Lotus’ solid pairing

Elio de Angelis and Ayrton Senna were team mates at Lotus in 1985 (picture-above). Aboard their competitive Lotus-Renault 97T, both drivers were frontrunners all season. Senna impressed by his qualifying speed, took 7 pole positions, while de Angelis, much more experienced, but slightly less fast over one lap, (but who was?), took one pole only at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Senna took his first Formula One victory at Estoril, Portuguese Grand Prix, in the pouring rain, where he produced a legendary performance. He won again, against all odds, at Spa in August after another wonderful drive and finished fourth in the standings.

de Angelis won his second F1 Grand Prix at Imola when Alain Prost’s McLaren was disqualified, took two podiums in Brazil and Monaco, had seven top-5 finishes and ended fifth in the standings, just behind his talented team mate.

Alain Prost (McLaren) was crowned for the first time in 1985, having missed out by 0.5 points only the previous year to Lauda, and McLaren TAG took the constructor’s championship, while Lotus was fourth, after a solid season. Elio de Angelis, picture here-under at the British Grand Prix, in the Gérard Ducarouge designed Lotus-Renault 97T.