over the course of his Formula One career, he scored no championship points, and the odds of him making a Grand Prix comeback are not promising. He has since returned to Brazil, where he competes in Stock Car Brasil and commentates on Formula One races for TV Globo.
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