Ronnie
Peterson

Bengt Ronnie Peterson was born in Örebro, Sweden, on 14 February 1944. He started in karting and won Swedish titles in 1963 and 1964. He then moved into Formula Three, first in a car called the Svebe, which he had helped to design with his father and Sven Andersson. In 1968 the Italian manufacturer Tecno signed him. With Tecno he won the 1969 Formula Three championship and the Formula Three support race at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Peterson made his Formula One debut at the 1970 Monaco Grand Prix in a March 701 and finished seventh. In 1971 he drove for the March works team and, with five second places, finished runner-up to Jackie Stewart in the World Championship. That year he also won the European Formula Two Championship in a March. He stayed with March in 1972 and finished ninth in the standings.

He joined Lotus in 1973 as team-mate to Emerson Fittipaldi. He took his first win in France in the Lotus 72 and added victories in Austria, Italy and the United States, ending the year third in the championship. In 1974 he won in France, Italy and Monaco, again in the older Lotus 72, as the new Lotus 76 failed to impress. He finished 13th in the 1975 championship. In 1976 he drove the first race of the season in the Lotus 77, then returned to March and won the Italian Grand Prix in the March 761. In 1977 he drove the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34B and took one podium, third in Belgium.

Peterson returned to Lotus for 1978 as team-mate to Mario Andretti. He won the South African and Austrian Grands Prix, while Andretti took the title. At the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Peterson was caught up in a first-lap accident and died in a Milan hospital on 11 September 1978. He was classified second in the championship, a result awarded posthumously.

In 123 starts Peterson won ten races, reached the podium 26 times and took 14 pole positions. He never won the world title. A statue in Örebro commemorates him.

Source: Wikipedia, “Ronnie Peterson”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.