Derek Warwick

Warwick during the 1993 San Marino Grand Prix

**Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick** (born 27 August 1954) is a British racing driver, currently competing for Footwork in Formula One. At the beginning of the 1993 season, Warwick led all active drivers in most races without a win. He did, however, win the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans and 1992 World Sportscar Championship.

## Early life and career

Warwick was born in New Alresford, Hampshire, England. He began his career in British stock car racing under the Spedeworth organisation at tracks such as his local Aldershot Stadium. He won the Superstox English Championship in 1971 (at the age of 16) and the World Championship at Wimbledon Stadium in 1973. Derek won the 1978 British Formula 3 Championship.

## Formula One

### Toleman (1981–1983)

Warwick began his Formula One career with the fledgling F1 team Toleman for the 1981 season. He managed to qualify for only one race that year, the season finale at Las Vegas. Warwick had mainly dismal 1982 and 1983 seasons in the Toleman car, but bounced back, scoring points in the final four rounds of the 1983 championship.

### Renault (1984–1985)

He joined Renault in 1984 after Alain Prost left the team at the end of 1983. Warwick, expecting to have a race-winning car, led the Brazilian Grand Prix, his first drive for them, only to retire because of a suspension failure caused by an early race wheel-banging duel with the McLaren of Niki Lauda. He finished in second place in both the Belgian and British Grands Prix in 1984 and placed seventh in the championship. 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 teammate Patrick Tambay won a race in 1984, the first time since 1978 that the team did not win a Grand Prix.

The turning point in Warwick's career was his decision to stay at Renault for 1985 and reject an offer to drive for Williams-Honda. The seat was then offered to Nigel 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, and Ayrton Senna's refusal to let Warwick join him as teammate at Lotus (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 the 1986 season and he took up an offer to drive for Tom Walkinshaw's TWR Jaguar team in the World Sportscar Championship.

### Brabham (1986)

Following the death of Elio de Angelis in a testing accident in May, however, Warwick was invited to take his place at Brabham. Unconfirmed rumours surfaced that Brabham owner Bernie 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."
>
>

As no Grands Prix clashed with his Sportscar commitments, Warwick was able to race in both world championships.

### Arrows (1987–1989)

In 1987, Warwick moved to the Arrows team alongside his Jaguar teammate Eddie Cheever. Warwick would fail to score any points in 1987 but he would see the chequered on 9 occasions and would finish 8th on 3 occasions. For 1988 Warwick would enjoy more success with Arrows-Megatron, having points scoring finishes on three occasions. He would finish 5th at the European Grand Prix and Portuguese Grand Prix. Warwick would place 11th in the standings with 5 points, but 10 points less than team mate, Cheever. Both Warwick and Cheever would stay at Arrows for 1989 and they would get a new power unit with Ford engines for the season. Warwick would have et more success in 1989, with 3 consecutive points scoring finishes in the opening 3 rounds of the championship. The standout performance of the season came at the San Marino Grand Prix, where he finished 5th, ahead of Gerhard Berger in the competitive Ferrari. There would be 2 further points finishes in 1989, but after another 5th place at the German Grand Prix, Warwick would not again finish in the points. With the 1989 season petering out, it would still be an improvement on last season, placing 10th with 7 points. However, the Arrows team had felt Warwick and Cheever did not get the full potential of the team and with significant investment coming from Footwork and a new works engine deal with Mercedes-backed Ilmor, they were looking for a new driver line up. For 1990 Warwick would look elsewhere for a drive and it was hoped the Lotus-Lamborghini would deliver results.

### Lotus (1990)

The early rounds of 1990 would appear to show promise that Warwick may be able to collect some points in 1990 and he just missed out on a points finish at the San Marino Grand Prix, finishing 7th. At the Canadian Grand Prix several retirements among the top drivers would see Warwick's team mate, Martin Donnelly, score a surprise podium finish for Lotus. At the same time Warwick would have a run of 5 retirements that blighted his mid-season and seemed to take the charge out of his drive for points in 1990. Warwick would fail to score any points in 1990, and he would leave the team by mutual agreement at the end of the year.

