For her, de Angelis sings and plays the piano
Ute Kittelberger, German, model and actress, is Elio's girlfriend. She met him at a “Playboy” party years ago and now she follows him everywhere. She says: “I don't like F1, I always feel bad at starts. But Elio will stop only when he becomes world champion. From him I'm learning how to cook spaghetti”.
Translated by this website
One of the most beautiful girls in the Formula One circus, arrived with the “playboy” driver Elio de Angelis. She is perhaps the most photographed, but she knows how to be casual in front of the camera due to her job as a model. She has a sweet and captivating smile, she has the cunning to dress all in black on race day like the team Elio de Angelis drives for, Lotus; however, she wears the Lotus t-shirt with extreme elegance as if it were a Saint Laurent garment. She is reserved and discreet and does not disturb her pilot with her presence; she only approaches him to hand him a lit cigarette, and then leaves him to the team and the reporters. She is tough and stubborn, she loves freedom, she loves children, and she has an iron will.
We wanted to break her privacy wall by asking her to tell us about her and Elio off the track.
Ute Kittelberger was born in Ludwighafen near Frankfurt, she has a 20 year old brother, a 22 year old sister, she was a lively child, but she confesses that her parents should be asked. She is of the sign of Libra, in fact she has a great balance.
How did school go?
After compulsory school I took a course in cosmetics and for two years I studied herbal medicine and homeopathy.
When did you meet Elio?
I met him in Frankfurt at the “Playboy” party, evidently he liked me because he was looking for me, he even came home for a coffee, then he stopped for a week in Germany, and then I went as his guest to Sardinia.
When did you start following Elio at the races?
Two years ago at Hockenheim, it was my first appearance in F1. I have to say that I don’t like the racing world.
How is Elio as a partner?
He’s very good to me and I’d say he’s not even very selfish like most men.
What do you like about Elio when he is at home?
When he plays the piano, he hums, composes; in short, the music with him. And even when he comes to my home in Germany, he also plays on our piano.
How was the impact with the de Angelis Home?
Excellent, you know it’s a house full of boys and therefore of companions, you see a lot of them, but they have really accepted me well. Maybe because I’m so independent, so German, so proud, and I don’t need a red herring. Elio is lucky enough to live in a beautiful city that I love and he has a wonderful house where everyone would like to live.
How do you consider yourself towards Elio?
I think I can consider myself his girlfriend, as they say in Italy his sweetheart.
Is it difficult for you to be a driver’s girlfriend?
I would say no, and if sometimes I don’t come to the races, it’s not because we have had the usual bickering, but because I have my job: that is, I have to stay in a boutique and be a model. I love my job because it gives me the opportunity to be independent.
When Elio does his training do you follow him?
Generally no, in Rome we jog together but Elio has much more resistance than me.
What sport do you do?
I do horseback riding a lot, I love skiing but I do it very badly.
What do you feel when Elio races?
I’m very sick, especially at the time of departure.
Do you like living in the world of Formula One?
I don’t love this life very much, there is the advantage of traveling around the world and being together a lot, but the tension is too strong.
Do you think that Elio will still race for many years?
I know he won’t leave Formula One until he becomes world champion.
What do you love to do when you are home?
I like watching Elio cook spaghetti because he is a very good cook. I am only capable of preparing a few German dishes.
He is my teacher in the kitchen.
Elio is an excellent musician, has he ever composed a song for you?
No, I didn’t have this honor, but he plays a lot to me and I’m happy when I listen to it.
Do you like his family?
Yes, very much, especially his mother and all the siblings who are great fans of Elio.
But how does Elio feel when he comes to your home in Germany, such a different country?
It seems to me that he is very well, my family welcomed him with immense pleasure and he has the opportunity to play the piano with us too.
Have you ever thought about getting married?
No, but we are always together, much more so than if we were husband and wife.
Did Elio ever talk to you about the future outside racing?
He feels very young and has not yet set himself the problem of leaving his father’s house, taking responsibility for his life, for his future, for his family. The de Angelis clan is so close that it is very difficult for him to break away from them.
Where do you like to spend your free time?
When we can, we go to Sardinia where Elio’s father has a nice boat with which we go for some laps and go fishing.
Do you do underwater fishing?
Not me, Elio sometimes goes free diving.
How does Elio behave when people recognize him on the street and ask him for his autograph?
Elio is always kind, even if at that moment he feels only like a boy and not a driver, he always accepts the requests and I am proud of him.
Does life with Elio allow you to continue your work?
I can conciliate the two by sacrificing a little my work and a little Elio.
I noticed that when Elio returns to the pits after a practice you light a cigarette for him and immediately step aside; is your discreet character?
No, it’s not a question of discretion, but in those moments he’s working and I think it’s best not to disturb him.
What do you wish for your future?
I want a family and children.
And where would you like to live?
Rome is very beautiful, but with my family I would prefer to live in Germany. In Italy there are many political tensions and too many people must drive around with bodyguards and armored cars. This is very bad for the freedom of the individual.
How is Elio’s character in private?
He is good, kind and sensitive, even if he doesn’t show it. He is very correct with everyone.
And what is your character like?
My character resembles that of Elio, except that at times I am more stubborn.
Which of the Formula One trips do you like best?
Brazil, in Rio, because I love sunbathing.
When you were a child how did you imagine your future in your dreams?
I dreamed that I would marry a farmer because I really like the countryside.
Do you like to drive? And how does Elio judge you?
I have a Golf and the grade my teacher gives me is sufficient.
How is the reaction to defeats?
Elio becomes silent and doesn’t want to talk to anyone, he closes up like a hedgehog, but I must say that he never loses his temper.
Ute Kittelberger
Ute Kittelberger (later Ute Hensel) was born in Ludwighafen, Germany, on October 7, 1958 and was a model and actress. With only 15 years old she was voted “Bravo girl” (Bravo was a magazine for teenagers in Germany) and only two months later was named “World Teen Princess”. After that, she started a modeling and acting career and was seen in films like “Der Edelweißkönig” (“The Edelweiss King”) or “Zwei im Siebenten Himmel” (“Two in seventh heaven”), in which she played alongside her future husband Bernd Clüver. After just a year, the marriage to the hit star broke up and some months later, in 1981, she met Elio during a “Playboy” party in Frankfurt, staying with him until his fatal accident in 1986.
Two years later, in 1988, Ute married the winery owner Thomas Hensel and had been with him until her last day. They had three children together. Unfortunately, Ute passed away on September 4, 2021 at only 62 years old.
© 1983 Autosprint • By Rosanna Pilogallo • Published for entertainment and educational purposes, no copyright infringement is intended
