The Brief Grid: Short-lived F1 careers of drivers from 1985 to 1987

The mid-1980s Formula 1 grid was filled with talented drivers, but many lost their seats because they lacked the sponsorship needed to continue, while others simply never had the luck of being placed in competitive machinery. We continue our journey through the world of Forgotten F1 drivers, presenting their stories in a unique and accessible way so fans can enjoy and learn more about the sport’s past. Lately, we have been focusing on drivers from the 1980s whose careers in Formula 1 were surprisingly short. Our next chapter looks at the short-lived F1 careers of drivers from 1985 to 1987.

Short-lived F1 careers of drivers from 1985 to 1987

This group of drivers from the 1985 to 1987 period is a good example of how difficult it was to build a long F1 career, all of them recorded fewer than 30 actual F1 starts, although Yannick Dalmas requires a special explanation because his number of entries was considerably higher.

Editor’s Note: Before I started this journey of bringing the names and stories of drivers from the past back to life, I thought I knew almost everything about F1 history. But the more I researched, the more I realized just how many names I had never even heard of. Looking back at the lists I have made, I found many drivers who appeared for just a handful of races before seemingly disappearing from the F1 scene. For now, our focus is on drivers with fewer than 30 starts in Formula 1, the short careers, the forgotten names, and the stories that deserve another look. We have plans to explore the midfield in a unique way in the future, but for now, we’re staying in the 1980s and continuing our journey through some of the sport’s lesser-known drivers.

Allen Berg: A Short F1 Opportunity with Osella

Canadian driver Allen Berg reached F1 in 1986 after building a strong reputation in North American and European junior categories, his route to F1 was particularly notable because he had successfully against drivers who would later become major names in the sport.

Berg secured a seat with Osella for the 1986, but he entered F1 at a difficult time with smaller teams, the team operated with considerably fewer resources than the leading outfits, leaving its drivers with machinery that was rarely capable of challenging near the front, he made nine actual race starts during the season, his best result came at the German GP, where he brought his Osella home in 12th place.

His F1 opportunity lasted only one season, financial realities played an important role in making it difficult for berg to remain on the grid, as securing a seat in the increasingly expensive world of 1980s F1 often depended on substantial financial backing.

Although his F1 career was short-lived, Berg didn’t leave motorsport behind. Allen Berg later became involved in driver education and established the Allen Berg Racing Schools, using his experience to help develop the next generation of racing drivers.

Johnny Dumfries: From Lotus to Le Mans

John Crichton-Stuart, better known in motorsport as Johnny Dumfries, took an unusual route to F1, the Scottish driver came from an aristocratic family but pursued racing rather than simply relying on his priviliged background. He made his name in junior single-seaters, winning the 1984 British Formula 3 Championship.

His performances eventually attracted attention from Ferrari, where he became a test driver before receiving his F1 opportunity.

Dumfries joined Team Lotus in 1986, becoming teammate to highly regarded Ayrton Senna, it was an enormous opportunity, but it also placed him alongside one of the fastest drivers of his generation, Dumfries managed to score championship points during the season, including finishes in Hungary and Australia.

However, Dumfries F1 career lasted only that one year, for 1987, Lotus entered into a new engine partership with Honda, and the team’s second seat went to Japanese driver Satoru Nakajima, who arrived with important backing connected to the new Honda relationship, Dumfries lost his place on the grid despite having completed a full season with Lotus.

His career after F1 became considerably more successful in endurance racing, in 1988, he shared the winning Jaguar XJR-9 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, giving him one of the most prestigious victories available in international motorsport.

His F1 career was short, but his overrall racing career proved that leaving Formula 1 didn’t mean leaving the highest levels of motorsport.

Stefan Bellof: The Career That Ended Too Soon

Few drivers from this period left behind such a powerful sense of what might have been as Stefan Bellof. The German driver was already regarded as a hugely talented racer, and many expected him to reach Formula 1 even before he made his debut. In 1984, he won the World Sportscar Championship with Porsche and produced some remarkable performances behind the wheel of the Porsche 956.

His F1 opportunity came with Tyrrell, a team that was competing with naturally aspirated engines, while turbocharged power dominated much of the grid, despite the disadvantage, Bellof showed that raw speed could still make a difference.

His performance at the 1984 Monaco GP became one of the defining moments of his short F1 career. Starting from the back, Bellof fought his way through the field in extremely difficult wet conditions and began closing on the leaders. Along with Ayrton Senna, he was one of the drivers making the biggest impression before the race was stopped early. Looking back at the race, Bellof was even faster than Senna at certain moments on the wet streets of Monaco, showing just how impressive his pace was that day.