### Benetton (1991)

Following a poor 1990 season it was something of a surprise when it was announced he would be driving for Benetton for 1991. The Benetton-Ford looked a competitive package for 1991 and with the former World Champion, Nelson Piquet, as team mate it was hoped the team could perform and develop the car, with wins not out of the question. While Piquet would start scoring immediately for the team, Warwick would have less success and after the third round of the championship team manager, Flavio Briatore, was already going cold on Warwick. At round 4 at the Monaco Grand Prix, Warwick would turn around his fortunes with an impressive 4th place finish, while Piquet retired. Further retirements would follow before he would again finish 4th at the French Grand Prix, but this did little to endear him to Briatore. At the next race at the British Grand Prix, a tangle with team mate Piquet would force Warwick into retirement and ruined Piquet's race. Warwick's fate was sealed and an unimpressed Briatore was reported to have spent 20 minutes berating Warwick, before Warwick walked out of the meeting and Briatore. After this Warwick was dropped by Benetton, and was considering arbitration to have his race seat reinstated, but just a week after the British Grand Prix he would be devastated by the death of his younger brother, Paul, at the British F3000 race at Oulton Park. Warwick would not be on the grid for the German Grand Prix, but several of the drivers sported black armbands in a mark of respect for the Warwick family. While Warwick was in the frame for substitute drives for the second half of the season, he would not race again in 1991 and finished the season 12th in the standings with 6 points.

### Footwork (1992–present)

For 1992 Warwick would return to the former Arrows team, now Footwork, after their driver pairing of Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert moved to Benetton. His team mate for 1992 would be JJ Lehto, who was a close friend of his brother and who Warwick now sought to share his experience. Warwick immediately returned to form at Footwork and would finish 6th at the opening round at the South Africa Grand Prix. There were two further points scoring finishes in the opening rounds of the 1992 season, but there would be no further points after the San Marino Grand Prix that year. The Footwork-Mugen Honda would be dogged by poor reliability and underperformance, but while Lehto would not score any points, he would commend Warwick's efforts to help him develop his driving style and he would cite this as contributing to his securing a seat with the promising Sauber team for 1992. Warwick finished the season 13th in the standings with 3 points and this credible performance ensured he would retain his seat for 1992.

The highlight of Warwick's 1992 occurred in June, when he joined Yannick Dalmas and Mark Blundell to lead the Peugeot Talbot Sport attempt to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Warwick's previous three attempts had been unsuccessful, with his two most recent drives being for the Tom Walkinshaw Racing Jaguar squad, made famous by their Silk Cut livery. The demise of the World Sportscar Championship, largely as a result of the politics of the FIA, saw only 28 cars take the start, the lowest since World War II. The #1 car was outqualified by the #2 car thanks to Philippe Alliot's stunning pole time, but, the Blundell-Dalmas-Warwick trio outworked their teammates until the car slowed early in the morning as a result of an ignition problem. Despite needing two pit-stops to fix the issue, the #1 car took the chequered flag for Peugeot's first ever win at Circuit de la Sarthe.

## Personal life

Warwick's younger brother, Paul, was also a racing driver, beginning his junior career in British stock car racing, before graduating to Formula Ford, and British Formula Three. After dominating the first four rounds of the 1991 British Formula 3000 Championship, whilst leading the fifth round at Oulton Park on 21 July 1991, Warwick suffered a fatal accident at the Knickerbrook corner. He was 22-years-old. The car left the circuit and slammed almost head-on into the outer circuit Armco barrier at 140 mph (225 km/h). Paul Warwick was posthumously awarded the victory and he had already scored enough points in the races he contested to win the championship.

Warwick married his wife Rhonda in 1976, and they have two daughters, Marie (b. 1978), and Kerry (b. 1981). Warwick and his family moved to the Bailiwick of Jersey in 1985. Warwick began a car dealership group in 1989, and Warwick personally runs the flagship Honda dealership on the island.

## Formula One Statistical Overview

### Formula One Record

Notes

* \* – Season still in progress.

### Complete Formula One results

(key) (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.
* \* – Season still in progress.