Andrea de Cesaris

de Cesaris in 1990, during his Scuderia Italia tenure

**Andrea de Cesaris** (born 31 May 1959) is an Italian racing driver, who last drove for Fondmetal in Formula One. A series of accidents early in his career gave him a reputation as a quick but reckless driver.

## Early racing career

A multiple karting champion, he moved on to Formula Three in Britain, winning numerous events and finished second in the 1979 British Formula Three Championship, trailing only Chico Serra. From Formula 3, he advanced to Formula 2 with future McLaren boss Ron Dennis' Project Four Racing.

## Formula One

### Alfa Romeo and McLaren (1980–1981)

Alfa Romeo recruited de Cesaris for the remaining events of the 1980 World Championship, replacing Vittorio Brambilla, who had replaced Patrick Depailler after the latter was killed during testing at Hockenheim. His debut race in Canada ended after eight laps due to an engine issue. In his second race, at Watkins Glen in the United States, he collided with Derek Daly in a Tyrrell at the Junction round, crashing into the catch netting after two laps. In 1981, primarily because to his personal Marlboro sponsorship, which also happened to be McLaren's principal sponsor, de Cesaris secured a place with McLaren, which had merged with Ron Dennis' Project Four squad following the 1980 season. During the season, de Cesaris demonstrated speed on occasion (particularly at quick tracks), but he wrecked 19 times in practice or races, most of which were caused by driver error. After qualifying 13th in the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, the team withdrew his car due to concerns that he would crash. The Italian finished only six of the fourteen races he entered that year. Because of the repeated collisions, he gained the moniker "Andrea de Crasheris"; team manager Ron Dennis became so dissatisfied with de Cesaris's constant crashes that he not only did not renew the Italian's contract, but he never signed another Italian driver at McLaren again.

In July 1981, de Cesaris and Henri Pescarolo finished second to Riccardo Patrese and Michele Alboreto in a 6-hour endurance race at Watkins Glen, New York. Both teams drove Lancias, with de Cesaris and Pescarolo finishing two laps back.

### Return to Alfa Romeo (1982–1983)

After returning to Alfa Romeo in 1982, de Cesaris became the youngest driver to ever achieve pole position at the Long Beach Grand Prix. De Cesaris was also the second Alfa Romeo driver to win a pole since 1951. De Cesaris led the race until he passed a backmarker in a tight corner, with Niki Lauda immediately behind him in second. De Cesaris shook his fist at the backmarker, neglected to change gear, and hit the rev limiter, allowing Lauda to take the lead and win the race; de Cesaris experienced rear brake failure and crashed hard at Pine Avenue. In 1982, de Cesaris finished third in Monte Carlo and scored a point in Canada. Didier Pironi retired on the final lap of the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix after experiencing electrical problems with his Ferrari. De Cesaris ran out of petrol at the same time, giving Riccardo Patrese his maiden Formula One victory. In 1983, with his Alfa Romeo now equipped with a turbo engine, he finished second twice, once at the 1983 German Grand Prix in Hockenheim (his first points of the season) and again at the season-ending 1983 South African Grand Prix in Kyalami, 9.319 seconds behind Riccardo Patrese. De Cesaris came close to victory at Spa-Francorchamps, leading Alain Prost's Renault for much of the race before a failed pit stop and a blown engine forced him to retire.

### Ligier (1984–1985)

De Cesaris switched to Ligier in 1984, and despite the car's promising Renault turbo engine, he scored only three points that season. De Cesaris and Ligier colleague François Hesnault flew to Australia at the end of 1984 to compete in the 1984 Australian Grand Prix, the race's final home event before joining the Formula One World Championship in 1985. Driving a Ford BDA powered Ralt RT4 (18 of the 25 car field were RT4s), de Cesaris qualified in 5th place. After entering the pits at the conclusion of the warm-up lap, he exited just before the green flag and was nearly a lap behind when the race began. He then went on to deliver what many consider to be the best drive of the day, finishing third (without losing a lap) behind winner Roberto Moreno and Keke Rosberg. In 1985, a succession of impressive performances, including a fourth-place finish at Monaco, showed early promise, but the season turned sour when de Cesaris crashed his Ligier JS25 in a quadruple mid-air rollover at the Austrian Grand Prix, prompting his dismissal by team manager Guy Ligier. Guy Ligier remarked that "I can no longer afford to employ this man" despite Marlboro paying the majority of de Cesaris' salary. He was remained on the squad until the next race at Zandvoort, when he was replaced by Philippe Streiff.

### Minardi (1986)

In 1986, de Cesaris relocated to Minardi. Throughout the season, he was frequently overtaken by his colleague, Alessandro Nannini, a fellow Italian and Formula One rookie. For the first time in his career, de Cesaris went the full season without scoring a point, retiring from all but two races (DNQ in Monaco and 8th in Mexico).

### Brabham (1987)

This section is incomplete. If you'd like to help, please add the relevant information.

## Formula One Statistical Overview

### Complete Formula One results

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

Notes

* † – Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

## Notes

1. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Persistent non-winner". Forix.com/8w. 1999. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
2. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Ian Mark Bamsey, ed. (1981). *Automobile Sport 81 82*. Phillip Bingham. Cambridge: Iconplan Ltd. pp. 55, 86. ISBN 0-907804-01-2.
3. ↑ Dutch GP, 1981 Race Report - GP Encyclopedia - F1 History on Grandprix.com. Grandprix.com.
4. ↑ *Lancia wins endurance race at Watkins Glen*, Doylestown, Pennsylvania Intelligencer, July 13, 1981, Page 13.
5. ↑ *Lauda, Driving a McLaren, Captures Long Beach Grand Prix*, New York Times, April 5, 1982, Page C2.
6. ↑ *Italian Prix driver wins in a crawl*, Chicago Daily Herald, May 24, 1982, Page 28.
7. ↑ *Arnoux's Ferrari Wins in Germany*, New York Times, August 8, 1983, Page C7.
8. ↑ *Patrese wins race, but Piquet wins title*, Syracuse Herald Journal, October 15, 1983, Page 9.