— see video above —

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Michele Alboreto. The name is enough to bring us fond memories. A driver – but above all a man – whose image is still alive in the memory of those who had the opportunity to meet him and for his fans. Twenty years after his death, which took place on 25 April 2001 during a test on the German circuit of Lausitzring, the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza has decided to pay homage to the Milanese driver.

As you can read on the social profile of a true friend of Alboreto, Oscar Berselli – whose post we report in full – at the 2021 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, which takes place on 11 September, the Parabolica corner will be named after Alboreto, thus forever remembering the name of Michele, who raced for Ferrari five seasons (1984–88).

The ACI Sport Federal School had already been dedicated to Alboreto, an institution that in fact continuite the former Ferrari driver’s desire to offer young people a concrete possibility of finding a place in the motor categories. A corner at Monza will now always be the testimony of affection and gratitude towards a person who has given his all to motoring, making himself remembered in a perpetual way for elegance, class, humility, education and, above all, his speed on track.

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Vice president Piero Ferrari recalled the Milanese driver in conversation with Ferrari.com:

It is 20 years that Michele Alboreto passed away. He was the last Italian to win a Formula 1 race at the wheel of a Ferrari. If you had to sum him up in three words, what would they be?
Piero Ferrari: It’s always difficult to sum up someone in just a few words, even more so in Michele’s case. We were always good friends, even after he left Ferrari and then the sport itself. He was extremely polite, absolutely dedicated to the team and, above all, very rational in his decisions.

Everyone reckoned he was not only very quick, but also a gentleman. What impression did he make on your father, which led to him putting an Italian back behind the wheel of a Ferrari more than ten years on from Arturo Merzario?
Ferrari: During his time at Tyrrell, Michele had proved to be very quick on every type of circuit and in any conditions, a characteristic that attracted my father’s attention, as well as the fact that he was clearly serious, committed and well balanced. He, therefore, had all the right qualities to be a Scuderia driver.

With Ferrari, Michele won in Belgium in his first year with the team and again in Canada and Germany in 1985, when he was fighting Alain Prost for the title. Is there an episode during his time with the Scuderia that you particularly remember?

Ferrari: Not so much an episode, but more of regret, that we could not give him what was needed to win the world title and thus see an Italian as World Champion with Ferrari for the first time since Alberto Ascari.
At that time, the turbo engines were reaching their peak evolution in terms of power and we had not yet mastered that technology as well as we should, so the reliability problems we suffered in the second half of 1985 meant he could not fight for the title against McLaren.

Alboreto was also on the podium at Monza in 1988, just a few days after the death of your father. Was that a further fond memory of him?
Ferrari: That Italian Grand Prix was one of the few where I wasn’t present at the track with the team and I was watching it on television. At what was such a sad time, it was a wonderful gift from him and Gerhard (Berger) being able to see them on the top two steps of the podium.

Do you see something of Michele in one or both of Scuderia Ferrari’s current drivers?
Ferrari: Just like Michele, Carlos and Charles have already shown that they can be quick whatever the conditions and on any circuit. Indeed, just last weekend at Imola they proved that to be the case! In addition their performance level is very consistent, another quality they share with the Italian driver.

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Ferrari vice president Piero Ferrari believes Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz share attributes with the late Michele Alboreto.

Ferrari made the comments whilst remembering former Scuderia driver Alboreto, 20 years on from the Italian’s death in an LMP1 test crash at the Lausitzring.

When asked if he could see anything reminiscent of Alboreto in the current drivers, Ferrari said: “Just like Michele, Carlos and Charles have already shown that they can be quick whatever the conditions and on any circuit.

“Indeed, just last weekend at Imola they proved that to be the case! In addition, their performance level is very consistent, another quality they share with the Italian driver.”

Michele Alboreto was involved in one of Ferrari’s proudest F1 moments when sealing a one-two with Gerhard Berger at the Italian Grand Prix in 1988 just weeks after the passing of Enzo Ferrari.

“That Italian Grand Prix was one of the few where I wasn’t present at the track with the team and I was watching it on television,” Ferrari added.

“At what was such a sad time, it was a wonderful gift from him and Gerhard being able to see them on the top two steps of the podium.”

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“Over the next few years, he returned to racing sports cars, first with Porsche, with whom he won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1997 and then, with Audi, with whom he won the 2000 Petit Le Mans and the 2001 Sepang 12 Hours. It was to be his final victory: Michele died on 25 April that year at the Lausitzring, at an Audi test session in preparation for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

“He’s a youngster who drives very well, making few mistakes,” Enzo Ferrari wrote of him in his book ‘Piloti, che gente…” “He is quick and has a nice style: gifts that remind me of Wolfgang von Trips, whom Michele Alboreto also resembles with his educated and serious manner. I have maintained that he is one of the six best drivers in Formula 1 and with a competitive car, he will definitely be in with a chance of becoming champion.”

