the third Spaniard to participate in Formula 1 after Alfonso de Portago and Alex Soler-Roig. Under the sponsorship of Iberia, de Villota led a modest outfit that raced under the name of Iberia Airlines F1 and contested seven Grands Prix of the European season. For the project Iberia acquired a McLaren M23, Ford-Cosworth DFV engines, the cars painted in the colours of the airline. De Villota would qualify for just two of these Grands Prix, the first was his home event, Gran Premio de España, where he would finish 13th, albeit 5 laps adrift of the winner. The other race he started was the Grand Prix von Österreich, where an accident on the last lap deprived him of the finish, nevertheless classified in 17th position. Between Grands Prix, de Villota did a number of selected Shellsport G8 races in his F1 McLaren, winning twice. He followed his earlier victory at Mallory, by winning there again, then taking the chequered flag at Brands Hatch. Although his season was split in two by his Grand Prix racing, de Villota still finished 5th in the championship. Again he attempted to privately contest the 1978 Gran Premio de España, failing again in qualifying. After this failure he turned his back on Formula One and turned his attention to the new Aurora AFX Formula One Championship. In the Aurora championship, racing was cheaper and was therefore less dependent on sponsorships, thus making it more competitive. This proved to be the case with de Villota finishing 3rd overall in 1978 and 1979, then being proclaimed champion in 1980 with a RAM Racing prepared Williams FW07. During this spell, he won nine races, including the infamous Gran Premio Lotteria di Monza. His main focus for 1978, was the Aurora AFX F1 Championship. This series replaced the Shellsport Group 8 series. He continued to race his McLaren, now entered under the Centro Asegurador banner. The season started promising the trip to the podium in the first three races, however he was unable to keep the momentum going and failed to visit the podium again, although it was still enough to finish 3rd overall at the end of the season. For the 1979 Aurora AFX F1 Championship, de Villota switched to Lotus-Cosworth 78, prepared and entered by Madom F1 Team. Following a series of poor results, de Villota turned his season around by finishing on the podium in six