Italian F1 racer Ricardo Patrese (17/04/1954) was already seen as a fast boy in his Formula Ford and F3 years. His first years in Formula 1 gave him more of a wild man, a bad boy image.
He started racing with karts as a 9-year old boy and during the years he progressed to the top of the Italian karting scene, winning the 1972 championship. Two years later, he became the world karting champion and after that, it was time to switch to racing cars.
His first competition was the 1975 Formula Italia where he finished second. In 1976 Riccardo won two titles, dominating both in the European and Italian Formula 3 championships with the Trivellato Racing's Chevron B34-Toyota. He continued with Trivellato in the European F2 1977.
Then he got a phone call from Shadow and was invited to start his F1 career in the Monaco in the DN9 and to do the rest of the season alongside Alan Jones. His best results was a P06 in Japan. At the end of the season he got an invitation to drive for Williams, but he decided to follow Jackie Oliver, Tony Southgate and sponsor Franco Ambrosio to the new team, Arrows. Gunnar Nilsson was signed as its lead driver but he already had health problems and was unable to race with the FA1. In the third race of the year, in South Africa, Patrese was leading by 40 seconds, way ahead of everybody, when the car failed with 12 laps to go. But, prior to the split with Shadow, Southgate had just finished the DN9 design for Shadow and the new Arrows FA1 had the same looks as the DN9. Don Nichols, boss of Shadow noticed that and took Arrows to court and the verdict was in his favour. So in 45 days a new car was produced, the Arrows A1. Because of that, there was then the catch-up and lack of development, so the car had problems throughout 1978. Patrese's best result during 1978 was a second place in Sweden but in Monza where Ronnie Peterson was fatally hurt at the start, he was regarded by James Hunt and others as the cause of it. Although it was the starter’s fault, this was a big blow to his career and reputation. He stayed with the Arrows team until the end of the 1981.His best results were a P02 in the 1980 GP USA-west (Arrows A3) and the 1981 GP San Marino (A3).
In the meantime, he became a Lancia factory driver in the World endurance championship. In 1980, he won the 6 hours Brands Hatch, Mugello and Watkins Glenn and the Giro d’Italia, as a support for Marku Alen (Lancia Beta). With Michele Alboreto, he won the 6 hours Watkins Glenn in 1981, the 6 hours Silverstone and the 1000 km Nürburgring in 1982 (Lancia LC1).
In 1982 Patrese switched to the Brabham team to drive the BT49. After a third-place finish at Long Beach, Patrese scored his maiden F1 victory at the Monaco Grand Prix. It was really a lucky win in a crazy race because two drivers ahead of him, Didier Pironi and Andrea de Cesaris, stopped on the final lap. Before that, Patrese was battling for a win against Alain Prost but the Frenchman crashed three laps before the end. Patrese spun on the wet track at Loews but got the engine going again in the descending section and crossed the finish line as the winner. He was now second in the championship, but from then on he had to drive the BT50- BMW turbo. That car kept breaking down. In 1983 he scored another win in the GP South Africa. It was the last race of the season in which Patrese retired in ten of fifteen races, driving the BMW-powered Brabham BT52 and BT52B. BMW's turbo engine was very competitive that year and Patrese's teammate Nelson Piquet took the world championship title while Patrese finished ninth.
Patrese was again active in the Endurance with the Lancia LC2 in 1983 and 1984.He managed to win one race together with Alessandro Nannini in the Kyalami 1000-km race.
Patrese joined the Benetton Alfa Romeo in 1984. He retired the Alfa Romeo 184 in ten of sixteen races; his best result was a P03 in Italy and a P04 in South Africa. The next season with the Alfa Romeo 185 was worse with 12 retirements in 16 races and no points scored. He had a relatively successful season with Lancia in the 1985 World Endurance Championship. He participated in six races and won at the 1000-km of Spa, a race marked by the death of Stefan Bellof. Patrese's teammates in the Lancia LC2 were Alessandro Nannini and Bob Wollek.
Bernie Ecclestone wanted Patrese back in 1986 in the Gordon Murray designed BT55. It didn’t work out. In 1987, with a more conventionally designed BT 56 -BMW, there were again a lot of car failures,so a P05 in Hungary and P03 in Mexico were the highlights. But, there was a lucky break for the final race of the year in Australia. Frank Williams needed a driver, because Nigel Mansell had a big accident in Japan. So, not knowing that Bernie was about to sell his team, Patrese signed for Williams for the race and the next season.
He became a point scores in 1988 with the FW12-Judd and in 1989 he became third in the championship thanks to 6 podium finishes ( P02 in Mexico, USA, Canada, Japan) and the FW12C and FW13 and the Renault Engine. There was a third victory in Imola in 1990. His fourth and fifth year at Williams were mainly highlights, but generally he was regarded as the trusty number two driver team managers could rely on for Constructor points. He won the GP of Mexico and Portugal in 1991 (FW14), and together with the 6 times on the podium were good enough for a third place in the final standings. There was another win in Japan in 1992; this year he was second in the championship with team mate Mansell the world champion. For the 1993 season, Patrese found a seat at Benetton, but his only role would be to support Michael Schumacher. A P02 in Hungary and a P03 at Silverstone were the best results. In 1994, Patrese was replaced in Benetton by Jos Verstappen. As most teams already had drivers signed, Riccardo decided to retire. At the age 39, he closed the F1 career with 256 F1 starts in 17 seasons.
In 1995 he participated, behind the wheel of a Schübel-entered 4WD Ford Mondeo, in the German Super Tourenwagen Cup. This turned out to be a disaster. In 1997 he came out of a retirement and entered the 24 hours of Le Mans. He drove a TWR Nissan R390 with Aguri Suzuki and Eric van de Poele. They retired after 121 laps with gearbox problems.
Ricardo Patrese now enjoys life, family and horses in the Padua region
