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Andrea de Cesaris | |
|---|---|
 De Cesaris in 1982 | |
| Born | (1959-05-31)31 May 1959 Rome, Italy |
| Died | 5 October 2014(2014-10-05) (aged 55) Rome, Italy |
| Cause of death | Single-vehicle motorcycle road collision |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Italian |
| Active years | 1980–1994 |
| Teams | Alfa Romeo,McLaren,Ligier,Minardi,Brabham,Rial,Scuderia Italia,Jordan,Tyrrell,Sauber |
| Entries | 214 (208 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 5 |
| Careerpoints | 59 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First entry | 1980 Canadian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1994 European Grand Prix |
Andrea de Cesaris (Italian pronunciation:[anˈdrɛːadeˈtʃeːzaris]; 31 May 1959 – 5 October 2014) was an Italianracing driver, who competed inFormula One from1980 to1994.
De Cesaris started 208Formula One Grands Prix without victory, holding therecord for themost races without a win from1989 until being surpassed byNico Hülkenberg at the2024 Miami Grand Prix. A string of accidents early in his career earned him a reputation for being a fast but wild driver.[1]
In 2005 and 2006, de Cesaris competed in theGrand Prix Masters formula for retired Formula One drivers. He died on 5 October 2014 after losing control of his motorcycle on Rome'sGrande Raccordo Anulare motorway.
A multiplekarting champion, he graduated toFormula 3 inBritain, winning numerous events and finishing 2nd in the1979 British Formula Three Championship, as runner up toChico Serra. From Formula 3, he graduated toFormula 2 with futureMcLaren bossRon Dennis'Project 4 team.
In 1980, de Cesaris was picked up byAlfa Romeo for the final events of the1980 World Championship, replacingVittorio Brambilla who had, in turn, replacedPatrick Depailler when he was killed during testing atHockenheim. His first race inCanada ended after eight laps because of engine failure. In his second race, atWatkins Glen in theUnited States, he tangled withDerek Daly in a Tyrrell at the Junction corner and crashed into the catch fencing after two laps.
In 1981, largely thanks to his personalMarlboro sponsorship which also happened to be McLaren's main sponsor, de Cesaris landed a seat at McLaren which had merged with theProject FourFormula 2 team run byRon Dennis after the 1980 season. During the season, de Cesaris proved to be fast on occasion (particularly at fast circuits), but he crashed 19 times that season either in practice or in the race, often due to driver error.[2] The team was so worried that he would crash the car that they withdrew his car from the Dutch Grand Prix inZandvoort after he qualified 13th.[3] The Italian managed to finish only 6 of the 14 races he started that year. Due to the frequent crashes, he earned the nickname "Andrea de Crasheris"; team boss Ron Dennis grew so annoyed with de Cesaris's constant crashes that not only did he not extend the Italian's contract, he never actually hired an Italian driver to McLaren ever again.
In July 1981 de Cesaris andHenri Pescarolo finished second to the team ofRiccardo Patrese andMichele Alboreto in a 6-hour endurance race atWatkins Glen, New York. Both teams droveLancia cars with de Cesaris and Pescarolo finishing two laps behind.[4]
After switching back toAlfa Romeo in 1982, de Cesaris became the youngest man ever to take pole position at theLong Beach Grand Prix. De Cesaris was also only the second Alfa Romeo driver to capture a pole since 1951. De Cesaris led the race but as he was passing a backmarker at a tight corner withNiki Lauda right behind him in second, de Cesaris waved his fist at the backmarker and forgot to change gear and hit the rev limiter, which allowed Lauda to take the lead and win the race; de Cesaris suffered rear brake failure and crashed hard at Pine Avenue.[5]
In the 1982 season, de Cesaris earned a podium finish atMonte Carlo and a point inCanada. At the1982 Monaco Grand Prix,Didier Pironi retired on the final lap due to electrical trouble with hisFerrari. De Cesaris ran out of fuel at the same time, allowingRiccardo Patrese to win his first Formula 1 race.[6]
In 1983, with his Alfa Romeo now using aturbo engine, he took two second places, one at the1983 German Grand Prix atHockenheim[7] (his first points of the season) and the other one in the season-closing1983 South African Grand Prix atKyalami, 9.319 seconds behind Riccardo Patrese.[8] De Cesaris came close to winning atSpa-Francorchamps, after comfortably leading theRenault ofAlain Prost for much of the race before a botched pit stop delayed him and a blown engine put him out of the race.
De Cesaris moved to Ligier in 1984, where despite the car's promising Renault turbo engine, he scored only three points during the season.
