Derek Warwick | |
|---|---|
 Warwick at the2014 British Grand Prix | |
| Born | Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick (1954-08-27)27 August 1954 (age 71) New Alresford, Hampshire, England |
| Relatives | Paul Warwick (brother) |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  British |
| Active years | 1981–1990,1993 |
| Teams | Toleman,Renault,Brabham,Arrows,Lotus,Footwork |
| Entries | 162 (147 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 4 |
| Careerpoints | 71 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| First entry | 1981 San Marino Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1993 Australian Grand Prix |
| World Sportscar Championship career | |
| Years active | 1983,1986,1991–1992 |
| Teams | Kremer,Jaguar,Peugeot |
| Starts | 25 |
| Championships | 1 (1992) |
| Wins | 7 |
| Podiums | 14 |
| Poles | 5 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 1983,1986,1991–1992,1996 |
| Teams | Kremer,Jaguar,Peugeot,Courage |
| Best finish | 1st(1992) |
| Class wins | 1(1992) |
Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick (born 27 August 1954) is a British formerracing driver, who competed inFormula One between1981 and1993.[a] Inendurance racing, Warwick won theWorld Sportscar Championship and24 Hours of Le Mans, both in 1992 withPeugeot.
Born inNew Alresford, Warwick was the older brother ofPaul Warwick. He signed forToleman in1981, debuting at theSan Marino Grand Prix; he did not qualify in theTG181 until the season-endingCaesars Palace Grand Prix. In1984, he achieved four podiums withRenault.
In 2005 and 2006 he raced in the inaugural season of theGrand Prix Masters formula for retired Formula One drivers. He has served as the fourth steward for three Grands Prix in 2010 and 2011. He was president of theBritish Racing Drivers Club (2011-2017), succeedingDamon Hill and precedingPaddy Hopkirk.
Warwick was born inAlresford, Hampshire, England.[1] He began his career inBritish stock car racing under theSpedeworth organisation at tracks such as his localAldershot Stadium. He won theSuperstox English Championship in 1971 (at the age of 16) and the World Championship atWimbledon Stadium in 1973.[2] His younger brotherPaul also raced with some success in Superstox before progressing toFormula 3000, in which he was racing when killed in an accident in 1991.
Derek finished runner-up in the1978 British Formula 3 Championship.
Warwick began his Formula One career with the fledgling F1 teamToleman for the1981 season. He managed to qualify for only one race that year, theseason finale at Las Vegas.[1] Warwick had mainly dismal1982 and1983 seasons in theToleman car, but bounced back, scoring points in the final four rounds of the 1983 championship.[3]
He joinedRenault in 1984 afterAlain Prost left them at the end of 1983. Warwick, expecting to have a race-winning car, led theBrazilian Grand Prix, his first drive for them, only to retire because of a suspension failure caused by an early race wheel banging duel with theMcLaren ofNiki Lauda. He finished in second place in both theBelgian andBritish Grands Prix in1984 and placed seventh in the championship.[4] 1984 would prove to be the beginning of the end for the factory Renault team, the pioneers of turbocharging in Formula One. Neither Warwick nor new teammatePatrick Tambay won a race in 1984, the first time since1978 that the team did not win a Grand Prix.
The turning point in Warwick's career was his decision to stay at Renault for1985 and reject an offer to drive forWilliams-Honda. The seat was then offered toNigel Mansell who, accepting the position, went on to win two races at the end of the season. 1985 was a poor one for Renault and the team withdrew from Formula One at the end of the year. Renault's withdrawal, andAyrton Senna's refusal to let Warwick join him as teammate atLotus (using his contracted number one driver status in the team, Senna refused to have anyone but a pure #2 as his teammate as he believed Lotus were not capable of supporting two championship contending drivers), left Warwick without a team for the1986 season and he took up an offer to drive forTom Walkinshaw'sTWRJaguar team in theWorld Sportscar Championship. Following the death ofElio de Angelis in a testing accident in May, however, Warwick was invited to take his place atBrabham. Unconfirmed rumours surfaced that Brabham ownerBernie Ecclestone had invited Warwick to take de Angelis's place as the Englishman was the only available top driver who had not actually contacted the team offering his services in the days following the Italian's untimely death. Warwick explained:
"I got a phone call from Bernie, who said that he really appreciated the fact that I didn't call him five minutes after Elio had died and would I like to drive for him."[2]
As no Grands Prix clashed with his Sportscar commitments, Warwick was able to race in both world championships.
