1990 SPANISH GP

JEREZ LOTUS 102 STARTED 10th | RESULT RETIRED

This entry is less about a race performance and more about the human side of motorsport. Late in Friday qualifying, Warwick’s Lotus team-mate Martin Donnelly suffered an enormous crash, the Northern Irishman thrown out of the destroyed car at one of the fast right-handers behind the Jerez pits. It was the worst F1 accident for several years, and it was widely regarded as miraculous that Donnelly survived, albeit with multiple injuries.

Warwick had rushed to the scene and, with the exact cause of the accident unclear, didn’t want to drive the following day: “I’d had that big crash at Monza [three weeks before], then we got to Jerez and Martin had his. I remember it vividly – I ran over to Martin because I wanted to be with him.

“That night I decided not to race, the car was too fragile and we had no idea what would break next. But when I went to the track I saw the guys had been up all night making a special titanium brace where the monocoque had broken. The team obviously wanted me to race and there was a lot of pressure from everyone, the team and sponsors. I shooed everyone out of the garage except my engineer and mechanics and asked them, ‘Will it break?’ and they promised it wouldn’t. But added we’re not sure about the rest of the car…”

Warwick went out and qualified 10th, matching his best grid slot of the season in the Lotus 102. “The first time through the corner where Martin crashed I was flat,” he says. “To qualify 10th was a monstrous effort and the team was emotional when I brought the car in – at that point we still thought Martin was going to die. Without a doubt it’s the bravest thing I’ve ever done.”

Two years later, Autosport’s long-time F1 reporter Nigel Roebuck wrote: “Warwick’s behaviour that weekend was as plain courageous as anything I have ever seen in racing.”

Perhaps understandably, Warwick doesn’t recall much about the race itself. For the record, he ran ninth in the early stages following Jean Alesi’s off at the first corner. A slow tyre stop dropped him to 13th, but Warwick was running seventh when his gearbox gave up with just 10 laps to go. “I remember the car being shite!” he says. “It was difficult to drive, but I gave it 100%.”