“Andrea, keep well away from John’s car”

Andrea de Cesaris and John Watson, the two McLaren drivers in 1981, look worried before the start of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone (pictured above).

This Grand Prix would go down in the annals of McLaren history, as it witnessed the first victory of the new carbon-fibre-chassis MP4/1, thanks to the efforts of the solid John Watson.

For Andrea de Cesaris, on the contrary, it was a race to forget, because he found himself, on the first lap, in the catch fences at the Woodcote corner, while tucked right under the rear wing, literally a few inches away from the back of Watson’s car…

Ron Dennis, the boss of the McLaren team, aware of the fiery character of his driver, had warned him before the start, he said: “Andrea, whatever you do, stay well away from John’s car (Watson) in the opening stages.”

This anecdote is typical of de Cesaris’s career. A very nice guy who had the support of Philippe Morris, thanks to his family’s business connections, and who could be very fast and sure on some days, but who too often displayed a disjointed aggression on the track that was, to say the least, worrying.