In 1987, Warwick moved to theArrows team alongside his Jaguar teammateEddie Cheever, ending the season with 3 points scored. The 1988 season saw an improvement on the Arrows performance due to the powerfulMegatron (a re-badgedBMW M12) engine and Warwick finished 7 times in the top 6, earning him 17 points and a respectable 8th position in the championship. His best race of the season was 4th in theItalian Grand Prix atMonza where he finished only half a second behind Cheever. Italy was also notable in that it was the first time since the beginning of 1987 that Arrows engine guru Heini Mader finally solved the problem with theFIA's mandatory pop-off valve which restricted turbo boost. For the first time this allowed both Warwick and Cheever to fully exploit the power of the 640 bhp (477 kW; 649 PS) Megatron engine (restricted to 2.5 BAR boost in 1988) and be much closer to the front than they had been previously.
In 1989, victory eluded Warwick in two occasions. The first was in theBrazilian Grand Prix, when two disastrous pit-stops cost him more than the 17 seconds he finished behind winner Nigel Mansell. First he was stationary for 18 seconds (around 10 more than usual) due to a stuck rear wheel, then had the same problem at his second stop, compounded by Warwick stalling his engine. The second stop saw him stationary for 25 seconds. Going by time lost, had both stops been trouble free he could have won by around 10 seconds. But more heartbreak was to came at theCanadian Grand Prix inMontreal, when Warwick drove superbly and was leading the wet race, only to have hisFordV8engine fail on lap 40 while in second place. Ayrton Senna, who had passed Warwick for the lead on lap 38, would himself retire when his McLaren's Honda V10 blew 3 laps from the finish. As Warwick was lapping much quicker than those behind him, including theV10Williams-Renault of eventual winnerThierry Boutsen, it is possible he could have scored his first Grand Prix win had he finished. Reliability issues plagued Warwick's season and cost him good finishes in other races as well, resulting in only 7 points for the season, the last of his 3 years and first stint with Arrows.
For the 1990 season, 4 years after Senna's veto, Warwick finally drove for Lotus who in 1990 would be using the 640 bhp (477 kW; 649 PS)LamborghiniV12engine. But the glory days of that team were over and the Lamborghini LE3512 proved both underpowered and unreliable (theHondaV10s in theMcLarens were rated at around 690 bhp (515 kW; 700 PS) and were far more reliable) and Warwick ended the season with a meagre 3 points tally. Warwick would later describe the Lamborghini as "All noise and no go" while also noting that theLotus 102 was not a pleasant car to drive as its chassis would "flex", not just under power but also under breaking. His greatest achievement of the season happened at the1990 Spanish Grand Prix where his teammateMartin Donnelly suffered a severe crash leaving Warwick to help morale at the team by qualifying in the top 10 only for the gearbox to fail 10 laps from the end. Warwick himself had a somewhat terrifying crash at theItalian GP atMonza when on the last turn on the first lap at the Parabolica, the Lotus drifted wide to the left and off the track, collecting the barrier at speed before flipping over onto its side and roll cover while sliding down front straight with cars speeding past. Thankfully no other cars hit the stricken Lotus and an unhurt Warwick was able to scramble from his upturned car and actually run back to the pits to get into the spare car for the re-start (the race had been red flagged with the Lotus stuck in the middle of the track). To his credit, Warwick readily admitted to nothing more than driver error, just running too wide at the exit of the turn.[5]
.jpg)
In 1992 Warwick tested an IndyCar Lola T92/00 forHall/VDS Racing for 2 days atMid-Ohio in the off-season, to assess a possible move toCART for1993.[6] Ultimately he did not and instead returned to Formula 1.
Warwick had firm offers of paid drives for 1993 withJordan andFootwork and ultimately chose the latter. Warwick returned to Formula 1 following a 3-year sabbatical and completed the full season in1993, but managed to score only 4 points. He ended his career with a total of 71 Grand Prix points.[1]
BBC Sport described him as "the best British racing driver never to win a Grand Prix" in 2024.[7]
Warwick also competed successfully insports car racing, winning theWorld Sportscar Championship in 1992, and was part of thePeugeot team which was victorious at the24 hours of Le Mans race that year. He drove sports cars forJaguar in 1986 and 1991.