At the end of 1984, de Cesaris and Ligier teammateFrançois Hesnault travelled toAustralia to drive in the1984 Australian Grand Prix, the last domesticAustralian Grand Prix before the race became part of the Formula One World Championship in1985. Driving aFord BDA poweredRalt RT4 (18 of the 25 car field were RT4s), de Cesaris qualified in 5th place. After entering the pits at the end of the warm up lap, he exited the pits moments before the green flag and was almost a lap behind when the race started. He then proceeded to put in what many consider as the drive of the day to eventually finish 3rd (without ever losing a lap) behindRoberto Moreno (winner) andKeke Rosberg.
In 1985 a number of strong performances, including a fourth place atMonaco, showed early promise but the season turned into a dismal one after de Cesaris destroyed hisLigier JS25 in a quadruple mid-air rollover at theAustrian Grand Prix, and was fired by team bossGuy Ligier as a result. Guy Ligier stated that "I can no longer afford to employ this man", despite Marlboro paying the bulk of de Cesaris' salary. He was kept in the team until the next race atZandvoort, after which he was replaced byPhilippe Streiff.
In 1986 de Cesaris moved toMinardi. He was often outpaced by his teammate, fellow Italian and F1 rookieAlessandro Nannini during the season. For the first time in his career, de Cesaris went the entire season without scoring a point; he retired from every race but two (DNQ in Monaco, 8th in Mexico).
In 1987, de Cesaris switched to Brabham-BMW. With theBernie Ecclestone-owned team he was able to achieve better results, even though he mostly failed to match his teammate Riccardo Patrese. He did not finish (DNF) 14 of 16 races. At the1987 Belgian Grand Prix atSpa, Belgium, de Cesaris placed third behindAlain Prost andStefan Johansson, his first points in nearly two years and his first podium finish since the final round of the 1983 season inSouth Africa.[9] He would not finish another race that season.
For 1988, Brabham pulled out of Formula One and de Cesaris switched to the newRial team, run by GermanGünter Schmid, the former boss of theATS outfit. With aCosworth engine in the car, de Cesaris managed to qualify for all sixteen races of the season and take fourth place in theDetroit Grand Prix. He also twice ran out of fuel in the last laps while running in the points, inCanada andAustralia.
For 1989, de Cesaris moved to the Marlboro-sponsored Scuderia Italia squad. Early results were again promising. By now one of the more experienced drivers in the field, de Cesaris was on course for a podium position inMonte Carlo, before being taken out by triple world championNelson Piquet at the Loews Hairpin. De Cesaris lost his temper after the accident and berated Piquet'sLotus team upon returning to the pits. Two races later, after an early delay, he was being lapped by Dallara teammateAlex Caffi when he ran his fellow Italian into the wall, robbing his team of a potential podium. De Cesaris finished third at the next race inCanada, behindWilliams driversThierry Boutsen andRiccardo Patrese in a rain-soaked race. The race would be the last time de Cesaris stood on the Formula One podium.
With a number of teams using either Ford or Judd customer V8s (Dallara used theFord DFR) in 1990, the midfield had become more competitive. De Cesaris was involved in a number of incidents during that season, including crashing out at the start of the first lap atInterlagos and atImola. He also nearly took out theFerrari of 2nd-placedNigel Mansell while being lapped during the race, promptingBBC commentator and1976 World ChampionJames Hunt to call him an idiot on live television.[10] Reliability was a problem for Dallara, and de Cesaris again failed to score a point all season.
Dumped forJJ Lehto at Dallara at the end of 1990, de Cesaris was signed byEddie Jordan for his team's first season in Formula One. Jordan had already run de Cesaris in Formula 3.
At the season's first race inPhoenix, de Cesaris selected the wrong gear in the short pre-qualifying session, buzzed the engine and was out. De Cesaris showed better form atMonaco, forcing his way past the Benetton ofRoberto Moreno and was running in the points until the Jordan's throttle cable snapped.
In the next race inCanada he finished fourth. De Cesaris then repeated the result next time out inMexico. The following race inFrance he finished sixth. Suspension failure inGreat Britain led him to crash but the Italian bounced back to qualify seventh and finish fifth inGermany.
De Cesaris did not score again until the1991 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Franchorchamps. Despite the pressure of being outqualified by debutant teammateMichael Schumacher, de Cesaris moved through the field to take second position until his car's Ford HB V8 blew. A communication problem between Ford and the Jordan team meant the oil tank in the car was too small to service a new type ofpiston ring, which used more lubricant.
De Cesaris finished the season 9th in the standings, his best result since 1983.
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Despite Eddie Jordan's desire to keep de Cesaris for the 1992 season, financial realities meant it was not possible.[citation needed] Jordan had built up significant debts in his debut season but was able to secure sponsorship from Barclay Cigarettes. However, the brand was in direct conflict with de Cesaris' Marlboro backing.
