GP: German GP
Date: 4 August 1985
Winner: Michele Alboreto - Ferrari
Remembering this race brings pleasure but also pain.
Michele Alboreto achieved two things on this day: not only did he immediately start a charge through the field with amazing determination to win from eighth on the grid, but he also allowed himself a glimmer of hope that he could beat McLaren's Alain Prost to the title, as by this point in the season after nine races, Alboreto had two wins and seven top three finishes to his name.
But no. Sadly this would be his final win of the season and the very last one of his career, because from then on, Ferrari suffered a clear drop in performance. Come the end of the season, the gap between the two drivers was 20 points.
So we're talking about a truly happy moment that proved to be short lived for the Milanese driver. His five years at Ferrari, from 1984 to 1988, had more lows than highs, after he joined the team following a dazzling debut with Tyrrell, for whom he won in Las Vegas in '82 and Detroit in '83.
His career in numbers: 194 Grands Prix entered up to 1994, five wins, two pole positions and many great results in Endurance racing with Lancia and Audi, as well as a win at Le Mans in 1997, sharing a Porsche with Stefan Johansson and Tom Kristensen.
He was in love with speed, yet deeply concerned about driver safety and the Italian fans loved him.
Alboreto died on April 25 2001, at the wheel of an Audi R8 during testing. He was 45 years old.
In 2025 Pirelli will hit the 500 F1® Grands Prix mark during the season.
Legacy of Speed series looks back at the fifty most significant Grands Prix from Pirelli's time on the F1 World Championship trail.