In 1988, he made an appearance in the Celebrity Car in the inauguralHonda CR-X Challenge.[8]
He entered a two-car team in the 1990 Season. His drivers were mainlyRobin Brundle (who won atCastle Combe) and Roland Dane (with whom, he would later set up Triple 8 Racing), although he raced himself at Donington Park and finished 5th.[citation needed] He also ran his brother Paul in a few rounds, peaking with 3rd atSnetterton.[9][10]
Warwick raced in theBritish Touring Car Championship (BTCC) after retiring from Formula One, driving for theAlfa Romeo works team in1995. Despite the team's domination the previous year, their car was underdeveloped this time, leading to a poor season. In the first race of the season atDonington Park he crashed and flying debris broke a TV camera lens, an incident featured in the highlights screened by the BBC a week later, with commentatorMurray Walker quipping that Warwick owed them £6,000 for the damage ("that'll be six grand please, Derek!").
After a year out of racing, he co-founded theTriple Eight Racing team withRoland Dane and took over the running of the worksVauxhall1997 BTCC entry, as well as owning three car dealerships inSouthampton andJersey. Originally set to be team principal, it was decided he would drive one of the cars alongside established Vauxhall driverJohn Cleland, winning a wet race atKnockhill in1998. He retired from racing at the end of the year, but continued his involvement in the team for another 3 years.
Warwick now operates aHonda franchise inJersey.[11]
Warwick notably deputised for Martin Brundle (who was racing at Le Mans) as Murray Walker's co-commentator on ITV for the 1998 Canadian Grand Prix. In 2005 and 2006, Warwick raced in the inaugural season of the Grand Prix Masters formula for retired Formula One drivers. In 2010, he served as the fourth steward for the Spanish and Hungarian Grands Prix. In 2011, Warwick served as the fourth steward for the 2011 Turkish Grand Prix. This role is given only to former racing drivers who advise the stewards panel on incidents from a driver perspective. He was president of the British Racing Drivers Club, after succeeding Damon Hill.Paddy Hopkirk replaced him as president of the BRDC in 2016. In 2015, Warwick received treatment forbowel cancer.[12]
† Not eligible for points due to being a guest driver.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Toleman Group Motorsport | March 792 | Hart | SIL Ret | HOC Ret | THR Ret | NÜR DNS | VAL NC | MUG 5 | PAU 9 | HOC Ret | ZAN Ret | PER Ret | MIS Ret | DON 10 | 20th | 2 | ||
| 1980 | Toleman Group Motorsport | Toleman TG280 | Hart | THR 2 | HOC Ret | NÜR 3 | VAL 3 | PAU Ret | SIL 1 | ZOL 4 | 2nd | 42 | |||||||
| Toleman TG280B | MUG 2 | ZAN 2 | PER 11 | MIS 3 | HOC | ||||||||||||||
Source:[15] | |||||||||||||||||||
(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 | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Porsche Kremer Racing | C | Kremer CK5 | Porsche Type-935 3.0 LF6t | MNZ | SIL | NÜR | LMS Ret | NC | 0 | |||||
| Kremer CK5 | Porsche Type-935 3.0 LF6t | SPA Ret | FUJ | KYA | |||||||||||
| 1986 | Silk Cut Jaguar | C1 | Jaguar XJR-6 | Jaguar 6.5 LV12 | MNZ Ret | SIL 1 | LMS Ret | NOR 3 | BRH 4 | JER 3 | NÜR Ret | SPA 2 | FUJ 3 | 3rd | 81 |
| 1991 | Silk Cut Jaguar | C1 | Jaguar XJR-14 | Jaguar HB 3.5 LV8 | SUZ NC | MNZ 1 | SIL 1 | NÜR 1 | MAG 5 | MEX 6 | AUT 2 | 2nd | 79 | ||
| Jaguar XJR-12 | Jaguar 7.4 LV12 | LMS 4 | |||||||||||||
| 1992 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | C1 | Peugeot 905 Evo 1B | Peugeot SA35-A2 3.5 LV10 | MNZ 2 | SIL 1 | LMS 1 | DON 2 | SUZ 1 | MAG 5 | 1st | 98 | |||
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 |  PorscheKremer Racing |  Patrick GaillardFrank Jelinski | Porsche-Kremer CK5 | C | 76 | DNF | DNF |
