Derek Warwick reflects on Formula One career filled with ‘tragedy and fun’

Warwick began his career racing cars and trucks in a field next to the family trailer company, egged on by his uncle Stan, who Warwick describes as ‘an utter nutter’.

But Warwick found he had a talent behind the wheel, winning the 1971 English Superstox Championship aged 16 before progressing through Formula 3000 and Formula Three, before getting his break with Toleman in 1981.

He raced in some of the glory days of Formula One – the likes of Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and a young Michael Schumacher are among those Warwick has shared a grid with.

His best season was 1984 when he finished seventh in the World Championship with Renault, making the podium four times including second-placed finishes on home soil at Brands Hatch and at the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder.

“When you’re a racing driver you only want to win, and as you go up the levels winning is less and less because every time you make a step up, there’s people who are as good if not better than you,” says Warwick, who is recalling his career in his autobiography ‘Never Look Back’.

“So you’ve got to try and find that edge and find a way of winning. I didn’t win in Formula One, as my critics would often say, but you know what I can look back very proud and say I had a great career, an amazing career.

“It was full of tragedy, but it was also full of fun. We enjoyed our motor racing, we had fun, I’m not so sure today’s racing drivers are having the same fun as we did back then.”