Elio de Angelis (26 March 1958 – 15 May 1986) was an Italian
racing driver
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
who participated in
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
between and , racing for the
Shadow
A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two- dimensional silhouett ...
,
Lotus and
Brabham
Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won fo ...
teams. He was killed in an accident while testing the
Brabham BT55 at the
Paul Ricard circuit
The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has h ...
, near the ''commune'' of
Le Castellet, France, in 1986. De Angelis was a very competitive and highly popular presence in Formula One during the 1980s, and is sometimes referred to as Formula One's "last gentleman player".
Early life
De Angelis was born in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. His father Giulio was an inshore and offshore powerboat racer who won many world championships in the 1960s and 1970s.
After a brief spell with karts, de Angelis went on to win the
Italian Formula Three Championship in 1977. In 1978 he raced in
Formula Two
Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009– 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name ...
for
Minardi
Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal followi ...
and then for the ICI British F2 Team, he also competed in one round of the
British Formula One championship and won the prestigious
Monaco F3 race.
Formula One
At the end of the 1977 season, de Angelis was on
Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...
's short list to replace
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
. De Angelis successfully tested the Ferrari at the
Fiorano circuit but eventually Ferrari decided to hire
Gilles Villeneuve. De Angelis's debut Formula One season was in with
Shadow
A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two- dimensional silhouett ...
. He finished seventh in his maiden Grand Prix in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
and 15th in the championship with three points.
De Angelis's performance with Shadow caught the eye of
Lotus boss
Colin Chapman
Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars.
In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...
, who hired him to partner
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...
in . At the age of 21, de Angelis became the youngest Grand Prix podium finisher of all time when he finished second at the
Brazilian Grand Prix
The Brazilian Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio do Brasil), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio de São Paulo), is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace ...
, run at the
Interlagos circuit.
His first victory came in the
1982 Austrian Grand Prix
The 1982 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on 15 August 1982. It was the thirteenth race of the 1982 Formula One World Championship.
The 53-lap race was won by Italian driver Elio de Angelis, driving a Lot ...
at the
Österreichring
The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Austria, Spielberg, Styria, Austria.
The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from t ...
, 0.05 seconds ahead of the
Williams of eventual World Champion
Keke Rosberg
Keijo Erik Rosberg (born 6 December 1948), known as "Keke" (), is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series, as well as the first Finnish ...
. The win was the last hailed by
Colin Chapman
Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars.
In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...
's act of throwing his cloth cap into the air. Chapman died in December that year and
Peter Warr became the new Lotus team manager.
In Lotus switched from the
Cosworth DFV they had been using since , to
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
turbo engines, but it was a disappointing season, suffering multiple mechanical failures. De Angelis's best result was a fifth place in the
1983 Italian Grand Prix
The 1983 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 11 September 1983. It was the thirteenth race of the 1983 Formula One World Championship.
The 52-lap race was won by Nelson Piquet, driving a Brabham- BMW, with René Arno ...
.
In de Angelis had a much better season, scoring a total of 34 points and finishing third in the standings with three podiums. His best result was a second place at the
Detroit Grand Prix
The title of Detroit Grand Prix was applied to the Formula One races held at the Detroit street circuit in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America from 1982 through 1988.
History
In 1982, the U.S. became the first country to host three W ...
. De Angelis was the only driver to finish in the top 5 in 1984 not to score a race win, showing his consistent performances throughout the season with the improving Lotus-Renault.
In , de Angelis was joined at Lotus by
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...
, who had left the
Toleman
Toleman Motorsport was a Formula One constructor based in the UK. It was active between 1981 and 1985 and participated in 70 Grands Prix.
Origins
The Toleman company was formed in 1926 by Edward Toleman for the purpose of delivering Ford ...
team. De Angelis's second win came in the third race of the season, at the
1985 San Marino Grand Prix, after
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...
was disqualified when his
McLaren MP4/2B was found 2 kg underweight. De Angelis also claimed his last Formula One pole position that year in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
. He finished fifth in the championship, with 33 points, five points behind his teammate. 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's drive for was with
Brabham
Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won fo ...
, as a replacement for twice World Champion
Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...
, who had moved to Williams to join de Angelis's former Lotus teammate
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship ( 1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series (1993 CART World Series Season, 1993). Mansell was the reigning ...
. Fellow Italian
Riccardo Patrese was his teammate. Patrese was returning to the
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns D ...
owned team after two unhappy years with
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...
.
