Top 5 Italian F1 Drivers of all time

#3 - Elio de Angelis

de Angelis was an incredible talent whose career was cut tragically cut short.

While Patrese and Alboreto had chances to win the world championship, Elio de Angelis was denied this opportunity in tragic circumstances. A debut season for Shadow in 1979 paved the way for his seat at the prestigious Team Lotus for the following year. His teammate was Mario Andretti, the 1978 champion, and de Angelis beat him all ends up during the 1980 season, incredible for a driver that was only in his second season in Formula 1.

The future 1992 champion, Nigel Mansell, joined Lotus the following season, but de Angelis showed his class, outscoring the Brit in '81, '82 & '84. During this period, de Angelis would finish third in the driver's world championship in 1984 and his first win in Austria in 1982, the closest ever F1 finish.

Mansell would leave for Williams in 1985, but it didn't get any easier for the Italian, as Ayrton Senna, a man that needs no introduction. Senna got 38 points that season, de Angelis 33, not a large gap, especially when you consider that Senna was one of the fastest (if not the fastest) driver to ever compete in Formula 1.

Elio left for Brabham in 1986, and it would've been interesting to see how de Angelis would've stacked up against Patrese, but this sadly wasn't to be, as Elio was killed during a test in France after just four races with the team.

He was only 28-years-old and in the prime of his racing career, de Angelis could've easily become a world champion had he lived and drove for one of the top teams. De Angelis competed against three world champion teammates and wasn't beaten easily by any of them, he was an incredible talent.