1991 : De Cesaris to replace Alboreto for the final two races

After a shambolic end to the Portuguese Grand Prix for Tornado, it was announced that Andrea de Cesaris will replace Michele Alboreto and partner Michael Schumacher for Barcelona and Adelaide.

The decision came about due to an incident on lap 62 where Schumacher was taken out by his now-former teammate going into the first corner after Alboreto tried to unlap himself on new tyres in a move described by FF1M commentator James Brickles as “utter stupidity.” This was the 2nd such incident Schumacher was involved in as three laps earlier, Gerhard Berger tried a similar unlapping manoeuvre and put Schumacher into a slightly more harmless spin.

The German had been running 2nd at the time having just lost the lead to Ayrton Senna, but still would’ve remained in the hunt for the championship before the incident that saw him beached in the gravel without a front wing for seven laps before rejoining. It is rumoured that the reason Schumacher spent so long in the gravel was because he was persuading the team via the radio to fire Alboreto on the spot, which the team eventually agreed to do. Schumacher then sauntered out of the gravel, pitted for a new front wing, and was classified 20th.

Andrea de Cesaris last drove in FF1M in 1990 with Ajay Motorsports and scored one point at the opening round in Phoenix. With 32 points available in the final two races and Tornado 21 points behind the championship leaders, Gojira, Tornado still have a chance, albeit an unlikely one.