Minardi’s former Formula One driver and Spanish champion racing teammate Adrian Campos, who helped fellow and double world champion Fernando Alonso reach the top, has died at the age of 60.
Campos Racing, which has teams in the Formula Two and Three support tier, said in a statement on Thursday that their founder had died of “sudden coronary heart disease”.
“His heart stopped beating, but his memory is the engine that keeps us all fighting to continue his legacy,” they tweeted.
Campos started 17 grands prix in 1987-88 without getting a point.
He then focused on running teams in the youth league, working with future F1 drivers Marc Gene and Alonso early in their careers.
Alonso praised Instagram with the message “thank you for believing in young people”.
Jack Aitken of Britain, a Williams reserve who made his first grand prix tour in Bahrain as a supporter last year, raced for the Campos F2 team in 2020.
In 2009 Campos had an application to join the Campos Meta team in Formula One but financial difficulties were accepted by changing ownership and competing as Hispania, later HRT F1. The team joined in late 2012.