| 1986 | Silk CutJaguarTom Walkinshaw Racing |  Eddie CheeverJean-Louis Schlesser | Jaguar XJR-6 | C1 | 239 | DNF | DNF |
| 1991 | Silk CutJaguarTom Walkinshaw Racing |  John NielsenAndy Wallace | Jaguar XJR-12 | C1 | 356 | 4th | 4th |
| 1992 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | Yannick DalmasMark Blundell | Peugeot 905 Evo 1B | C1 | 352 | 1st | 1st |
| 1996 | Courage Compétition | Mario Andretti Jan Lammers | Courage C36-Porsche | LMP1 | 315 | 13th | 3rd |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded 1996 onwards all races) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap) (* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded in 1998 only)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Alfa Romeo Old Spice Racing | Alfa Romeo 155 TS | DON 1 Ret | DON 2 Ret | BRH 1 12 | BRH 2 Ret | THR 1 12 | THR 2 Ret | SIL 1 16 | SIL 2 17 | OUL 1 DNS | OUL 2 DNS | BRH 1 8 | BRH 2 11 | DON 1 13 | DON 2 Ret | SIL 1 9 | KNO 1 Ret | KNO 2 16 | BRH 1 8 | BRH 2 14 | SNE 1 Ret | SNE 2 13 | OUL 1 8 | OUL 2 Ret | SIL 1 8 | SIL 2 10 | 19th | 15 | |
| 1997 | Vauxhall Sport | Vauxhall Vectra | DON 1 9 | DON 2 8 | SIL 1 8 | SIL 2 5 | THR 1 15 | THR 2 6 | BRH 1 10 | BRH 2 11 | OUL 1 11 | OUL 2 Ret | DON 1 Ret | DON 2 10 | CRO 1 7 | CRO 2 10 | KNO 1 9 | KNO 2 13 | SNE 1 11 | SNE 2 Ret | THR 1 9 | THR 2 8 | BRH 1 Ret | BRH 2 Ret | SIL 1 Ret | SIL 2 Ret | 14th | 33 | ||
| 1998 | Vauxhall Sport | Vauxhall Vectra | THR 1 12 | THR 2 5 | SIL 1 4 | SIL 2 6* | DON 1 13 | DON 2 8 | BRH 1 11 | BRH 2 13 | OUL 1 11 | OUL 2 Ret | DON 1 DSQ | DON 2 3 | CRO 1 9 | CRO 2 12 | SNE 1 10 | SNE 2 Ret | THR 1 7 | THR 2 Ret | KNO 1 9 | KNO 2 1 | BRH 1 Ret | BRH 2 14 | OUL 1 10 | OUL 2 5* | SIL 1 7 | SIL 2 10 | 9th | 70 |
| Year | Team | Co-Driver | Car | Laps | Pos. | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997* | Vauxhall Sport |  Peter Brock | Vauxhall Vectra | 148 | 6th | [19] |
| 1998* | Team Vectra | John Cleland | Vauxhall Vectra | 157 | 5th | [20] |
*Super Touring race
(key) Races inbold indicate pole position, races initalics indicate fastest lap.
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Team Lixxus | Delta Motorsport GPM | Nicholson McLaren 3.5V8 | RSA 5 | ||||
| 2006 | Team Lixxus | Delta Motorsport GPM | Nicholson McLaren 3.5V8 | QAT 5 | ITA C | GBR Ret | MAL C | RSA C |
Source:[15] | ||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Porsche AG | BHR1 | BHR2 | ESP | MON | FRA | GBR 27 | GER | HUN | TUR | BEL | ITA | NC† | 0† | [21] |
† Not eligible for points due to being a guest driver.
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Subaru Technica International | Subaru Legacy RS | MON | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | NZL | ARG | FIN | AUS | ITA | CIV | GBR Ret | NC | 0 |
Warwick's helmet is blue with the entire chin area white and a white stripe running across the top, in the chin area there is a stripe on each side, his name written and aUnion Jack.
Derek Warwick's F1 Blog on Champions365.com
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | British Formula 3 Championship BRDC Series Champion 1978 | Succeeded by Chico Serra (Combined championship) |
| Preceded by | World Sportscar Championship Champion 1992 With:Yannick Dalmas | Succeeded by None (Series ended) |
| Preceded by | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1992 With:Yannick Dalmas &Mark Blundell | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | BRDC President 2011 – 2017 | Succeeded by |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by | Hawthorn Memorial Trophy 1984 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Hawthorn Memorial Trophy 1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Autosport British Competition Driver of the Year 1992 | Succeeded by |
|
| |||||
| |||||
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