The 1986 Brabham-BMW, the BT55, was the brainchild of long time Brabham designer
Gordon Murray. The BT55 was a lowline car with a reduced frontal area, the idea being to have a cleaner airflow over the car to create more downforce, while at the same time reducing the car's drag. The chassis proved effective, unlike the
l4 BMW turbo that had to be tilted to an angle of 72°. This caused severe oil surge and an even greater lack of throttle response than the BMW had become famous for. Although the team worked hard to overcome these problems, it was clear from early in the season that Brabham had fallen behind the leading pack.
Death and aftermath
In May 1986, during tests at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, the rear wing of de Angelis's BT55 detached at high speed resulting in the car losing downforce on the rear wheels, which instigated a cartwheel over a crash barrier, causing the car to catch fire. The impact itself did not kill de Angelis but he was unable to extract himself from the car unassisted. The situation was exacerbated by the lack of track marshals on the circuit who could have provided him with emergency assistance. A 30-minute delay ensued before a helicopter arrived and de Angelis died 29 hours later, at the hospital in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
where he had been taken, from smoke inhalation. His actual crash impact injuries were only a broken
collar bone
The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the righ ...
and light burns on his back.
De Angelis's death also saw the end of Formula One using the full 5.81 km (3.61 mi) Paul Ricard Circuit. F1 cars started using the 3.812 km (2.369 mi) "Club" version of the circuit, bypassing the Verriere curves where the Brabham had crashed, and cutting the length of the Mistral Straight from 1.8 to 1 km in length. The move was unpopular with many of the drivers, although most did like the reduced straight length as it was easier on the engines. Paul Ricard would not host a race on the full layout until , which featured sharper Verriere curves and a chicane on Mistral effectively cutting the straight to two 800m straights.
De Angelis's place in the Brabham team was subsequently taken by
Derek Warwick, allegedly because Warwick was the only available top level driver who did not contact team owner Bernie Ecclestone immediately after de Angelis's death asking to replace him.
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formu ...
driver
Keke Rosberg
Keijo Erik Rosberg (born 6 December 1948), known as "Keke" (), is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series, as well as the first Finnish ...
, who was a close friend of de Angelis, retired at the end of the 1986 season.
De Angelis was the last driver to die in a Formula One car until
Roland Ratzenberger died during qualifying for the
San Marino Grand Prix at
Imola eight years later. The day after Ratzenberger's death, de Angelis's former Lotus teammate (and by then a triple World Champion) Ayrton Senna died from injuries sustained in a crash on the seventh lap when his
Williams-Renault crashed into the Tamburello Curve wall at over .
Legacy
De Angelis was a concert-standard pianist, and famously kept his fellow Formula One drivers entertained with his skills by playing multiple concertos by
Chopin and
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
, while they locked themselves in a
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...
hotel before the
1982 South African Grand Prix at
Kyalami when the
Grand Prix Drivers Association held a strike in protest at the new
Super Licence
The FIA Super Licence is a driver's qualification allowing the holder to compete in the Formula One World Championship.
Requirements Super Licence
To qualify for an FIA Racing Super Licence an applicant must meet the requirements of the FIA's Inte ...
conditions imposed by the governing body, the
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backs ...
.
The French-Italian driver
Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell ...
, who broke into the sport in , wore a helmet that matched de Angelis's design, in tribute to his semi-compatriot.
In 2017 de Angelis was honoured at the
Ludovico Scarfiotti
Ludovico Scarfiotti (18 October 1933 – 8 June 1968) was a Formula One and sports car driver from Italy. Just prior to entering Formula One, he won the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans for Ferrari. He later participated in 12 World Championship F ...
Memorial in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
Racing record
Career summary
Formula One World Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
* ‡ Race was stopped with less than 75% of laps completed, half points awarded.
References
External links
Elio de Angelis Tribute PageUnfinished Symphony: An Elio de Angelis TributeElio de Angelis at Motorsport Memorial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angelis, Elio De
1958 births
1986 deaths
Italian racing drivers
Italian Formula One drivers
Shadow Formula One drivers
Team Lotus Formula One drivers
Brabham Formula One drivers
Formula One race winners
European Formula Two Championship drivers
FIA European Formula 3 Championship drivers
Italian Formula Three Championship drivers
British Formula One Championship drivers
Racing drivers who died while racing
Deaths by smoke inhalation
Italian pianists
Racing drivers from Rome
Sport deaths in France
20th-century pianists
20th-century Italian musicians
Karting World Championship drivers