Riccardo Patrese

Riccardo Patrese

Nation:	Italy
Automobile / Formula 1 world championship
First start:	1977 Monaco Grand Prix
Last start:	1993 Australian Grand Prix
Constructors
1977  Shadow  • 1978–1981  Arrows  • 1982–1983  Brabham  • 1984–1985  Alfa Romeo  • 1986–1987  Brabham  • 1987–1992  Williams  • 1993  Benetton
statistics
World Cup balance:	Vice World Champion ( 1992 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 256 6th 8th 13
World Cup points :	281
Podiums :	37
Leadership laps :	564 over 2549.9 km

Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born April 17, 1954 in Padua ) is a former Italian racing driver . Between 1977 and 1993 he competed in the top motorsport class, Formula 1, for well-known teams such as Brabham and Williams . Patrese won six grand prizes and was runner-up in 1992. Until 2008, with 256 Grand Prix participations, he was the driver with the most starts in Formula 1, before being surpassed by Rubens Barrichello .

Career

Patrese 1979 with his Arrows A1 in Imola

Patrese started karting as a child , becoming European team champion in 1973 and world champion in 1974. In addition to studying political science, he continued his racing career.

Patrese rose to Formula 3 and in 1976 became European and Italian champions in this class. In 1977 he drove in Formula 2 and made his Formula 1 debut on May 22 of the same year at the Monaco Grand Prix in Don Nichols ' Shadow team , where he finished ninth. Because of his involvement in Formula 2, he could not contest all races, but at the Japanese Grand Prix in Fuji he scored his first world championship point.

His second year in Formula 1 was turbulent. Former members of the Shadow team founded Arrows and hired Patrese as drivers. The new Arrows FA1 turned out to be excellent and Patrese led the second race for the new team in the South African Grand Prix until an engine failure took him 15 laps to go. Second place in Sweden followed, but then the season turned negative for Patrese. Numerous voices criticized his extremely aggressive and sometimes reckless driving style. That summer, Shadow boss Don Nichols filed a lawsuit accusing Arrows of recreating his car. Arrows lost and had to build a new car that was nowhere near as competitive.

Patrese in the Alfa Romeo 184T, GP Germany 1985

Finally, at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, there was a mass collision that cost Sweden's Ronnie Peterson his life. Patrese was blamed for this under the leadership of Niki Lauda and James Hunt and banned for the next race at Watkins Glen , completely wrongly, as it turned out in the process years later, since the accident had been caused by James Hunt himself. This was a serious blow to Father's career and it took a long time to restore his reputation. Two weak years at Arrows followed, and it wasn't until 1981 that he made it to the top, including his first pole position.

In 1982 Patrese hired Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team. In the course of the year, the powerful BMW turbo engines were used for the first time, although their reliability initially left a lot to be desired. After all, Patrese won his first Grand Prix, the turbulent Monaco Grand Prix, in which two drivers in front of him ran out of fuel on the last lap. In 1983 his teammate Nelson Piquet won the world championship, Patrese, on the other hand, was often deprived of top positions due to defects and could only win one race again. He switched to Alfa Romeo at the end of the year , but was unable to achieve any useful results in the following two years. What started with great expectations ended with Alfa’s withdrawal from Formula 1.

Patrese was now in a crisis and his further career seemed endangered. In 1986 and 1987 he returned to Brabham without achieving significant success until he was brought to Williams in late 1987 . This began its renaissance and the good test pilot played a key role in the resurgence of the Williams team, which had a new factory partner in Renault from 1989 . Although the transition year 1988 was rather changeable, in 1989 he finished third with numerous podium places and celebrated a double victory with Thierry Boutsen in Canada. In the end Patrese was third in the World Championship and was able to beat Boutsen, although he had won two races.

Patrese in the Williams FW14, GP Monaco 1991

Patrese in the Williams FW14B at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix

In 1990 Patrese won another Grand Prix after almost seven years, so that he stayed on board for 1991 , while Boutsen, although he had beaten Patrese on points this time, had to give way to Nigel Mansell . In the first half of the new season Patrese outshone the British against all expectations with two wins and four pole positions, but Mansell ultimately had to admit defeat on points and finished third in the World Cup. In 1992 Patrese was even runner-up in the superior Williams FW14B , but was clearly overshadowed by his team-mate, who dominated at will and won the world championship with the largest point advantage in Formula 1 history.

