We spoke with Elio de Angelis, the best Italian of the moment
Translated by this website
There’s a roughly ten-year age difference between Roman Elio de Angelis and Austrian Niki Lauda, but their style, mentality, and reasoning are the same. And their behaviour on the track is very similar, with excellent performances achieved not only through reckless courage but also class and reasoning.
Niki Lauda has returned to the days of his greatest glory. Indeed, he has added something to his personality: maturity as a man, the fruit of harsh experiences, both physically and in business, which have erased the childish, carefree side he once possessed.
Elio de Angelis is young (he was born in 1958), but six years of Formula 1 have made him a veteran, and now he can finally demonstrate with facts what the most attentive had already intuited, namely his excellent driving skills combined with concrete qualities of reflective intelligence.
We asked him what this season means in his career and for an analysis of the reasons that led the two McLaren drivers, Lauda and Prost, to such supremacy.
This Elio de Angelis, who until now had been somewhat in the shadows, mainly due to a lack of resources, is a happy discovery for Italian enthusiasts.
1984 has already given him a lot, even if he hoped it could give him more.
Above all, it gave me the opportunity to race, for the first time, in a competitive car. It’s a shame that the tires were lacking, and on occasion the engine. But so far, it’s been a good season psychologically, because I was able to confirm my qualities, especially to others. I’ve never had any doubts, but it’s good that this happened, to convince the people who follow the races, my opponents, and, if necessary, my team. It was an important year because, in the opinion of others, it made me take a leap in quality. I really have the impression that the fans appreciate me more now, they better understand my way of racing, which wasn’t always understood.
In fact, at times, you have been criticized for an excessive wait-and-see tactic, the fear of throwing yourself into the fray.
I disagree, and this is demonstrated by the fact that when I was able to attack, I did. It happened, for example, this year in Hockenheim, where I was leading before the engine gave out. Unfortunately, it often happens that you don’t have the means to do this, and you must settle for getting the most out of what you have available, knowing how to manage it to get the best out of it. When you’re missing something, you must resign yourself to defending yourself, even if the urge to attack is there. I admit, however, that I can sometimes disappoint those who want to see me always in the fight. I don’t go into the fight, because it’s foolish and pointless. Certain spectacular “numbers” aren’t part of my repertoire, but I always try to get the best possible result. If you don’t have the means to be at the front, it’s pointless and dangerous to overdo it. It makes no sense; the results won’t come anyway. The important thing is to know your worth, judging yourself calmly, without indulgences or excuses. The important thing is to work to achieve the best possible results, even when something isn’t perfect, without making excuses or blaming others for your responsibilities, establishing solid and deep relationships of complete collaboration with those who work with you, starting from the assumption that it is above all your “family” that can help you. It’s a mindset I’ve always had, and it stems from the upbringing I received in my family environment. Excesses of anger or elation are unknown to me, as are those of depression. In this way, at Lotus we have now achieved a highly competitive car. Taking all the circumstances into account, calmly evaluating the facts, I can repeat that, to be ahead of everyone, we only lacked a few components (tyres, sometimes the engine), which, however, were beyond our control.
McLaren, however, was ahead of everyone. 1984 was also the year of your success but above all the year of McLaren. Why?
McLarens have been the most competitive Formula 1 cars because their engine, chassis, and tires have achieved higher percentages of favorable results than their rivals. However, in my opinion, they are not exceptional cars, like, for example, the Lotus of 1978. McLarens have the most advanced engine of the latest generation, fully electronically controlled; they have the best tires of the moment; they have a chassis that exploits the qualities of the Michelins better than others; they have two top-notch drivers: a multiple world champion and a potential world champion.
It is because of these factors combined that McLarens have been a step above the others, especially in reliability, which is lacking instead in the Brabhams and Renaults, who race with the same tires. On some occasions, even if only episodically, we, Brabham and Ferrari (Zolder), have demonstrated that McLarens do not come from the moon, but are only “formula 1” cars on which their potential is exploited to the fullest. Our chassis is perhaps better, and this has been seen on several occasions. At Hockenheim I led, and did well, as long as the engine held up. On our car, the Goodyear tires last and perform better than on the Ferraris, for example, and although the Goodyears aren’t yet up to the Michelins, we were often ahead of the Renaults, even though their engines are at least as good as ours. Don’t you think so? These are all undeniable and clear parameters. The McLarens are therefore beatable, but this year they have a set of advantages that the others lack. Take the Zeltweg race in Austria, for example: with the same tires, Lauda reached the finish line very well, while Piquet had great difficulty in the finale; this means that the Brabhams are forced to wear their tires more. The McLarens’ strength doesn’t lie in some Martian magic. If Goodyear can just give us tires that are up to the task, I hope I can demonstrate it.
This is also what Italian fans hope, having understood and appreciated this home-grown driver who, despite not being a star or a spectacular figure, has entered the small circle of true champions and is ripe for full success.
© 1984 Quattroruote • By Franco Lini • Published for entertainment and educational purposes, no copyright infringement is intended
