Quoted:

And USCC is in Laguna Seca on Sunday.

In 1981 de Cesaris, partly due to his Marlboro connections, landed a seat at McLaren, which in that year had come under the leadership of Ron Dennis after the team was merged with Dennis' Project 4 Formula 2 team. The Italian managed to finish only 6 of the 14 races he started, with a sixth place at Imola as best result. This was not enough to convince the resurgent McLaren team to keep him on. It was at this point in his career that the nickname "Andrea de Crasheris" was coined. The team was so worried that he would crash the car to the point that they withdrew his car from the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort after he qualified 13th.

Moving back to Alfa Romeo in 1982, de Cesaris became the youngest man ever to take pole position at the Long Beach Grand Prix. De Cesaris was also only the second Alfa Romeo driver to capture a pole since 1952. De Cesaris led the initial stages of the race until he missed a gear while lapping the slower car of Raul Boesel, letting Niki Lauda get past. He crashed out later on the fifth of twelve turns near the midway point of the race. De Cesaris was not injured but flames emanated from the rear of his Alfa Romeo as he climbed out of its battered cockpit.

From this point onwards, de Cesaris was nearly always seen by most in the paddock as prone to occasional brilliance but more often than not, erratic behaviour. 1982 saw a podium finish at Monte Carlo and another point in Canada. At the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix Didier Pironi retired on the final lap with electrical trouble on his Ferrari. De Cesaris ran out of fuel at the same point, allowing Riccardo Patrese to win his first Formula 1 race in 71 starts. At the start of the Austrian Grand Prix, de Cesaris, concentrating on trying to pass the car in front of him, veered across the entire width of the track and rammed his teammate Bruno Giacomelli into the wall, taking both out.

The 1985 season did not prove any better for de Cesaris, and he was lucky to retain his seat before the season as Ligier had signed French cigarette company Gitanes as their major sponsor, a rival of his personal sponsor Marlboro. A strong fourth place at Monaco showed early promise but the season turned into a dismal one after he destroyed his Ligier JS25 in a rollover at the Austrian Grand Prix, and was fired by team boss Guy Ligier as a result. After spending countless money repairing cars de Cesaris had crashed in his 20 months with the team, Guy Ligier stated that "I can no longer afford to employ this man" (this was despite Marlboro paying the bulk of his salary). He was kept in the team until the next race at Zandvoort, after which he was replaced by Philippe Streiff.

For 1989, de Cesaris moved to a team where he looked most at home: the red and white Marlboro-sponsored Scuderia Italia squad. Early results were again promising. By now a Monaco expert, he was on course for a podium position in Monte Carlo, before being taken out by triple world champion Nelson Piquet at the Lowes Hairpin. De Cesaris lost his cool in a massive way. As the cars were locked together, he screamed and waved wildly, before berating Piquet's Lotus team upon returning to the pits. Two races later it was de Cesaris' turn to play the villain. After an early delay he was being lapped by Dallara team-mate Alex Caffi when he ran his fellow Italian into the wall, robbing the team of another podium.