“I got a phone call from Bernie”
Derek Warwick (born 27 August 1954) is a British former racing driver. He raced many years (from 1981 to 1993) in Formula One, collecting four podiums but never winning a Grand Prix. He did however win the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1992 World Sportscar Championship.
Picture above: Derek Warwick in the Brabham BT55-BMW, at the Detroit Grand Prix, where he finished 10th. See how low this car is and how vulnerable the driver seems to be.
For 1986, he was supposed to drive for Lotus in Formula One, but Ayrton Senna refused to have anyone but a number 2 as team-mate, and Warwick was left without an F1 drive.
click here: discover Monaco in yellow.
Following the death of Elio de Angelis in a testing accident in May at the Paul-Ricard circuit, however, Warwick was invited to take his place at Brabham.
Derek Warwick: “I got a phone call from Bernie (Ecclestone, former Brabham owner), who said that he had appreciated the fact that I was the only available top driver who didn’t call him five minutes after Elio died and would I like to drive for him.”
Unfortunately for the Brit, the Brabham BT55-BMW was nor very competitive nor reliable enough (picture below). He finished 4 times in the top ten but was forced to retire six times in 1986, and so failed to score a championship point.
