Masters Degree: Andrea de Cesaris

It is quite a measure of Andrea de Cesaris' ability that he was continuing 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 Grand Prix drivers, thanks to starting 208 Grands Prix. 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 One 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.

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?

Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo 182) leads Keke Rosberg (Williams FW08-Ford Cosworth) in the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix ? LAT

In 1991, Eddie Jordan recruited him for his new Formula One 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.

"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 setup and we went through all year round without major changes being made to the car. It still looks stunning."

That year came 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."

But de Cesaris left the team for two years at Tyrrell beginning in 1992, which were again seasons which he enjoyed.

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.

"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."

Andrea de Cesaris (Jordan 191 Ford) 1991 Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps ? LAT

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

However, He complained about a poor atmosphere within the team that left a sour taste to the end of his Formula One 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.

"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 - not because we don't know just the atmosphere was not the same.

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

"It is important for a driver to feel good and between him and there must be a very open relationship. You have to feel - it is like a child and how you feel the love of his parents.

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

His 208th Grand Prix came at the European Grand Prix that year.

"I had fun, I had 15 or 14 years of Formula One. 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 ten years if you don't drive those cars you don'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."