Biography

In 1978, the debut year of the Arrows team, Riccardo Patrese was responsible for their first point with a 6th place at the United States Grand Prix West. At the Swedish Grand Prix, he finished in 2nd place, his first podium and also the team's first, and at the 1981 United States Grand Prix West, he achieved the first pole position of his career and also for the team.

Five sons: Simone, Luca, Beatrice, Maddalena (Suzy) and Lorenzo (Francesca).

He started 256 Grands Prix, holding the record for most Grand Prix starts from 1993-2008.

Although he was blamed by his colleagues after the start of the 1978 Italian Grand Prix for the fatal accident of Ronnie Peterson and banned from the following race, the United States Grand Prix, Riccardo Patrese was cleared of all manslaughter charges by a Milan court on October 28, 1981, after photographic and video evidence proved that his car did not touch the car of James Hunt before the fatal crash of Ronnie Peterson.

Ex-Formula One racing driver, who raced for: Shadow (1977 (9 GPs)), Arrows (1978 (14 GPs)-1979 (14 GPs)-1980 (14 GPs)-1981 (15 GPs)), Brabham (1982 (15 GPs)-1983 (15 GPs), 1986 (16 GPs)-1987 (15 GPs)), Alfa Romeo (1984 (16 GPs)-1985 (16 GPs)), Williams (1987 (1 GP)-1988 (16 GPs)-1989 (16 GPs)-1990 (16 GPs)-1991 (16 GPs)-1992 (16 GPs)), Benetton (1993 (16 GPs)). He started 256 Grands Prix, 6 Wins, 8 Pole Positions, 13 Fastest Laps, 37 Podiums and 281 Points. Best ranked in the World Championship: 2nd in 1992.