Riccardo Patrese

Riccardo Patrese was born in Padua, Italy. A former karting prodigy, Patrese won the world title in 1974 before stepping up to cars in the Formula Italia series the following year. Finishing as runner-up to Bruno Giacomelli, Patrese then embarked on a full season of Formula 3 in 1976, engaging in a fierce battle with Conny Andersson for the European championship that culminated in a dramatic final-round victory for Patrese.

Nationality	Italian
Born	Riccardo Gabriele Patrese 17 April 1954 Padua, Italy

In 1977, Patrese had a successful stint in Formula 2 with a Chevron but was soon called up to the Forumula One Shadow team to replace Renzo Zorzi mid-season. Later that year, Jackie Oliver left Shadow to form the Arrows team and took Patrese with him. This led to a legal battle in which Shadow accused Arrows of stealing their car design, which the court upheld, forcing Arrows to redesign their car in just six weeks. Despite his off-track controversies, Patrese’s driving talents were undeniable.

In 1978, Patrese started strong, leading comfortably in South Africa until an engine failure cost him the win. However, his rough edges showed, particularly after the accident involving Ronnie Peterson at Monza, where Patrese was targeted for blame despite TV replays suggesting otherwise. James Hunt‘s campaign against Patrese led to his suspension from the next race, but Patrese persevered.

From 1979 to 1981, Patrese remained with Arrows, experiencing occasional promise but little sustained success. In 1982, he moved to Brabham, where he won the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix in a dramatic race and another victory at the South African Grand Prix in 1983. However, his team-mate Nelson Piquet won the Drivers’ Championship, leaving Patrese in a distant ninth place. His next victory would come seven years later.

A move to Alfa Romeo in 1984 yielded two lacklustre seasons with only eight championship points and a single podium finish. Returning to Brabham in 1986, Patrese faced an uncompetitive team despite having the most powerful engine on the grid. His professionalism earned him respect despite the team’s struggles.

In late 1987, Patrese replaced the injured Nigel Mansell at Williams for the 1987 Australian Grand Prix. Impressed by his performance, Williams signed him for the 1988 season as Nelson Piquet’s replacement. The team’s non-turbocharged Judd engines made for a challenging year, but the arrival of Renault engines in 1989 allowed Patrese and team-mate Thierry Boutsen to compete more often. Patrese won his second Grand Prix at San Marino in 1990, finishing seventh in the Drivers’ Championship.

In 1991, Nigel Mansell returned to Williams, and alongside Patrese, they became serious contenders for both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships. Patrese’s two wins at Mexico and Portugal marked his most competitive F1 season to date, finishing third behind Mansell and Ayrton Senna.

Williams dominated F1 in 1992, with Patrese playing a supportive role to Mansell, securing his only win of the season at the 1992 Japanese Grand Prix and achieving eight podium finishes. With his position under threat due to Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, and Nigel Mansell all vying for Williams’ seats, Patrese preemptively signed with Benetton for 1993. Ironically, only Prost secured a seat at Williams.

In 1993, Patrese struggled to compete with his new team-mate Michael Schumacher at Benetton. Mid-season, Benetton informed him that he could seek another drive. With most teams already having drivers signed for 1994, Patrese chose to retire, concluding one of the longest careers in F1 history.

Riccardo Patrese Formula One World Championship career

F1 Career	1977–1993
Teams	Shadow, Arrows, Brabham, Alfa Romeo, Williams, Benetton
Entries	257 (256 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	6
Podiums	37
Career points	281
Pole positions	8
Fastest laps	13
First entry	1977 Monaco Grand Prix
First win	1982 Monaco Grand Prix
Last win	1992 Japanese Grand Prix
Last entry	1993 Australian Grand Prix

Riccardo Patrese Teammates

18 drivers	Involvement	First Year	Last Year
Alan Jones	9	1977
Rolf Stommelen	14	1978
Jochen Mass	28	1979	1980
Mike Thackwell	1	1980
Manfred Winkelhock	1	1980
Siegfried Stohr	13	1981
Jacques Villeneuve Sr.	2	1981
Nelson Piquet	31	1982	1987
Eddie Cheever	32	1984	1985
Elio de Angelis	4	1986
Derek Warwick	11	1986
Andrea de Cesaris	15	1987
Mauro Baldi	1	1987
Nigel Mansell	46	1988	1992
Martin Brundle	1	1988
Jean-Louis Schlesser	1	1988
Thierry Boutsen	32	1989	1990
Michael Schumacher	16	1993

Race Wins

Win Number	Grand Prix
1	1982 Monaco Grand Prix
2	1983 South African Grand Prix
3	1990 San Marino Grand Prix
4	1991 Mexican Grand Prix
5	1991 Portuguese Grand Prix
6	1992 Japanese Grand Prix

