Elio de Angelis

Elio de Angelis made his F1 debut for Shadow in 1979 at the age of just 20, which was considered quite young at the time. Two years earlier, he had already proven his talent by winning the Italian Formula Three championship, narrowly beating Piercarlo Ghinzani in the final round and securing a victory in the prestigious Monaco F3 race.

Nationality	Italian
Born	Elio de Angelis 26 March 1958 Rome, Italy
Died	15 May 1986 (aged 28) Marseille, France

Despite Shadow’s struggles with the DN9 car in 1978, de Angelis managed a seventh-place finish in his debut race. He persevered through a challenging season and achieved his first points finish with a fourth place at the season finale in Watkins Glen.

His performance caught the eye of Colin Chapman, who signed him to Lotus in 1980. Although his first race for Lotus ended in suspension failure, de Angelis impressed with a second-place finish at Interlagos. This marked the beginning of a long and successful relationship between de Angelis and the team.

In 1980, de Angelis had a notable return to form later in the season with a points finish in Austria, following a heavy crash at Long Beach that injured his foot. He ended the year with another fourth place at Watkins Glen, showing promise for the future. The following year, he achieved consistent points finishes despite challenges, including the introduction and subsequent banning of the 88B chassis and a mid-season switch from Michelin to Goodyear tyres. De Angelis finished in the top six eight times in 1981.

In 1982, the team faced tough competition from turbo-powered rivals. However, their reliability paid off at the Osterreichring, where de Angelis claimed his first win, narrowly beating Keke Rosberg by five-hundredths of a second. This victory was also Lotus’s first in four years and their final win under Chapman’s leadership, as Chapman passed away from a heart attack in December.

The 1983 season was challenging as the team adapted to the new Renault turbo engine and Pirelli tyres, but de Angelis’s pole position at Brands Hatch indicated progress. The 1984 season saw significant improvements, with de Angelis consistently scoring points and outperforming teammate Nigel Mansell. He was second in the championship standings at one point and ended the year third behind the dominant McLaren drivers.

In 1985, de Angelis won the third round at Imola after Alain Prost was disqualified for being underweight, briefly leading the drivers’ championship. However, he was overshadowed by new teammate Ayrton Senna, who secured two wins and finished ahead of de Angelis in the points standings.

Feeling sidelined, de Angelis moved to Brabham-BMW for 1986, but the switch proved disastrous. The low-profile BT55 was both uncompetitive and unreliable. De Angelis managed only a single eighth-place finish before tragedy struck during testing at Paul Ricard. A rear wing failure sent his car off the track, where it cleared a barrier, landed upside down, and caught fire. Trapped in the blaze for several minutes, de Angelis died from his injuries.

Elio de Angelis Formula One World Championship career

Active years	1979–1986
Teams	Shadow, Lotus, Brabham
Entries	110 (108 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	2
Podiums	9
Career points	122
Pole positions	3
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1979 Argentine Grand Prix
First win	1982 Austrian Grand Prix
Last win	1985 San Marino Grand Prix
Last entry	1986 Monaco Grand Prix

Elio de Angelis Teammates

6 Teammates	Involvement	First Year	Last Year
Mario Andretti	14	1980
Nigel Mansell	62	1980	1984
Roberto Moreno	1	1982
Geoff Lees	1	1982
Ayrton Senna	16	1985
Riccardo Patrese	4	1986

Race Wins

Win Number	Grand Prix
1	1982 Austrian Grand Prix
2	1985 San Marino Grand Prix

Complete Formula One Results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Points
1979	Interscope Shadow Racing	Shadow DN9	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 7	BRA 12	RSA Ret														15th=	3
	Shadow Racing	Shadow DN9	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8				USW 7	ESP Ret	BEL Ret	MON DNQ	FRA 16	GBR 12	GER 11	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA 4
1980	Team Essex Lotus	Lotus 81	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG Ret	BRA 2	RSA Ret	USW Ret	BEL 10	MON 9	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 16	AUT 6	NED Ret	ITA 4	CAN 10	USA 4			7th	13
1981	Team Essex Lotus	Lotus 81	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	USW Ret	BRA 5	ARG 6	SMR WD	BEL 5												8th	14
		Lotus 87	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8						MON Ret
	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 87	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8							ESP 5	FRA 6	GBR DSQ	GER 7	AUT 7	NED 5	ITA 4	CAN 6	CPL Ret
1982	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 87B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA 8																9th	23
		Lotus 91	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8		BRA Ret	USW 5	SMR	BEL 4	MON 5	DET Ret	CAN 4	NED Ret	GBR 4	FRA Ret	GER Ret	AUT 1	SUI 6	ITA Ret	CPL Ret
1983	John Player Special Team Lotus	Lotus 91	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA DSQ																17th	2
		Lotus 93T	Renault–Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 turbo		USW Ret	FRA Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	BEL 9	DET Ret	CAN Ret
		Lotus 94T	Renault–Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 turbo									GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA 5	EUR Ret	RSA Ret
1984	John Player Special Team Lotus	Lotus 95T	Renault EF4 1.5 V6 turbo	BRA 3	RSA 7	BEL 5	SMR 3	FRA 5	MON 5 ‡	CAN 4	DET 2	DAL 3	GBR 4	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED 4	ITA Ret	EUR Ret	POR 5	3rd	34
1985	John Player Special Team Lotus	Lotus 97T	Renault EF4B / EF15 1.5 V6 turbo	BRA 3	POR 4	SMR 1	MON 3	CAN 5	DET 5	FRA 5	GBR NC	GER Ret	AUT 5	NED 5	ITA 6	BEL Ret	EUR 5	RSA Ret	AUS DSQ	5th	33
1986	Olivetti Brabham	Brabham BT55	BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 turbo	BRA 8	ESP Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	BEL	CAN	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	AUT	ITA	POR	MEX	AUS	NC	0

Sources: Wikipedia.com