For 1993 , Mansell expected to stay with the team and repeat the 1992 success. However, in the summer of 1992, Frank Williams signed former world champion Alain Prost for the new season. Mansell, who found Prost to be at least an equal competitor and saw his chances of a second title threatened, then announced his resignation in the late summer of 1992. Williams thus lost a current world champion (in 1993 this was repeated with Prost). Williams then offered Patrese his second cockpit for 1993. At this point Patrese had already signed with Benetton , where he became teammate of the young Michael Schumacher in 1993 . Since he was there in the shadow of it, his contract was terminated at the end of the year, and so he left Formula 1 after 256 grand prizes.

After a few appearances in touring car and sports car races , where he had previously competed successfully for Lancia , his racing career came to an end.

statistics

Career stations

1965–1974: karting 1975: Formula Italia (2nd place) 1976: Italian Formula 3 (champions) 1976: European Formula 3 (champions) 1977 : Formula 2 (4th place) 1977 : Formula 1 (20th place) 1978 : Formula 1 (12th place) 1978 : Formula 2 1979 : Formula 1 (20th place) 1980 : Formula 1 (9th place) 1980 : Sports Car World Championship

1981 : Formula 1 (11th place) 1982 : Formula 1 (10th place) 1982 : World Sports Car Championship (2nd place) 1983 : Formula 1 (9th place) 1983 : World Sports Car Championship (17th place) 1984 : Formula 1 (13th place) 1984 : Sports Car World Championship (31st place) 1985 : Formula 1 1985 : World Sports Car Championship (14th place) 1986 : Formula 1 (17th place) 1987 : Formula 1 (13th place)

1987 : World Touring Car Championship 1988 : Formula 1 (11th place) 1989 : Formula 1 (3rd place) 1990 : Formula 1 (7th place) 1991 : Formula 1 (3rd place) 1992 : Formula 1 (2nd place) 1993 : Formula 1 (5th place) 1995 : STW (35th place) 2005: Grand Prix Masters (3rd place) 2006: Grand Prix Masters (8th place)

Statistics in the automobile / Formula 1 world championship

Grand Prix victories

1982:  Monaco  ( Monte Carlo ) 1983:  South Africa  ( Kyalami )

1990:  San Marino  ( Imola ) 1991:  Mexico  ( Mexico City )

1991:  Portugal  ( Estoril ) 1992:  Japan  ( Suzuka )

general overview

season	team	chassis	engine	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Race laps	Points	WM-Pos.
1977	Shadow Racing Team	Shadow DN8	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	9	-	-	-	-	-	1	20th
1978	Arrows Racing Team	Arrows FA1  /  A1	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	14th	-	1	-	-	-	11	12.
1979	Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team	Arrows A1 /  A2	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	14th	-	-	-	-	-	2	20th
1980	Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team	Arrows A3	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	14th	-	1	-	-	-	7th	9.
1981	Ragno Arrows Beta Racing Team	Arrows A3 / A3B	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	15th	-	1	1	1	-	10	11.
1982	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham BT49C  /  BT49D	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	5	1	1	1	-	1	19th	10.
		Brabham BT50	BMW 1.5 L4 Turbo	10	-	-	-	-	1	2
1983	Fila Sport Racing Team	Brabham BT52  / BT52B	BMW 1.5 L4 Turbo	15th	1	-	1	1	1	13	9.
1984	Benetton Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 184T	Alfa Romeo 1.5 V8 Turbo	16	-	-	1	-	-	8th	13.
1985	Benetton Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 185T  / 184T	Alfa Romeo 1.5 V8 Turbo	16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1986	Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT55	BMW 1.5 L4 Turbo	16	-	-	-	-	-	2	17th
1987	Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT56	BMW 1.5 L4 Turbo	15th	-	-	1	-	-	6th	13.
	Canon Williams Honda Team	Williams FW11B	Honda 1.5 V6 Turbo	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
1988	Canon Williams team	Williams FW12	Judd 3.5 V8	16	-	-	-	-	-	8th	11.
1989	Canon Williams team	Williams FW12C /  FW13	Renault 3.5 V10	16	-	4th	2	1	1	40	3.
1990	Canon Williams team	Williams FW13B	Renault 3.5 V10	16	1	-	-	-	4th	23	7th
1991	Canon Williams team	Williams FW14	Renault 3.5 V10	16	2	2	4th	4th	2	53	3.
1992	Canon Williams team	Williams FW14B	Renault 3.5 V10	16	1	6th	2	1	3	56	2.
1993	Camel Benetton Ford	Benetton B192B  /  B193  / B193B	Ford 3.5 V8	16	-	1	1	-	-	20th	5.
total				256	6th	17th	14th	8th	13	281

