An F1 career of near-misses

On his 27th start, Derek Warwick should have won a Formula 1 race for the first time.

Smart strategy, searing pace and problems for the McLarens of Niki Lauda and Alain Prost put the Briton in the perfect position in the 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix. But a knock from Lauda early on ultimately led to an agonising wishbone failure in the closing stages.

His performance in the season opener, on his Renault debut, was so impressive that the idea of him ending his career without a win seemed highly unlikely.

But that's what happened. Despite more than 100 other attempts, the Briton - a four-time podium finisher - never quite had the same opportunity to win again. New Renault recruit Jolyon Palmer will be hoping he gets half the shot Warwick did.

Here, the 1992 World Sportscar champion reflects on his time with Renault, turning down Williams, Senna blocking a Lotus move and how he views his endurance-racing success alongside his F1 career...

We were competitive all season in 1984. Tyres played a part at various times, we had Michelins and some had Goodyears, but we had the team left by Alain Prost the previous year, which was very good with Michel Tetu (chief designer), Jean-Claude Migeot (aerodynamicist), Gerard Larrouse (team boss) and very good engineers and mechanics.

The '84 car was great to drive. We lived at Paul Ricard testing. The engine was a little thirsty so we had to turn it down during the race, but the disappointing thing looking back was the reliability - turbos, gearboxes and general breakdowns.

Brazil started well and I led the race until 11 laps from the end and then a failed wishbone stopped me. To be honest we could have come out of the first part of the season leading the championship, but talk is cheap I suppose.

A maiden grand prix victory slipped through Warwick's grasp in Brazil © LAT

The big thing for me was that I was in a works team against a race-winning driver with Patrick Tambay who I had the better of for most of the season, so my confidence grew in the team and I started getting what I wanted.

I thought signing for Renault would have led to me winning races and putting a challenge for the championship. So '84 came and went [Warwick finished just five races, scoring four podiums and a fourth], then we lost all the key people from above and the '85 car was a dog.

The first time we ran it was at Brazil and it was 3.5 seconds slower than the '84 car and the season went downhill from there. Lotus was starting to come good again with Senna and Renault had a change of policy and wanted to get out of running their own team.

Talks with Williams were quite serious for 1985 I think. To be honest I was using the situation to stay with Renault and pump up my contract. I thought the right thing was to stay with a works team like Renault, I didn't know that all the top guys were going to jump ship and leave Patrick and I with inexperienced designers. And like I said the car was a complete dog.

The tough thing really was watching Nigel start winning in the car I turned down, but I had what I had and tried to make the best of it. Could I have ended up with Nigel's record? That's impossible to say. Nigel was an amazing talent, arguably one of the greatest British drivers ever in my opinion. I believe I could have won races and I believe I could have matched Nigel, but if I didn't have that confidence in my own ability then what would be the point to race?

While Mansell two won races in 1985, Warwick struggled with Renault's RE60 © LAT

What I do know is I was generally quicker against every team-mate and won a lot of sportscar races. Why? Because I was in the best teams and winning is easy when you are in that situation. Qualifying mid-grid and sometimes at the back and driving your heart out to finish seventh and out of the points is character building and if you let it get to you, you can lose confidence.

I think one of my strengths was that I never looked at what others were doing or looked at what I might have done if I signed that Williams contract, I just made the best out of the car and situation I had.

I signed a Lotus contract at the end of '85 for the '86 season to drive alongside Senna on equal terms, both sharing the spare car. Senna decided that I was a threat and worked the sponsors to tear up my contract, which they did leading up to Christmas. I arrived at Lotus to be told that they were not signing their part of the contract and that Senna had put pressure on the sponsors and they couldn't afford to go against that.

So I was left without a drive because by that time all deals were completed. I ended up signing for Jaguar for '86 and then with the very sad and unfortunate death of Elio de Angelis I ended up signing with Bernie Ecclestone and the Brabham team.

To be honest when I look back that decision from Senna and Lotus stalled my career. I never really recovered in terms of getting back into a top team. Although the Ross Brawn Arrows in 1989 was brilliant and we definitely punched well above our weight. There were definitely chances to win, but the pitstop in Brazil and the engine break in Canada put paid to both.

Grand prix success eluded Warwick, but he tasted plenty of it in sportscars © LAT

When I look back at my career in F1 I don't think I was hard done by. I think I was unbelievably lucky to survive and to have come from my background and be in F1, it was just a dream. I look back and think wow, to be a grand prix driver through the 80s and early 90s was arguably the best time to be in F1.

I went through ground effect, 1500 bhp, one-lap qualifying tyres, active ride, the first sequential gearboxes, the first paddle shift, racing against some of the best drivers ever in my opinion.

We drove when drivers were regarded as gladiators. We drove when you had to respect your competitor, the cars were frail and if you crashed the chances were that you would get hurt. I'm not saying that was a good part but it did change what the spectator thought about the drivers.

I did three championships in sportscars, '86 and '91 with Jaguar finishing second both times, because of an engine problem at the last race in '86 and being disqualified from Silverstone in '91. Then in '92 I signed for Jean Todt and Peugeot.

Wining the world championship and Le Mans, it obviously meant a lot to me and also showed me that I could win races and championships. But, it wasn't F1.

F1 was and always will be the most competitive and most difficult thing you will ever do. Driving a grand prix car is the ultimate and as many times you might win in sportscars it will not make up for not winning in F1. I'm very proud of my time in sportscars and very proud of what I achieved in F1, but I didn't win and that will always leave a little hole. But it doesn't bother me and I don't think about until I get asked the question.

I laugh with Johnny Herbert quite often because I have a Gold Star from the BRDC for winning the world championship in sportscars. So the joke is 'Haven't you got a gold star Johnny?'

The reply: 'No, but I won three grands prix...'