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previously been paired with, obsessive in detail and determined to get the team to concentrate their efforts on him. Despite leading Senna in the World Championship Elio could see that the balance of the team was shifting and elected to leave the team at the end of the season, accepting a drive with Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team for 1986.

For the 1986 season Brabham designer Gordon Murray produced a quite extraordinary car, the BT55, which was almost 30 centimetres lower than its predecessor. Elio was extremely excited about the prospect of racing the fantastic looking car, but early tests soon dashed his optimism, and that of his team-mate, the amiable Italian Riccardo Patrese. The car was hopeless and in Monaco Elio struggled to qualify it in last position. He retired on lap 32 with a blown engine. Elio De Angelis had just driven in his last Grand Prix.

Riccardo Patrese had been scheduled to test the Brabham at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France following the Monaco race but Elio took his place at the last moment. On a very fast section of the circuit it appears that Elio's car suffered a rear wing failure, causing the Brabham to leave the track at tremendous velocity. The only two known witnesses to the accident were a pair of Benetton mechanics. The Brabham ended up on the other side of a crash barrier, upside down and on fire. Fellow drivers Alan Jones, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell stopped at the scene and, along with the car's designer Grodon Murray, tried in vain to right the burning car. The few marshals who were present were dressed in no more than shorts and T-shirts and, when a fire truck finally arrived, it parked too far away. It would be 20 minutes before Elio could be released from the wreckage and a further 30 minutes before a helicopter arrived to evacuate him.

Elio De Angelis died on 15th May 1986 with his family by his side. His only injury from the initial accident was a broken collarbone. He is still fondly remembered by many in Formula 1. French driver Jean Alesi copied Elio's crash helmet design and raced with it throughout his entire Formula 1 career. His legacy is of a life lived well, a great racing driver and a thoroughly decent man.

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