Andrea De Cesaris

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Andrea de Cesaris (31 May 1959 – 5 October 2014) was an Italian racing driver.

He started 208 Formula One Grand Prix but never won.

As a result, he holds the most races without a victory.

In 2005 and 2006, he became known for being a quick but wild racer in the Grand Prix Masters formula for retired F1 drivers. De Cesaris died on October 5th, 2014, after losing control of his motorcycle on Rome's Grand Raccordo Anulare motorway.

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Driving career

He grew up to Formula 3 in the United Kingdom, winning multiple events and finishing second in the 1979 British Formula Three Championship as runner up to Chico Serra. He rose from Formula 3 to Formula 2 with the help of Ron Dennis' Project 4 team.

de Cesaris was picked up by Alfa Romeo for the 1980 World Championship's finals, renaming Vittorio Brambilla who had, in turn, replaced Patrick Depailler after he was killed during testing at Hockenheim. Due to engine failure, his first race in Canada came to an end after eight laps. In his second run, at Watkins Glen in the United States, he tangled with Derek Daly in a Tyrrell at the Junction corner and crashed into the catch fence after two laps.

De Cesaris earned a seat at McLaren in 1981, largely due to his personal Marlboro sponsorship, which also happened to be McLaren's primary sponsor. Ron Dennis' Project Four Formula 2 team was founded by Ron Dennis in 1981. During the season, de Cesaris became fast on occasion (particularly at fast track), but he crashed 19 times this season, most likely due to driver error. Since qualifying 13th, the team was so afraid that he would crash the car that they withdrew his license from the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort. The Italian managed to finish just 6 of the 14 races he started last year. He earned the nickname "Andrea de Crasheris" after several crashes, but Ron Dennis, the team's manager, got so frustrated with de Cesaris' frequent accidents that he didn't even offer the Italian a new one, he never hired an Italian driver to McLaren ever again.

In a 6-hour endurance run at Watkins Glen, New York, Cesaris and Henri Pescarolo finished second to the Riccardo Patrese and Michele Alboreto team in July 1981. Both teams rode Lancia cars with de Cesaris and Pescarolo finishing two laps behind.

De Cesaris became the first man to ever race pole at the Long Beach Grand Prix after returning to Alfa Romeo in 1982. De Cesaris was only the second Alfa Romeo driver to capture a pole since 1951. De Cesaris led the race but Niki Lauda came second as he passed a backmarker in a tight corner. De Cesaris wrung his fist at the backmarker and then forgot to change gear and win the match; Lauda took the lead and then won the championship; de Cesaris suffered rear brake failure and crashed hard at Pine Avenue.

de Cesaris had a podium finish at Monte Carlo and a point in Canada in the 1982 season. Didier Pironi, a 1982 Monaco Grand Prix winner, had to abandon the final lap due to electrical issues with his Ferrari. At the same time, de Cesaris ran out of fuel, allowing Riccardo Patrese to win his first Formula One race.

With his Alfa Romeo now using a turbo engine, he gained two second positions, one at Hockenheim's 1983 German Grand Prix (his first points of the season) and the other one in the season-closing 1983 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami, 9.319 seconds behind Riccardo Patrese. De Cesaris came close to winning at Spa-Francorchamps after leading the Renault of Alain Prost for a large portion of the contest before a botched pit stop delayed him and a blown engine prevented him from participating.

De Cesaris moved to Ligier in 1984, where despite the car's promising Renault turbo engine, he only scored three points per season.

François Hesnault, de Cesaris and Ligier teammate, traveled to Australia to compete in the 1984 Australian Grand Prix, the last domestic Australian Grand Prix before the race was part of the Formula One World Championship in 1985. De Cesaris qualified in 5th place after driving a Ford BDA-powered Ralt RT4 (all of the 25 cars were RT4s). He left the pits just moments before the green flag and was almost a lap behind when the race began, after entering the pits at the end of the warm up lap. He then proceeded to finish 3rd (without ever losing a lap) behind Roberto Moreno (winner) and Keke Rosberg, who claimed to put in what many consider the day's drive to finish third.

A number of good results in 1985, including a fourth place at Monaco, demonstrated early promise, but the season turned into a dismal one after de Cesaris destroyed his Ligier JS25 in a quadruple mid-air rollover at the Austrian Grand Prix, and team manager Guy Ligier dismissed him as a result. Despite Marlboro paying the bulk of de Cesaris' salary, Guy Ligier said, "I can no longer afford to employ this man." He was kept in the team until the next race in Zandvoort, after which Philippe Streiff replaced him.

De Cesaris immigrated to Minardi in 1986. During the season, he was often outpaced by his colleagues, fellow Italian and F1 rookie Alessandro Nannini. de Cesaris went without scoring a single point in his career; he retired from every sport but two (DNQ in Monaco, 8th in Mexico).

De Cesaris migrated to Brabham-BMW in 1987. Despite being unable to match his coworker Riccardo Patrese, he was able to produce more effective results with his Bernie Ecclestone-owned team. Of the 16 races, he did not finish (DNF) 14 of 16 races. De Cesaris finished third in the inaugural round of the 1983 South African Grand Prix at Spa, Belgium, behind Alain Prost and Stefan Johansson for his first points in nearly two years and his first podium finish since his first podium finish since the 1983 season in South Africa. He will not finish another race this season.

