Andrea de Cesaris on his F1 career

When Andrea de Cesaris returned to racing in the Grand Prix Masters series in 2006, he reflected on his long Formula 1 career in this interview with AUTOSPORT's TIM REDMAYNE

It is quite a measure of Andrea de Cesaris' ability that he continued to land drives with team after team, despite never actually winning a grand prix.

He is still fifth in the all-time list of most experienced F1 drivers, thanks to starting 208 GPs. Only Riccardo Patrese, Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and Gerhard Berger have started more races, and they all are multiple race winners.

It is a hard fact in Formula 1 that drivers who have won grands prix stay in the sport longer and are wanted more. You have to go all the way down to 28th position on the same list to find the next most experienced driver to have never won a grand prix - Martin Brundle and his 158 starts. Jenson Button's much publicised win-less streak of 112 races is nothing by comparison to de Cesaris.

The Italian had his fair share of reasonably competitive cars, even driving for McLaren in 1981. However, he soon earned a tag of being wild and erratic, and moved to Alfa Romeo for two seasons afterwards.

Rial was among the backmarker teams de Cesaris appeared with in the 1980s © LAT

He showed speed by qualifying on pole at Long Beach and finishing third at Monaco in his debut season with the Italian manufacturer. However, Monaco was a victory opportunity missed: after being gifted the lead by Didier Pironi he ran out of fuel. His engine also blew up in the 1983 Belgian Grand Prix while leading.

For the rest of his career he spent time at several teams - Ligier, Minardi, Brabham, Real, Dallara, Jordan (twice), Tyrrell and Sauber.

So how come de Cesaris's ability was relied upon time and time again, especially in his later years, if he had never actually proved he was a race winner?

In 1991, Eddie Jordan recruited him for his new F1 team, calling on his experience to help his green and blue cars through the trap door of pre-qualifying, in a car that had been deliberately designed to be stable and easy to drive.

"I was a bit used to going into teams where nobody was expecting much," de Cesaris recalls. "Things were working with Jordan and I would say that that first season was one of the best seasons they had.

"They did a good job, we all did a good job, and we didn't have a huge budget or facilities. I drove consistently through the year and I didn't make mistakes all year - only in the first race. The car had a good Ford engine, which put us at the same level as Benetton even though we weren't in a works team.

De Cesaris played a big part in Jordan's superb F1 debut © LAT

"We had to pre-qualify for eight of the races and only three cars were going through. If you had a little problem in that hour you were out for the race.

"The car was quite reliable and honestly it had a good basic set-up and we went through all year round without major changes being made to the car. It still looks stunning."

That year provided another chance for de Cesaris to notch up that elusive victory. At the Belgian Grand Prix, the one where a certain German made his debut in the sister Jordan 191, the Italian was catching leader Ayrton Senna in the final laps when the Brazilian was struggling with his gearbox.

"I was catching Senna, but then the engine went out with one lap to go until the end. It was the only engine failure we had that year because we made a change for that race.

"Ford made a change to the pistons and didn't tell any of the team that the oil consumption was higher, so the oil went down in the tank. I was just behind Senna and he started to have problems with his gearbox, so normally I should have passed him and won.

"You never know."

De Cesaris left Jordan to begins two years at Tyrrell in 1992. Driving with a customer Ilmor engine, he wracked up a handful of points finishes in a tidy chassis.

"I was very happy with Tyrrell. We had no budget to put a decent engine in and the car was quite good and quite reliable and I scored a few points.

De Cesaris also enjoyed his time at Tyrrell © LAT

"The first year was a great year. The second year was difficult, the car they built was not as good as the first car.

"The years with Alfa Romeo, with the Jordan, with the Tyrrell - they were the best times. The cars were quick and I could have a result and the atmosphere in the team was very friendly."

The team where the atmosphere wasn't as friendly, de Cesaris says, was Sauber, where he spent his final nine races, substituting for the injured Karl Wendlinger.

He had not found a drive at the start of the season but was quickly called up by his old Jordan team and spent two races there while Eddie Irvine was serving a three-race ban.

Following Wendlinger's crash in Monaco, de Cesaris was then in the perfect position to be called up by Sauber as replacement for the hospitalised Austrian.

But de Cesaris says the atmosphere within the team that left a sour taste to the end of his Formula 1 career.

"I did a race in Monte Carlo for Jordan because Eddie Irvine was disqualified and then unfortunately there was a problem with Wendlinger and he had his accident and couldn't drive for the next races so I was able to step in.

A final F1 stint with Sauber was not a happy time © LAT

"But immediately I was not feeling at home at the team. I never got it. The mechanics were nice people but the atmosphere didn't suit my style. The atmosphere was just not the same.

"You need that atmosphere. Drivers are human beings and you have to know them to make sure they get the best possible situation around them. Eddie Jordan was very good at this and always making his driver feel very loved.

"It is important for a driver to feel good and there must be a very open relationship. It is like a child and how you feel the love of your parents.

"The car was well prepared but it didn't have the kind of atmosphere."

His 208th and final grand prix start came at that year's European Grand Prix, before Benetton reject JJ Lehto took his place at Sauber for the remaining rounds.

"I had fun, I had 15 or 14 years of Formula 1. Not winning a grand prix - well, I feel OK about it.

"How many cars won a race that weren't a Williams or a Brabham or whatever? In those 10 years if you didn't drive those cars you wouldn't win. It is not a worry. I'm sure if I had driven for a top team then I would have won races.

"I don't have regrets. For sure if I win it could have been better but I have no regrets."