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th
1977
						9	DNF		DNF	DNF	10 *		13 *	DNF		10 *	6th
1978
		10	DNF	6th	6th	DNF	DNF	2	8th	DNF	9	DNF	DNF	DNF		4th
1979
	DNS	9	11	DNF	10	5	DNF	14th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	13 *	DNF	DNF
1980
	DNF	6th	DNF	2	DNF	8th	9	9	9	14th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF
1981
	DNF	3	7th	2	DNF	DNF	DNF	14th	10 *	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	11
1982
	DNF	DNF	3		DNF	1	DNF	2	15th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	5	DNF	DNF
1983
	DNF	10 *	DNF	13 *	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	3	DNF	9	DNF	7th	1
1984
	DNF	4th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	12 *	DNF	10 *	DNF	3	6th	8th
1985
	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	10	DNF	11	9	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	9	DNF	DNF
1986
	DNF	DNF	6 *	DNF	8th	DNF	6th	7th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	13 *	DNF
1987
	DNF	9	DNF	DNF	9	DNF	DNF	DNF	5	DNF	DNF	DNF	13	3	11 *	9 *
1988
	DNF	13	6th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	8th	DNF	6th	DNF	7th	DNF	5	6th	4th
1989
	DNF	DNF	15th	2	2	2	3	DNF	4th	DNF	DNF	4th	DNF	5	2	3
1990
	9	13 *	1	DNF	DNF	9	6th	DNF	5	4th	DNF	5	7th	5	4th	6th
1991
	DNF	2	DNF	DNF	3	1	5	DNF	2	3	5	DNF	1	3	3	5
1992
	2	2	2	DNF	2	3	DNF	2	2	8th*	DNF	3	5	DNF	1	DNF
1993
	DNF	DNF	5	DNF	4th	DNF	DNF	10	3	5	2	6th	5	16 *	DNF	8th*

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1981	Martini Racing	Lancia Beta Montecarlo	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Hans Heyer	failure	Cylinder head gasket
1982	Martini Racing	Lancia LC1	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Hans Heyer	failure	Engine failure
1997	Nissan Motorsport	Nissan R390 GT1	Eric van de Poele	Aguri Suzuki	failure	Oil pump

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th
1979	Lancia	Lancia Beta Montecarlo	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	BRH	ROA	VAL	ELS
									DNF	18th		2				5
1980	Lancia	Lancia Beta Montecarlo	DAY	BRH	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	VAL	DIJ
				1		1	3		DNF	4th			1				3
1981	Lancia	Lancia Beta Montecarlo	DAY	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	BRH
			18th			DNF		DNF	11	DNF			1
1982	Lancia	Lancia LC1	MON	SIL	ONLY	LEM	SPA	MUG	FUJ	BRH
			DNF	1	1	DNF	3	DNF	2	2
1983	Lancia	Lancia LC2	MON	SIL	ONLY	LEM	SPA	FUJ	KYA
			9	DNF	DNF		7th		2
1984	Lancia	Lancia LC2	MON	SIL	LEM	ONLY	BRH	MOS	SPA	IMO	FUJ	KYA	SAN
			DNF	DNF		12				DNF		1
1985	Lancia	Lancia LC2	MUG	MON	SIL	LEM	HOK	MOS	SPA	BRH	FUJ	SEL
			DNF	3	3		DNF		1	4th

Web links

Commons : Riccardo Patrese  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Riccardo Patrese website
• Riccardo Patrese: The Italian Hero