Stefan Bellof was reportedly linked to a pre-contract with Ferrari, with claims that he was set to join the team for the 1986 season, although this was never officially confirmed.

Stefan Bellof passed away on September 1, 1985, during the Spa 1000km sports car incident.

Bellof showed in his short F1 career that he had the potential to become a champion. After his first year with Tyrrell, many expected even more from him, and Michael Schumacher later acknowledged Bellof as one of his childhood idols. Bellof also held the Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record for 35 years, setting a remarkable 6:11.13 lap in the Porsche 956.

Adrián Campos: From Minardi Driver to Team Builder

Spanish driver Adrian Campos entered F1 with Minardi in 1987, the team was one of the smaller independent operations on the grid, and simply reaching the finish was often difficult, he entered 16 Grand Prix in 1987 and continued into the following season. Across his Formula 1 career, he was entered 21 races, but only two races he managed to finish.

Limited performance and reliability made life particularly difficult, Campos was regularly fighting near the back of the grid, while mechanical problems further restricted his opportunities, his F1 career ended during the 1988 season.

However, Campos would later make a much greater impact on motorsport from the other side of the pit wall, he founded Campos Racing, developing the organization into an important platform for young drivers, among those associated with his driver-development work was Fernando Alonso, who would go on to become a two-time F1 world champion.

Pascal Fabre: A Difficult Season with AGS

French driver Pascal Fabre entered F1 in 1987 with AGS, one of the smallest teams competing in the championship.

AGS didn’t have the resources of the major manufacturers or leading teams. The team reportedly had only seven employees and came from a small village in France.

Pascal Fabre was faced with a difficult task from the beginning, his car lacked the pace necessary to regularly challenge the midfield, making consistency and reliability particularly important.

Despite the limitations, Fabre showed impressive determination during the opening part of the season, he was able to finish nine of his first ten starts and recorded ninth-place finishes at both the French and British Grand Prix.

Those results didn’t bring championship points under the scoring system of the period, but it showed that Fabre could extract reasonable results from difficult machinery. But as season progressed, however, AGS struggled to keep developing its car at the same rate as its competitors.

Fabre began missing races through failure to qualify, and the team eventually replaced him for the final two flyaway events with Roberto Moreno.

Fabre’s F1 career was short, it ended after a single season, but he later continued his racing career outside F1, particularly in sports car competition.

Yannick Dalmas: 26 Starts Despite More Than 40 Entries

Yannick Dalmas is slightly different from the other drivers in this series because his F1 career involved considerably more entries than his actual number of starts.

Dalmas was entered for more than 40 Grand Prix, but he managed only 26 actual race starts, which places him within the under-30-start category used for this series.

His debut came with Larrousse in 1987, and it immediately produced one of the most unusual results of his career. At the 1987 Australian GP in his third entry, Dalmas finished fifth, an excellent result for a new driver competing for a small team.

There was, an important complication, Larrousse had officially registered only one car for the full championship season, meaning Dalmas wasn’t eligible to receive F1 points for his fifth-place finish.

He returned to F1 in 1989, but his comeback was difficult, competing for Larrousse and later AGS, he faced machinery that offered limited opportunities, while qualifying for races remained a major challenge. Eventually, Dalmas’ career moved in another direction, and that proved to be the beginning of a remarkable second chapter.

He became one of the most successful endurance racers of his era, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall four times, those victories came with four different manufacturers, giving Dalmas an endurance racing record that stands in stark contrast to his relatively short F1 career.

Different Reasons for Short F1 Career

The stories of these drivers show that a short F1 career didn’t necessarily mean a lack of talent.

Their F1 stats may look modest compared with drivers who spent a decade or more in F1, but each story demonstrates how many different paths could lead to a short F1 career.

For some, F1 was only one chapter, for others, it was the beginning of a career that would continue in sports cars, team management or driver development, and in the case of Bellof, it remains a reminder of how quickly a promising racing career can be taken away.

Editor’s Note: We want to apologize for not having enough images of some of the drivers featured in this series. In some cases, we use photographs of them from other racing competitions so we can make the content more complete and visually interesting. We hope to gain access to more historical images in the future. If you have photographs of these drivers that you would like to share with us, please contact us at carstimefb@gmail.com.

FEATURED IMAGE CREDITS: Photo by 35mmMan, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Our Forgotten F1 Drivers Series:
Forgotten F1 Drivers of 1980 | Short-Lived Careers
Under 30 Starts: The Short F1 Careers Around the 1981 Grid
F1 1982: The Shortest Careers on the Grid (Under 30 Starts)
The Lost Generation: The Short-Lived F1 Careers of 1983–1984

Forgotten F1 Drivers of 2014 to 2018 | Part 8