Stefan Bellof

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Stefan Bellof
Nationality Flag of Germany German
World Championship Career
Active years 1984 – 1985
Team(s) Tyrrell
Races 22
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podium finishes    0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First race 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last race 1985 Dutch Grand Prix
Stefan Bellof with Tyrrell 014 at the Nürburgring 1985
Stefan Bellof with Tyrrell 014 at the Nürburgring 1985

Stefan Bellof (born in Gießen, Germany on November 20, 1957 – died in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium on September 1, 1985) was a Formula One driver who raced for the Tyrrell team. After taking the German FF1600 title in 1980 he made his debut mid-season in German Formula 3, almost winning the championship. In 1983, with BMW backing, he got a place in Willy Maurer’s European F2 team, winning the first two races of the season. Maurer would later become his manager.

He also joined the Rothmans-backed Porsche factory team for the World Endurance Championship the same season. Partnering Derek Bell for most of the season, he was noted for setting the fastest lap at the 1000km Nürburgring race and was still leading when he crashed his Porsche 956 onto its roof. His pole time for that race of 6:11.13 is unofficially the fastest lap ever driven on the old 20km Nürburgring, and his fastest lap during the race of 6:25.91 to this day is still the official Nordschleife lap record for all cars. He joined Tyrrell in 1984 and in the rain-soaked Monaco race was catching up with race leaders Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna when the race was flagged to a halt at half the distance. Unfortunately, he was stripped of all his championship points, along with team mate Martin Brundle, after their Tyrrell cars were discovered to have illegal lead ballast in their fuel tanks at the Detroit Grand Prix. He won the World Endurance Championship for drivers, and helped Porsche to win the manufacturer's title, in the same year.

Regarded as a likely future F1 World Champion, he was killed at the 1985 1000km Spa sports car race, when he tangled his Walter Brun-entered Porsche 956 with Jacky Ickx's works 956 at Eau Rouge corner, with both cars catching fire and halting the race. Bellof was pronounced dead one hour later at the circuit medical center. This crash, coming so soon after the tragic death of Bellof's compatriot Manfred Winkelhock in another customer Porsche 956, prompted the Porsche engineering department to hurry through the development of the better-protected 962 model.

Always saddled with uncompetitive cars in F1 (the Tyrrell team of 1984–85 were the only team still using the normally aspirated Ford Cosworth engines, giving away in excess of 150 hp to their turbo rivals, though in the final stages of his Grand Prix career Tyrrell did use Renault turbo engines), Bellof never truly had the opportunity to show his talent. After his death and that race where Jonathan Palmer was also injured in a unrelated crash but with the same car, teams became unwilling to allow their expensive drivers to compete in other races that were not part of the championship, and some would have drivers' contracts tightened to prohibit them from competing outside the championships. According to The Official Stefan Bellof Website, there was an offer from Ferrari for the 1986 Formula One season. Today, he is often mentioned as Michael Schumacher's childhood racing idol.[citation needed] and during an interview for the January 2007 issue of the 911 and Porsche World magazine, teammate Derek Bell felt Bellof's death was caused by lack of discipline in his driving style, and that the blame for his death lay with those around Bellof, including team personnel, who should have allowed him to mature.

[edit] Complete Formula One Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Team WDC Points
1984 Tyrrell BRA
DSQ
RSA
DSQ
BEL
DSQ
SMR
DSQ
FRA
DSQ
MON
DSQ
CAN
DSQ
USAE
DSQ
USA
DSQ
GBR
DSQ
GER
AUT
EX
DUT
DSQ
ITA
EUR
POR
Tyrrell - 0
1985 Tyrrell BRA
POR
6
SMR
Ret
MON
DNQ
CAN
11
USA
4
FRA
13
GBR
11
GER
8
AUT
7
DUT
Ret
ITA
BEL
EUR
RSA
AUS
Tyrrell 16th 4

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Jacky Ickx
World Sportscar Championship Champion
1984
Succeeded by
Derek Bell and
Hans-Joachim Stuck