Complete Formula One Results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Pts
1977	Shadow Racing Team	Shadow DN8	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	MON 9	BEL Ret	SWE	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 10 †	AUT	NED 13 †	ITA Ret	USA	CAN 10 †	JPN 6	20th=	1
1978	Arrows Racing Team	Arrows FA1	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA 10	RSA Ret	USW 6	MON 6	BEL Ret	ESP Ret	SWE 2	FRA 8	GBR Ret	GER 9							12th	11
		Arrows A1	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8												AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA Ret	USA	CAN 4
1979	Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team	Arrows A1	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	ARG DNS	BRA 9	RSA 11	USW Ret	ESP 10	BEL 5	MON Ret							CAN Ret				20th	2
		Arrows A2	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8								FRA 14	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA 13		USA Ret
1980	Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team	Arrows A3	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	ARG Ret	BRA 6	RSA Ret	USW 2	BEL Ret	MON 8	FRA 9	GBR 9	GER 9	AUT 14	NED Ret	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA Ret				9th	7
1981	Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team	Arrows A3	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	USW Ret	BRA 3	ARG 7	SMR 2	BEL Ret	MON Ret	ESP Ret	FRA 14	GBR 10 †	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	CPL 11			11th	10
1982	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham BT50	BMW M12 1.5 L4 t	RSA Ret				BEL Ret				NED 15	GBR Ret	FRA Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	SUI 5	ITA Ret	CPL Ret		10th	21
		Brabham BT49D	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8		BRA Ret				MON 1	DET Ret	CAN 2
		Brabham BT49C	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8			USW 3	SMR
1983	Fila Sport	Brabham BT52	BMW M12 1.5 L4 t	BRA Ret	USW 10 †	FRA Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	BEL Ret	DET Ret	CAN Ret										9th	13
		Brabham BT52B	BMW M12 1.5 L4 t									GBR Ret	GER 3	AUT Ret	NED 9	ITA Ret	EUR 7	RSA 1
1984	Benetton Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 184T	Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 V8 t	BRA Ret	RSA 4	BEL Ret	SMR Ret	FRA Ret	MON Ret	CAN Ret	DET Ret	DAL Ret	GBR 12	GER Ret	AUT 10 †	NED Ret	ITA 3	EUR 6	POR 8		13th	8
1985	Benetton Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 185T	Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 V8 t	BRA Ret	POR Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	CAN 10	DET Ret	FRA 11	GBR 9										NC	0
		Alfa Romeo 184T	Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 V8 t									GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA Ret	BEL Ret	EUR 9	RSA Ret	AUS Ret
1986	Motor Racing Developments Ltd.	Brabham BT55	BMW M12 1.5 L4 t	BRA Ret	ESP Ret	SMR 6 †	MON Ret	BEL 8	CAN Ret	DET 6	FRA Ret		GER Ret	HUN Ret	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	POR Ret	MEX 13 †	AUS Ret		17th	2
		Brabham BT54	BMW M12 1.5 L4 t									GBR Ret									17th	2
1987	Motor Racing Developments Ltd.	Brabham BT56	BMW M12 1.5 L4 t	BRA Ret	SMR 9	BEL Ret	MON Ret	DET 9	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN 5	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	POR Ret	ESP 13	MEX 3	JPN 11			13th	6
	Canon Williams Team	Williams FW11B	Honda RA167E 1.5 V6 t																AUS 9 †
1988	Canon Williams Team	Williams FW12	Judd CV 3.5 V8	BRA Ret	SMR 13	MON 6	MEX Ret	CAN Ret	DET Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 8	GER Ret	HUN 6	BEL Ret	ITA 7	POR Ret	ESP 5	JPN 6	AUS 4		11th	8
1989	Canon Williams Team	Williams FW12C	Renault RS1 3.5 V10	BRA Ret	SMR Ret	MON 15	MEX 2	USA 2	CAN 2	FRA 3	GBR Ret	GER 4	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA 4		ESP 5				3rd	40
		Williams FW13	Renault RS1 3.5 V10													POR Ret		JPN 2	AUS 3
1990	Canon Williams Team	Williams FW13B	Renault RS2 3.5 V10	USA 9	BRA 13 †	SMR 1	MON Ret	CAN Ret	MEX 9	FRA 6	GBR Ret	GER 5	HUN 4	BEL Ret	ITA 5	POR 7	ESP 5	JPN 4	AUS 6		7th	23
1991	Canon Williams Team	Williams FW14	Renault RS3 3.5 V10	USA Ret	BRA 2	SMR Ret	MON Ret	CAN 3	MEX 1	FRA 5	GBR Ret	GER 2	HUN 3	BEL 5	ITA Ret	POR 1	ESP 3	JPN 3	AUS 5		3rd	53
1992	Canon Williams Team	Williams FW14B	Renault RS3C 3.5 V10	RSA 2	MEX 2	BRA 2	ESP Ret	SMR 2	MON 3	CAN Ret	FRA 2	GBR 2	GER 8 †								2nd	56
		Williams FW14B	Renault RS4 3.5 V10											HUN Ret	BEL 3	ITA 5	POR Ret	JPN 1	AUS Ret
1993	Camel Benetton Ford	Benetton B193	Ford HBA7 3.5 V8	RSA Ret	BRA Ret																5th	20
		Benetton B193B	Ford HBA8 3.5 V8			EUR 5	SMR Ret	ESP 4	MON Ret	CAN Ret	FRA 10	GBR 3	GER 5	HUN 2	BEL 6	ITA 5	POR 16 †	JPN Ret	AUS 8 †

Sources: Historicracing.com and Wikipedia.com