Victory at Imola without leading a lap: the chaotic tale of Elio de Angelis' final F1 win

F1

The final laps of the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix have gone down as some of the most bizarre in F1's history — and the chaos didn't end with the chequered flag

Alain Prost on Imola podium with Elio de Angelis and Thierry Boutsen after the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix

Alain Prost celebrates victory in the 1985 San Marino GP... but not for long

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Author

Katy Fairman

Just two Italian drivers have experienced the elation of winning in front of a fanatical home crowd at Imola, the most recent was Riccardo Patrese in 1990, with his third of six race victories in F1.

The first was Elio de Angelis who won the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix — but didn’t actually get to celebrate one of F1’s most unusual race victories on the top step of the podium.

It was De Angelis’s second and final win, before he was killed just over a year later, on May 15 1986 in a testing incident at Paul Ricard.

Ahead of this year’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, we remember not just the talented and much-loved driver, but also the bizarre circumstances of the 1985 race that involved two race leaders running out of fuel on the final lap and a shock post-race disqualification.

Senna looked unstoppable 

On the back of his debut grand prix win in Portugal, Ayrton Senna started the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix on pole for Lotus-Renault. Brimming with confidence after an outstanding wet-weather drive at Estoril, Senna led the field away for the 60 lap race.

Just behind was Keke Rosberg‘s Williams-Honda, followed by home hero and Senna’s team-mate Elio de Angelis. Although the heavens had opened overnight, the track was now dry. Moments after the lights went green, De Angelis managed to slot into second place so the Lotuses were running first and second.

Ayrton Senna leads at the start of the 1985 F1 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola

Senna leads as De Angelis slots into second at the start

Paul-Henri Cahier/Getty Images

Senna was already in a race of his own by the end of the first lap, leaving de Angelis to fend off Michele Alboreto for Ferrari, who was now into third place, McLaren’s Alain Prost and Rosberg who had dropped to fifth.

By Lap 11, Alboreto swooped into second, much to the delight of the 150,000 strong crowd of Italian Ferrari fans. Another lap passed and soon Prost was past De Angelis, pushing him out of a podium position.

After several more laps, Prost overtook Alboreto for second, in front of a muted tifosi. Things got worse for the spectators as a lap later the No27 Ferrari pulled into the pits with electrical issues. after an attempted repair, and with a fresh set of tyres, Alboreto banked the fastest lap, but his car proved to have a terminal misfire and he retired on Lap 29. 

Up ahead Senna was still leading, but Prost was closing up and soon the two future team-mates were within feet of each other on-track. The Brazilian remained calm despite having the McLaren in his mirrors, and made use of the traffic ahead to keep the track position as long as he could. 

Fuel concerns start to arise 

Prost was pushing hard but, conscious of the amount of fuel he was using to pressure Senna, dropped off and settled for second at around lap 40 – two thirds of race distance. 

McLaren of Alain Prost in the 1985 F1 San Marino GP

Prost looked to have settled for second behind a dominant Senna

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Behind these two De Angelis had been promoted to third after reigning champion Niki Lauda dropped back with gearbox troubles. The second Ferrari of Stefan Johansson was on a charge after starting 15th, though. The tifosi had reason to cheer again as he passed de Angelis and later Prost for second with seven laps to go. 

That looked to be the limit of his charge, with Senna now in a commanding lead and Johansson running out of time to close the gap. It looked to be a done deal.

Then the chaos began. 

From the archive

As the race leader came to the end of Lap 57, the engine in Senna’s Lotus died. The Motor Sport race report at the time described how Senna tried desperately to wiggle his car about to pick up every remaining drop of fuel, but the tank was empty and he started to slow. The dream of back-to-back victories had been ripped from his grasp.

That left new race leader Johansson headed towards victory in Imola in just his second race for Ferrari. All hell broke loose in the grandstands as the crowd sensed a home win for the Maranello team.

Then the fans fell silent. Just half a lap from inheriting first place, Johansson came to a stop at the side of the circuit having also run out of fuel. And he wasn’t the only one, as Nelson Piquet also spluttered to a stop.

Alain Prost wins… or does he?

Prost, who had been carefully monitoring his fuel levels, took the lead with de Angelis in second – the only two drivers on the same lap with the rest of the grid a lap behind. The McLaren driver took the chequered flag on lap 60, with a seemingly secure victory, 38 seconds ahead of De Angelis.

Thierry Boutsen pushes his car over the line at thw 1985 F1 San Marino Grand Prix

Boutsen pushes his car over the line to claim a podium place

Thierry Boutsen’s Arrows choked just before he crossed the finish line, and it was only by pushing his car over the line that the Belgian took third, just a fraction ahead of Patrick Tambay’s Renault.

And the fuel issues continued, as Prost spluttered to a halt on his way back to the pits. He stepped out of his McLaren and hitched a ride on Tambay’s sidepod for the podium celebrations. But while Prost, De Angelis and Boutsen soaked up the champagne, there was something else bubbling away down in parc ferme.

From the archive

Regulations stated that cars needed to hit a minimum weight of 540kg, with the scales used by the scrutineers having a tolerance of 2kg. Tambay’s machine weighed in at 580kg, with De Angelis’ reading 547kg. Then came the McLaren of Lauda who was provisionally classified in fifth and had a weight of 542kg – on the limit of 540kg without the tolerance. It was exceptionally close, and meant McLaren crew were holding their breath when Prost’s winning car rolled on to the scales. The number appeared as 538kg. It was checked again and again, but the result never altered.

Ron Dennis was summoned and demanded another set of scales were used. These were found and read 536kg, the same result as before, without the tolerance. It was game over: the car was disqualified and Elio de Angelis given the victory despite ever even leading a lap.

How did so many misjudge the fuel consumption?

Teams knew that fuel would be an important part of the weekend. It was monitored closely during qualifying, and there was a strict 220 litre limit for these gas-guzzling machines during the race.

The Porsche-designed TAG engine was known for being efficient when it came to fuel usage, but it wasn’t enough to help Prost who had also been trying to save every drop he could. “I am going to stick my neck out and say that it is unlikely Prost will run out of fuel,” Murray Walker said on commentary as Prost took the lead with two laps to go, a true Murray-ism.

The warm up around the circuit had also been wet, whereas the track was bone dry when it was time to go racing which led to an unknown for a lot of strategists and increased fuel consumption. Over the course of the Grand Prix the lap record was being beaten as the cars got quicker and lighter, and the situation clearly caught several of the sport’s best brains out.

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