Alfa Romeo 183T F1 V8 Turbo 2° South African GP Kyalami 1983

Andrea de Crasheris?

A former karting world champion, Andrea de Cesaris made his Formula 1 debut in the final two Grand Prix of the 1980 season for Alfa Romeo. His first full Formula 1 season with McLaren in 1981 was an unbelievable succession of accidents and collisions, which usually signalled the end of a young Formula 1 career. But Alfa Romeo brought the Roman back to Italy for 1982. Although the Italian overweight V12 engine was not going to win anything that year, the newly developed Alfa Romeo V8 Turbo promised a considerable improvement for 1983. The 183T was a new design by Gérard Ducarouge after the ground effect cars had been banned after 1982.

The new turbo engine still showed a lot of teething problems in the first half of the 1983 season, but as the technology became more stable, so did the results. Andrea de Cesaris finished second on the podium for the first time on the high-speed circuit at Hockenheim. At the season finale in Kyalami, South Africa, the Italian made a brilliant start, was already in third place on the second lap and even overtook World Champion Nelson Piquet shortly before the end. This second place remained the last great success in an incredible Formula 1 career that lasted 208 Grand Prix. The young de Crasheris had unexpectedly become a record Formula 1 participant over the years.