Ken Tyrrell hired de Cesaris for his team for the 1992 season. De Cesaris took a fifth in the second race of the season in Mexico, despite being caught up in an early spin.
De Cesaris was able to score points three more times during the season, with his best result being a fourth place in theJapanese Grand Prix.
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For the 1993 season, the Ilmor engine had been replaced with aYamaha V10, which changed the dynamics and reliability of the car. The Tyrrell 020 was also replaced mid-season by the Tyrrell 021 due to age. This car, featuring active suspension, was not a success. For the third time in his career, de Cesaris failed to score a point and left Tyrrell at the end of the season.
In 1994, for the first time since 1980, de Cesaris started the season without a Formula One drive. But during theBrazilian Grand Prix,Eddie Irvine was blamed for causing a massive accident which sawJos Verstappen barrel roll over the top ofMartin Brundle. On appeal, Irvine was banned for three races. At thePacific Grand Prix,Aguri Suzuki drove Irvine's vacated Jordan. But for the next race, theSan Marino Grand Prix, Eddie Jordan brought de Cesaris back to the team.
The return didn't start well after de Cesaris damaged a chassis during testing. He crashed again during theSan Marino Grand Prix at Imola due to poor fitness, having not driven a race distance in six months. He bounced back inMonte Carlo, where de Cesaris stayed away from trouble and away from the barriers to take fourth place. Irvine returned for the next race butSauber had noticed the Italian's form, and signed him to replace the injuredKarl Wendlinger in the Mercedes-powered machines.
De Cesaris' first race for Sauber was his 200th Grand Prix, inCanada. Although there he retired after 24 laps, he finished in the points at the next event, theFrench Grand Prix atMagny-Cours.
De Cesaris' career ended when he retired with throttle problems at the1994 European Grand Prix.JJ Lehto replaced him for the final two Grands Prix.[citation needed] De Cesaris ended his career with 208 Grand Prix starts, second only toRiccardo Patrese at the time. Numerous other drivers have since surpassed his total.
De Cesaris participated in a total of 214 grands prix. He achieved 5 podiums, one pole position, and scored a total of 59 championship points. He was the driver with the most Grand Prix starts (208) to his name without a win, until Nico Hülkenberg surpassed him in this respect in 2024.[11] He also holds the records for the most consecutive non-finishes, 18 from 1985 and 1986 (although many of these were mechanical failures), as well as the most successive non-finishes in a single season, 12 in 1987. Similarly, no driver has had more than his 14 DNFs in a 16-race season.[12] He scored points for 9 out of 10 teams he raced for: McLaren, Alfa Romeo, Brabham, Rial, Tyrrell, Jordan, Ligier, Scuderia Italia and Sauber, failing to do so only for Minardi.[13]
After retiring from motor racing, de Cesaris became a successful currency broker inMonte Carlo. It has been reported that he spent six months of the year in this occupation and the remainder windsurfing in Hawaii, Mexico, and around the world.[14]
De Cesaris' helmet was white with three diagonal lines resembling the Italian flag running across the top, and a red line between two green lines in the chin area.
Long absent from the Formula One paddock, de Cesaris appeared at the2005 Monaco Grand Prix, and was welcomed back with a warm hug from formerBrabham team boss and Formula One bossBernie Ecclestone. A few months later it was announced de Cesaris would race in the newGrand Prix Masters series for retired Formula One drivers. In October, he set the fastest time in the first Grand Prix Masters test at theSilverstone South circuit in England. Due to his passion for windsurfing, de Cesaris retained a high level of fitness in comparison to other retired drivers. In the first race at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa, de Cesaris qualified well and raced to fourth, after a fierce battle with BritonDerek Warwick.[15]
De Cesaris was killed in a road accident on 5 October 2014 at age 55 while riding hisSuzuki motorbike. Italian press reported that he died on impact with theguard rail on the outer lane of Rome'sGrande Raccordo Anulare freeway, in proximity of the Bufalotta turn-off.[16][17]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
(key) Races inbold indicate pole position, races initalics indicate fastest lap.
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Team Unipart | Delta Motorsport GPM | Nicholson McLaren 3.5V8 | RSA 4 | ||||
| 2006 | Team INA | Delta Motorsport GPM | Nicholson McLaren 3.5V8 | QAT 13 | ITA C | GBR 10 | MAL C | RSA C |
Sources:[18] | ||||||||
| Records | ||
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| Preceded by | Youngest Grand Prix polesitter 22 years, 308 days (1982 United States Grand Prix West) | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
