Philippe Streiff was one of the promising young drivers that was coming through Formula Two in the early 80s. He cut his teeth with the plucky AGS outfit whom he’d later return to race with in F1 in 1988, before his tragic career ending crash at Rio in 1989.
He arrived late on the scene into Formula One in 1984 at the age of 29, jumping straight into the deep end with the factory Renault outfit.
He made his debut at the end of the season before he scored his one and only podium at Adelaide in 1985 in only his sixth race, racing for Ligier after replacing the fired Andrea De Cesaris who Guy Ligier was fed up of constantly wrecking his cars. Streiff did his best De Cesaris impression as he crossed the line with only three wheels after colliding with teammate and fellow countrymen Jacques Laffite as he attempted to pass for second with two laps remaining, a lucky escape in a brilliant stand in performance.
Streiff later raced for Tyrell in 86 and 87 scoring a total of seven points and fairing well against Martin Brundle and the experienced Derick Warwick before returning to AGS. The testing crash at Rio paralysed him and ended a solid F1 career mainly carved out in the brutal and crazy turbocharged era among some of the sports finest talents.
He also competed in the 24 hours of Le Mans on multiple occasions as well as wining the 1981 French Formula Three Championship.
He will be missed by the entire racing community and everyone here at EverythingF1.