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— see video above —

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Silverstone, a circuit located on a former World War II airfield located between London and Birmingham in England was known for being the fastest circuit used by Formula One; it was even faster than Monza and the Österreichring. The circuit’s layout back then was quite different and simpler compared to the current layout used from 2010 onwards. Silverstone alternated the British Grand Prix with Brands Hatch and each circuit would host it every 2nd year.

Qualifying saw Keke Rosberg underline Silverstone’s incredibly high speed laps by taking pole in his Williams with a lap of 1:05.591. At an average speed of 160.9 mph (259 km/h), it stood as the fastest qualifying lap in F1 history for 17 years. Alongside Rosberg on the front row was Nelson Piquet in the Brabham, while Alain Prost in the McLaren and Ayrton Senna in the Lotus were on the second row. Nigel Mansell in the second Williams and championship leader Michele Alboreto in the Ferrari filled the third row, while on the fourth were Andrea de Cesaris in the Ligier and Elio de Angelis in the second Lotus. Teo Fabi in the Toleman and Niki Lauda in the second McLaren completed the top ten.

At the start of the race, Senna made a superb start and passed Prost, the slow-starting Piquet and Rosberg to take the lead, while Mansell moved up to third and de Cesaris to fifth. Behind them, four cars were eliminated at the first corner, Copse, as Patrick Tambay in the Renault lost control and was hit by the second Ferrari of Stefan Johansson, which also caused the Osella of Piercarlo Ghinzani and the RAM of Philippe Alliot to crash into each other.

Back at the front, de Cesaris passed Prost and then Mansell to be third, before Prost repassed the Ligier on lap 9. Prost later admitted he was apprehensive about being behind the Ligier thanks to the unpredictable de Cesaris’ reputation for crashing. Mansell dropped out on lap 18 with a clutch failure, before team-mate Rosberg suffered a broken exhaust four laps later. Senna continued to lead, with Prost now second and Lauda up to third ahead of de Cesaris, Piquet and Alboreto. Prost and Lauda’s McLaren-TAG/Porsche MP4/2B’s performance through high-speed corners was far superior to that of any other car competing that year – something that was a feature of all of the original Silverstone’s 8 corners (10 if the 3-turn sequence of the Woodcote chicane is counted).

Alboreto passed Piquet for fifth, before moving up to fourth on lap 42 when de Cesaris’s clutch failed. By then, Senna and Prost were running nose-to-tail. The Frenchman finally passed the Brazilian on lap 58, Lauda’s electrics failing on the same lap. Then Senna’s fuel injection failed, promoting Alboreto to second, while Jacques Laffite in the second Ligier moved up to third ahead of Piquet.

The chequered flag was erroneously shown at the end of lap 65, one lap early, with Prost having lapped the entire field. Halfway around what was meant to have been the final lap, Laffite ran out of fuel, which annoyed Piquet – he would have thus taken the final podium place had the error not been made. The final points were taken by Derek Warwick in the second Renault and Marc Surer in the second Brabham.

In the Drivers’ Championship, Prost moved to within two points of Michele Alboreto, while in the Constructors’ Championship McLaren moved up to second, 18 points behind Scuderia Ferrari.

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Ferrari monopolised the front row, with Michele Alboreto on pole ahead of Rene Arnoux, driving a Ferrari 126C4. Michele stopped the clocks in 1.14.846, beating his French team-mate by a good half second. In the race, Michele Alboreto got away to lead comfortably from Derek Warwick in the Renault and Arnoux.

Not even the pit stops for fresh tyres changed the order, with the only battle being the one between Arnoux and Rosberg for third place. In the end, that battle went to the Finn, however that wasn’t the end of it, as he ran out of fuel, thus handing third place to the Frenchman at the wheel of the number 28 126 C4.

Scuderia Ferrari therefore scored its first points of the 1984 Formula 1 season, as well as a triple in the shape of pole position, the win and race fastest lap, but only the first two went to Michele Alboreto as Rene Arnoux set the quickest lap with a 1.19.294. It was Michele Alboreto’s third Grand Prix victory and his first since joining Scuderia Ferrari for the 1984 season and became the first Italian to win for the Prancing Horse since Ludovico Scarfiotti won the 1966 Italian Grand Prix.

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At the start, the Lotus duo pulled away, but reliability problems soon sidelined Senna, who had to put with a problem on his turbo engine. De Angelis howver, continued on his way, although Alboreto was in striking distance. The man from Milan closed on the man from Rome and overtook him with a nice passing move around the outside.

Michele Alboreto was now safely in the lead while behind him, Stefan Johansson livened up proceedings, making the most of a drop in performance on De Angelis’ Lotus to take secnd place, almost closing right up to his team-mate.

The 156-85 thus secured a one-two, with Michele swooping into the title lead thanks to his second win for Ferrari. It was win number 90 for the Maranello marque.

— see video above —

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