Derek
Warwick

Derek Warwick was born in New Alresford, Hampshire, in 1954. He started out in British stock car racing in the Superstox category, winning the English championship in 1971 at the age of 16 and the world title at Wimbledon in 1973. In 1978 he was runner-up in the British Formula 3 Championship. His younger brother Paul was also a racing driver.

Warwick began his Formula One career in 1981 with the newly arrived Toleman team. That year he qualified for only one race, the season finale in Las Vegas, and in 1982 he made eleven starts. In 1983 he scored points in each of the last four rounds and finished 14th in the championship. He joined Renault for 1984, took second place at the Belgian and British Grands Prix, reached the podium four times in all and ended the year seventh in the standings. He was also awarded the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy, and won it again in 1988.

Renault withdrew from Formula One at the end of 1985. In 1986 Warwick took a seat at Brabham after Elio de Angelis died in a testing accident in May. No Grands Prix clashed with his sports car commitments, so he could contest both championships. He drove for Arrows from 1987 to 1989 and was eighth in the 1988 standings, with fourth place at Monza his best result of that season. At the 1989 Canadian Grand Prix he led in the wet, but retired from second place on lap 40 with an engine failure. He drove for Lotus in 1990 and scored three points. After two seasons away from Formula One he returned with Footwork in 1993, started every race and finished 16th in the championship. In total he started 147 Grands Prix without winning one.

In sports cars, Warwick drove for Jaguar in 1986 and 1991. In 1992 he won the World Sportscar Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Peugeot. In 1995 he competed in the British Touring Car Championship for Alfa Romeo, and in 1998 he won a wet race at Knockhill for Vauxhall. He later took part in Grand Prix Masters, a series for former Formula One drivers, in 2005 and 2006, served as fourth steward at Grands Prix in 2010 and 2011, and became president of the British Racing Drivers Club, succeeding Damon Hill.

Source: Wikipedia, “Derek Warwick”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.