Elio de Angelis

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Elio de Angelis : biography

26 March 1958 – 15 May 1986

In 1985, De Angelis was joined by Ayrton Senna. De Angelis’ second win came in the third race of the season, at the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix after Alain Prost was disqualified when his McLaren MP4/2B for being 2 kg underweight. De Angelis also claimed his last F1 pole position in Canada. He finished fifth in the championship, with 33 points, five points behind his team mate. However, de Angelis chose to leave Lotus at the end of the season frustrated that the team’s efforts were being focused mostly on Senna. De Angelis’ drive for 1986 was with Brabham, as a replacement for twice World Champion Nelson Piquet, who had moved to Williams to join de Angelis’ former Lotus team mate Nigel Mansell. Fellow Italian Riccardo Patrese was Elio’s team mate.

De Angelis driving for [[Team Lotus at the 1985 German Grand Prix]]

The 1986 Brabham-BMW, the BT55, was a radically designed car with a very low cross section. Although modified with a BMW engine, it was not an effective car and could not arrest Brabham’s swift decline. It quickly became clear that 1986 would not be the year the team recaptured its form of the early 1980s. Nevertheless, de Angelis pushed his hardest to help develop the car.

Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Pts.
1979 Interscope Shadow Racing Team Shadow DN9 Cosworth V8 ARG7 BRA12 RSARet USW7 ESPRet BELRet MONDNQ FRA16 GBR12 GER11 AUTRet NEDRet ITARet CANRet USA4 15th 3
1980 Team Essex Lotus Lotus 81 Cosworth V8 ARGRet BRA2 RSARet USWRet BEL10 MON9 FRARet GBRRet GER16 AUT6 NEDRet ITA4 CAN10 USA4 7th 13
1981 Team Essex Lotus Lotus 81 Cosworth V8 USWRet BRA5 ARG6 SMRWD BEL5 8th 14
Lotus 87 MONRet
John Player Team Lotus ESP5 FRA6 GBRDSQ GER7 AUT7 NED5 ITA4 CAN6 CPLRet
1982 John Player Team Lotus Lotus 87B Cosworth V8 RSA8 9th 23
Lotus 91 BRARet USW5 SMR BEL4 MON5 DETRet CAN4 NEDRet GBR4 FRARet GERRet AUT1 SUI6 ITARet CPLRet
1983 John Player Team Lotus Lotus 91 Cosworth V8 BRADSQ 17th 2
Lotus 93T Renault V6T USWRet FRARet SMRRet MONRet BEL9 DETRet CANRet
Lotus 94T GBRRet GERRet AUTRet NEDRet ITA5 EURRet RSARet
1984 John Player Team Lotus Lotus 95T Renault V6T BRA3 RSA7 BEL5 SMR3 FRA5 MON‡5 CAN4 DET2 DAL3 GBR4 GERRet AUTRet NED4 ITARet EURRet POR5 3rd 34
1985 John Player Special Team Lotus Lotus 97T Renault V6T BRA3 POR4 SMR1 MON3 CAN5 DET5 FRA5 GBRNC GERRet AUT5 NED5 ITA6 BELRet EUR5 RSARet AUSDSQ 5th 33
1986 Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT55 BMW Straight-4T BRA8 ESPRet SMRRet MONRet BEL CAN DET FRA GBR GER HUN AUT ITA POR MEX AUS NC 0
  • ‡ Race was stopped with less than 75% of laps completed, half points awarded.