Career

After five years of karting, Marques raced in Formula Chevrolet in his home country aged only 16, and he won the title at his first attempt. In 1993 he moved up to Formula Three Sudamericana and subsequently European Formula 3000, and became the youngest driver to win races at both levels. In 1996, he started racing for Minardi in Formula One, competing with various drivers for the seat over the following two years, including Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli and Pedro Lamy. Minardi's financial situation demanded that drivers with strong sponsorship were generally favoured, and there were several driver changes in the team at that time.

In 1999, he moved stateside to drive in the American Champ Car ranks, and caught the eye of legendary team-owner Roger Penske. When two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. was injured, Penske asked him to fill in. His best finish was 9th. In 2000, 2004, and 2005, he drove sporadically in that series for perennial hopeful team owner Dale Coyne, with a best result of 11th.

Marques returned to Formula One in 2001 to race alongside future World Champion Fernando Alonso in the Minardi team, newly purchased by Paul Stoddart. He finished the season ahead of the Spaniard but it was a difficult season for Marques, with the team's financial difficulties not always allowing equal equipment for both drivers. Marques brought no money to the team and was employed under the provision that another driver with more sponsorship money could replace him at any point in the season, and that prospect was realised towards the end of the year, when Minardi replaced Marques with Alex Yoong with three races remaining. Marques welcomed the driver change as the extra finance would enable the team to progress. His two ninth-place finishes remained Minardi's best results of the season, but he was nearly always outpaced by Alonso.

Since his last Champ Car outing in 2005, Marques has returned to South America to drive in the TC2000 and Stock Car Brasil touring car championships.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
1994	Vortex Motorsport	SIL	PAU	CAT	PER	HOC	SPA	EST	MAG	15th	3
1995	DAMS	SIL	CAT	PAU	PER	HOC	SPA	EST	MAG	5th	15

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
1996	Minardi Team	Minardi M195B	Ford V8	AUS	BRA	ARG	EUR	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN		NC	0
1997	Minardi Team	Minardi M197	Hart V8	AUS	BRA	ARG	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	AUT	LUX	JPN	EUR	NC	0
2001	European Minardi F1	Minardi PS01	European V10	AUS	MAL	BRA	SMR	ESP	AUT	MON	CAN	EUR	FRA	GBR	GER						22nd	0
		Minardi PS01B														HUN	BEL	ITA	USA	JPN

American Open-Wheel

(key)

CART/Champ Car

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Rank	Points
1999	Team Penske	Penske PC-27B	Mercedes-Benz IC108E V8t	MOT	LBH	NAZ	RIO	GAT	MIL	POR														27th	4
		Lola B99/00									CLE	ROA	TOR	MIC	DET	MDO	CHI	VAN	LS	HOU	SRF	FON
2000	Dale Coyne Racing	Swift 011.c	Ford XF V8t	MIA	LBH	RIO	MOT	NAZ	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	CHI	MDO	ROA	VAN	LS	GAT	HOU	SRF	FON	25th	11
2004	Dale Coyne Racing	Lola B02/00	Ford XFE V8t	LBH	MTY	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	VAN	ROA	DEN	MTL	LS	LVS	SRF	MXC							22nd	9^
2005	Dale Coyne Racing	Lola B02/00	Ford XFE V8t	LBH	MTY	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	EDM	SJO	DEN	MTL	LVS	SRF	MXC								24th	10

^ New points system implemented in 2004.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]