Those in the top four took note of the carnage and, at first, seemed to adapt to the deteriorating conditions. Then with two laps to go, Prost lost it at the chicane. His car slammed into and off the barriers and slid to a halt; once again a Renault driver had thrown away the lead, and Patrese was only too happy to take it.
“I saw pieces everywhere. It was a surprise, but the conditions were really very difficult. Not all the circuit was wet. In those days the chicane was a fourth-gear comer. The exit was very slippery, and it was very easy to have a crash.”
All Patrese had to do was keep out of the fence for two laps. but, almost unbelievably, he managed to spin it at the slowest corner on the track. “I was very cautious when I came to Loews, but I couldn’t control it and I spun as well…” His engine stalled. Patrese watched helplessly as Pironi, de Cesaris and the Daly passed by. His first victory had apparently slipped his grasp, but with a little outside help, he was able to get the car moving again.
“Afterwards someone objected that the marshals had pushed me. I didn’t feel any push. I think they pulled me back a little, as I was in an unsafe position, stuck in the middle of the track. Then they let go. The moment I released the brakes the car started to roll. I went down the hill, let the car get some speed, grabbed second gear and it started – with the Cosworth it was always quite easy to do a bump start.”
Furious with himself he set off again, repassing Daly, the Williams’s bashed gearbox having finally given up. Meanwhile Pironi crossed the line the third leader in as many laps, and received the ‘one lap to go’ message from the pits. De Cesaris and the Patrese weren’t far behind, but going up to Casino Square, Andrea’s Alfa V12 choked on its last drops of fuel, and Riccardo was back to second. Moments later the unthinkable happened, and leader Pironi suddenly slowed in the tunnel. He too was out of Agip…
Patrese swept past, and without realising it, retook the lead. Indeed, he was the only driver to complete the final lap, as all the hitherto unlapped cars were now stationary. The only competitive drivers still running were the lapped Lotus twins. Mansell had got in front of De Angelis, but their fight was for fourth and fifth, since Pironi and de Cesaris had done enough to secure second and third. Even Daly, out two laps before the end, was classified sixth. In the heat of the moment, few realised the true situation.
Confusion soon gave way to elation for Patrese
Sutton Images
“I didn’t know I’d won the GP,” says Patrese. “On the last lap de Cesaris stopped, then Pironi. I thought Rosberg’s Williams, was still ahead of me, because I thought he’d overtaken me.
“So I thought I was second. On the finishing lap everybody was waving flags and so on, while I was thinking I’d thrown it all away. I can remember thinking, maybe they are pleased I finished second and drove a good race, but I was very, very unhappy.
“I was not in a hurry to get to the podium, because in the briefing they said only the winning car could stop in front of it. Because I was not the winner I decided to give a lift to Didier. I dropped him off and instead of letting me to into the pits, I was shown the way to the podium. I didn’t understand. I thought they changed the rule and wanted the first three. But only my car was there!
“However, there were more than three drivers; there was me, de Cesaris, Pironi and de Angelis! There was a big discussion over who was first, second or third. Somebody came to me and started to shout, ‘You won, you won.’ Then I finally realised…
“Whenever you win at Monte Carlo there’s a very good party, and that year was even more special because it was the last time Princess Grace was there – she died in October of that year. I was quite young, and still a bit shy. She was really very kind and nice to me, and they tried to make me comfortable in that situation.”