Brabham retired from Formula One and de Cesaris were replaced by the current Rial team, headed by German Günter Schmid, the former head of the ATS team. De Cesaris qualified for all sixteen races of the season with a Cosworth engine in the car and took fourth place in the Detroit Grand Prix. When running in the points, both in Canada and Australia, he ran out of fuel in the last laps twice twice.

De Cesaris migrated from the Marlboro-sponsored Scuderia Italia squad in 1989. Early results were also promising. De Cesaris, one of Monte Carlo's most experienced drivers, was on a podium position until being disqualified by triple world champion Nelson Piquet at Loews Hairpin. De Cesaris lost his temper after the crash and berated Piquet's Lotus crew when returning to the pits. Two races later, after an early postponement, he was being lapped by Dallara colleague Alex Caffi as he launched his fellow Italian into the wall, robing his team of a potential podium. De Cesaris came in third place at the next race in Canada, behind Williams drivers Thierry Boutsen and Riccardo Patrese in a rain-soaked race. This will be the last time de Cesaris appeared on the Formula One podium for the final time.

With a number of clubs using either Ford or Judd customer V8s (Dallara used the Ford DFR) in 1990, the midfield had become more competitive. During that season, De Cesaris was involved in a number of incidents, including falling out at the start of the first lap at Interlagos and Imola. When being lapped during the race, he almost knocked out Ferrari of 2nd place, placing him out of the championship, prompting BBC commentator and 1976 World Champion James Hunt to call him an idiot on live television. Dallara's reliability was a problem, and de Cesaris lost their first point all season.

De Cesaris was signed by Eddie Jordan for his team's first season in Formula One, and he was drafted for JJ Lehto at Dallara at the end of 1990. In Formula 3, Jordan had already raced de Cesaris.

De Cesaris' first run in Phoenix was out, in the short pre-qualifying session, buzzed the engine and was out. De Cesaris had better form at Monaco, causing him to overthrowrown Benetton of Roberto Moreno and was running in the points until the Jordan's throttle cable snapped.

He came in fourth place in the next race in Canada. De Cesaris then repeated the results in Mexico the next time out. He came sixth in France's following series. Suspension in the United Kingdom caused him to crash, but the Italian recovered to finish fifth in Germany and rank fifth.

De Cesaris did not score again until the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Franchorchamps, which took place in Belgium. Despite the pressure of being outqualified by rookie Michael Schumacher's debutant debut, de Cesaris soared through the field to finish second position until his Ford HB V8 blew. The oil tank in the car was too small to fit a new style of piston ring that required more lubricant, causing a communication issue between Ford and the Jordan team.

De Cesaris' best result since 1983 ranked 9th in the standings, his highest result since 1983.

Despite Eddie Jordan's desire to keep de Cesaris alive for the 1992 season, financial realities made it impossible. Jordan had accumulated a lot of debt in his debut season, but Barclay Cigarettes helped him obtain sponsorship. However, the brand was in direct conflict with de Cesaris' Marlboro support.

Ken Tyrrell recruited de Cesaris for his 1992 team. Despite being caught up in an early spin, the de Cesaris took their fifth in Mexico's second race of the season.

During the season, De Cesaris was able to score three times more, with his best result being his fourth appearance in the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Ilmor engine had been upgraded to a Yamaha V10 for the 1993 season, which improved the vehicle's performance and stability. Due to age, the Tyrrell 020 was also reduced mid-season by the Tyrrell 021 in May. This car, which had active suspension, was not a success. De Cesaris failed to score a point and left Tyrrell at the end of the season for the third time in his career.

De Cesaris started the season without a Formula One drive in 1994, for the first time since 1980. Eddie Irvine was blamed for a massive crash that culminated in Jos Verstappen barrel rolling over the top of Martin Brundle during the Brazilian Grand Prix. Irvine was barred from three races on appeal. Aguri Suzuki led Irvine's vacated Jordan to the Pacific Grand Prix. Eddie Jordan returned de Cesaris to the team for the next race in the San Marino Grand Prix.

After de Cesaris destroyed a chassis during testing, the recovery didn't go off well. During the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, he crashed again due to bad health and not having not run a race distance in six months. He bounced back to Monte Carlo, where de Cesaris stayed away from danger and away from the barriers to claim fourth place. Irvine was racing in the next race, but Sauber had spotted the Italian's form and ordered him to replace the injured Karl Wendlinger in the Mercedes-powered cars.

In Canada, De Cesaris' first Grand Prix was his 200th Grand Prix appearance. Despite retiring after 24 laps, he finished in the points at the next event, the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours.

De Cesaris' career came to an end when he retired with throttle problems at the 1994 European Grand Prix. JJ Lehto was recalled by the authorities for the final two Grand Prix. De Cesaris retired early in his career, second only to Riccardo Patrese at the time. Several other racers have since surpassed his total number.

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