Eddie Cheever

American racing driver Eddie Cheever had a nearly thirty-year career across various motorsport series, including Formula One, sports cars, CART, and the Indy Racing League, eventually transitioning to team ownership in the IRL. Cheever competed in 132 Formula 1 Grand Prix races from 1978 to 1989, the most of any American, driving for nine different teams. In 1997, he established his own IRL team and achieved a memorable victory in the 1998 Indianapolis 500, both as an owner and a driver.

Nationality	American
Born	Edward McKay Cheever Jr. January 10, 1958 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Cheever moved to Rome during his childhood, where he was first exposed to motorsports at the age of eight during a visit to a race in Monza, Italy. His early start in go-kart racing led to winning Italian and European Karting championships by age 15. He climbed through the ranks of European Formula racing, partnering with fellow American Danny Sullivan in Formula Three and driving for Ron Dennis in Formula Two.

Cheever’s Formula One debut came at the age of 20 in 1978. Despite a challenging start, including a failure to qualify in Argentina and an early retirement in South Africa, he eventually secured a regular spot with the Osella team in 1980. Over the seasons, he achieved nine podium finishes and scored a total of 70 championship points. His peak in Formula One was during the 1983 season with the Renault alongside Alain Prost, where he was a consistent podium finisher.

Parallel to his Formula One career, from 1986 to 1988, Cheever also claimed ten sports car race victories driving for Jaguar. In 1990, he transitioned to racing in the United States, competing in the Indy Car series and at the Indianapolis 500, where he made a significant mark, including a second-place qualifying finish in 1992.

With the inception of the Indy Racing League in 1996, Cheever embraced the new series, establishing his own racing team. His crowning achievement came in 1998 when he won the Indianapolis 500 as both a driver and a team owner. Although he retired from driving in 2002, his team continued to compete, fielding cars for drivers like Alex Barron and Patrick Carpentier as late as 2005.

Eddie Cheever Formula One World Championship career

F1 Career	1978, 1980–1989
Teams	Theodore, Hesketh, Osella, Tyrrell, Ligier, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Haas Lola, Arrows
Entries	143 (132 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	9
Career points	70
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1978 Argentine Grand Prix
Last entry	1989 Australian Grand Prix

Eddie Cheever Teammates

9 Teammates	Involvement	First Year	Last Year
Kevin Cogan	1	1981
Ricardo Zunino	2	1981
Michele Alboreto	12	1981
Jacques Laffite	15	1982
Alain Prost	15	1983
Riccardo Patrese	32	1984	1985
Alan Jones	1	1986
Derek Warwick	47	1987	1989
Martin Donnelly	1	1989

Complete Formula One Results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Points
1978	Theodore Racing Hong Kong	Theodore TR1	Ford Cosworth DFV	ARG DNQ	BRA DNQ															NC	0
	Olympus Cameras Hesketh Racing	Hesketh 308E	Ford Cosworth DFV			RSA Ret	USW	MON	BEL	ESP	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN
1980	Osella Squadra Corse	Osella FA1	Ford Cosworth DFV	ARG DNQ	BRA DNQ	RSA Ret	USW Ret	BEL DNQ	MON DNQ	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret						NC	0
		Osella FA1B	Ford Cosworth DFV												ITA 12	CAN Ret	USA Ret
1981	Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 010	Ford Cosworth DFV	USW 5	BRA NC	ARG Ret	SMR Ret	BEL 6	MON 5	ESP NC	FRA 13	GBR 4								12th	10
		Tyrrell 011	Ford Cosworth DFV										GER 5	AUT DNQ	NED Ret	ITA Ret	CAN 12	CPL Ret
1982	Equipe Talbot Gitanes	Ligier JS17	Matra V12	RSA Ret	BRA Ret	USW Ret	SMR	BEL 3		DET 2	CAN 10									12th	15
		Ligier JS19	Matra V12						MON Ret			NED DNQ	GBR Ret	FRA 16	GER Ret	AUT Ret	SUI NC	ITA 6	CPL 3
1983	Equipe Renault Elf	Renault RE30C	Renault V6 (t/c)	BRA Ret	USW 13															7th	22
		Renault RE40	Renault V6 (t/c)			FRA 3	SMR Ret	MON Ret	BEL 3	DET Ret	CAN 2	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT 4	NED Ret	ITA 3	EUR 10	RSA 6
1984	Benetton Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 184T	Alfa Romeo V8 (t/c)	BRA 4	RSA Ret	BEL Ret	SMR 7	FRA Ret	MON DNQ	CAN 11	DET Ret	DAL Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED 13	ITA 9	EUR Ret	POR 17	16th	3
1985	Benetton Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 185T	Alfa Romeo V8 (t/c)	BRA Ret	POR Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	CAN 17	DET 9	FRA 10										NC	0
		Alfa Romeo 184TB	Alfa Romeo V8 (t/c)								GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA Ret	BEL Ret	EUR 11	RSA Ret	AUS Ret
1986	Haas Lola	Lola THL2	Ford V6 (t/c)	BRA	ESP	SMR	MON	BEL	CAN	DET Ret	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	AUT	ITA	POR	MEX	AUS	NC	0
1987	USF&G Arrows Megatron	Arrows A10	Megatron Straight-4 (t/c)	BRA Ret	SMR Ret	BEL 4	MON Ret	DET 6	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN 8	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	POR 6	ESP 8	MEX 4	JPN 9	AUS Ret	10th	8
1988	USF&G Arrows Megatron	Arrows A10B	Megatron Straight-4 (t/c)	BRA 8	SMR 7	MON Ret	MEX 6	CAN Ret	DET Ret	FRA 11	GBR 7	GER 10	HUN Ret	BEL 6	ITA 3	POR Ret	ESP Ret	JPN Ret		12th	6
		Arrows A10	Megatron Straight-4 (t/c)																AUS Ret
1989	USF&G Arrows	Arrows A11	Ford Cosworth DFR	BRA Ret	SMR 9	MON 7	MEX 7	USA 3	CAN Ret	FRA 7	GBR DNQ	GER 12	HUN 5	BEL Ret	ITA DNQ	POR Ret	ESP Ret	JPN 8	AUS Ret	11th	6

Sources: Wikipedia.com and historicracing.com