Winning again

Elio de Angelis and Ayrton Senna, here with team manager Peter Warr and designer-engineer Gérard Ducarouge, seem pensive ahead of the 1985 Monaco Grand Prix (picture above). No reason to worry though, Senna is about to capture pole position.

After Colin Chapman’s death in December 1982, the racing team was continued by his widow Hazel, and managed by Peter Warr. Midway through 1983, Lotus hired French designer Gérard Ducarouge and in five weeks, he built the Lotus 94T, powered by the Renault turbo engine. The car was sound and Elio de Angelis finished third in the 1984 Drivers’ World Championship, despite the fact that the Italian did not succeed to win a race.

When Nigel Mansell departed at the end of the year, the team hired the promising Ayrton Senna. The new Lotus 97T scored victories with de Angelis at Imola (picture below) and Senna in Portugal and Belgium. The team, although it had now won three races instead of none, lost third place to Williams in the 1985 Constructors’ Championship.