Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist Alex Zanardi admits his curious nature has kept him young at heart and inspired despite having to adapt to life without his two legs after a devastating crash in 2001.

Alex Zanardi, the former F1 driver who lost both legs in a crash: “Sometimes I find inspiration from very humble people who are doing normal things.” Photo: Jonathan Borg

Interviewed by The Sunday Times of Malta, the former Formula 1 driver, 52,  described how, although he has gone through many different experiences throughout his life, he continues to find inspiration in even the smallest things.

“I stayed curious, so to this degree, I am probably still very young because I am still very curious. I am still searching for inspiration. Although I have been able to do a lot of things in my life, I still find inspiration from others and they don’t necessarily have to be big and famous people.

“Sometimes I find inspiration from very humble people who are doing normal things. Evidently, if I am talented in one thing it is being sufficiently curious and always staying tuned to what is happening around me,” Mr Zanardi said during the interview on his second day in Malta.

Mr Zanardi is best known for his resilience as a man who, despite having both his legs amputated following a high-speed crash in 2001, continued his career as a racing driver against all odds and for also taking up other sports.

Speaking of his life after the accident that cost him both his legs, the racer described how he was “very happy and joyful” that he could continue living his life. The accident, he said, served as a great opportunity to “put things back into the right perspective and regain control of [his] life”.

“In reality, when I found myself in trouble, hitting that bump, metaphorically speaking, I had to reorganise my priorities. Of course, I was answering the question on whether I would ever step back into a race car, because that is what I had done until that point in my life and the interest in whether I would fear such a hypothetical step was great.

The most important thing was to regain control of my life

“But in my book, the most important thing was to regain control of my life, to be independent and to be a good dad to my son and a good husband to my wife. I wanted to fix the fundamental elements in my life and once that was OK, which took more or less one year, then, yes, I regained an interest in decorating my life with my passions,” Mr Zanardi insisted. On getting back behind the seat of a race car, after BMW asked him to test drive one of their cars, Mr Zanardi admitted the feat was not as “special” as other, possibly more simple, achievements.

He described how the return to the wheel came after a lot of planning and though, without his legs, he had to figure out how to “reconnect [his] brain to the rest of the machine” he was driving, he was confident he would overcome any challenge and one day return to podiums. Instead, it was the more mundane, day-to-day activities that caught him by surprise – including using the bathroom without any help!

“I remember, in the beginning of my rehabilitation, I was taking the very first steps in the corridor of the rehabilitation centre and the physiotherapists were helping me out when I walked in front of the restroom.

“Since I have human needs like everyone, I said I needed to take advantage of the restrooms and I went in and while I was doing my business I realised that it was the first time I was in there standing up again. It was a thrilling moment because after the accident I had to adapt and change my habits in relationship to my disability. And as stupid as it may sound, that was a moment where I realised I was regaining control of my life.”

Moments such as that one, he insisted, were “more enjoyable” because they came as a surprise, unlike driving a race car, which he knew he could do since it was what he had been doing all his life.

And while these days Mr Zanardi is often invited to speak to large audiences about his experiences, as did in Malta as part of an Avanza Academy event, he refuses to be called a motivational speaker. “I wouldn’t call myself a wise man. I just had the privilege of living a very particular life, full of different experiences. I’m sure I can give people a very original point of view but that is all.”