Ronnie Peterson


Bengt Ronnie Peterson was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname 'SuperSwede', he was a two-time runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
Peterson began his motor racing career in kart racing, traditionally the discipline where the majority of race drivers begin their careers in open-wheel racing. After winning a number of karting titles, including two Swedish titles in 1963 and 1964, he moved on to Formula Three, where he won the Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three support race for the 1969 Grand Prix. Later that year he won the FIA European Formula 3 Championship and moved up into Formula One, racing for the March factory team. In his three-year spell with the team, he took six podiums, most of which were scored during the 1971 Formula One season in which he also finished as runner-up in the Drivers' Championship.
After seeing out his three-year contract at March, Peterson joined Colin Chapman's Team Lotus in the 1973 season, partnering defending champion Emerson Fittipaldi. During his first two seasons with Lotus, Peterson took seven victories, scoring a career-best 52 points in 1973. After a poor 1975 season, Peterson moved back to March and scored his final victory for the team at the 1976 Italian Grand Prix. After spending the 1977 season with Tyrrell, he moved back to Lotus for the 1978 season as number two driver to Mario Andretti. Peterson scored two wins, at the South African and Austrian Grand Prix races, and finished second in the Drivers' Championship standings despite his fatal first-lap accident at Monza during the Italian Grand Prix.

Early life

Peterson was born in Almby in the vicinity of Örebro, Sweden. He developed his driving style at a young age while competing in karting, and rapidly worked his way up to the pinnacle of European karting before switching to cars.

Formulas Three and Two

After his karting years, Peterson entered Formula Three racing in the Svebe, a 1-litre, Brabham-derived Formula car he co-designed with his father Bengt and Sven Andersson.
Superb results from the outset quickly attracted the attention of the ambitious Tecno company from Italy, who signed him in 1968. With them, he won the 1969 Formula Three Championship.
Even after his elevation to F1 status Peterson still drove in lower echelon racing series, winning the 1971 European Formula Two Championship driving for March.

Formula One

Early years

Peterson made his Grand Prix debut in a March 701 for Colin Crabbe's works-supported Antique Automobiles Racing Team at the 1970 Monaco Grand Prix. The limited budget of Crabbe's privateer team allowed only minimal testing, and Peterson qualified 12th out of 16 cars in the race. He was 10 places behind Jackie Stewart and Chris Amon, both on the front row of the grid in their newer specification 701s, but only just behind the more experienced Jo Siffert in the second works March. Peterson was the only March driver to finish the race, in seventh place. In 1971 Peterson moved up to the full March works team, and made an instant impression. Five Formula One Grand Prix second places earned him the position of runner-up to Jackie Stewart in that year's World Championship. Within that year, Peterson drove in the World Sports Car Championship driving an Autodelta Alfa Romeo to win the Watkins Glen 6 hours. Peterson stayed at March until 1973, when he signed for John Player Team Lotus to partner Emerson Fittipaldi.

1973–1976

Peterson's first Grand Prix win was at the 1973 French Grand Prix, held at Paul Ricard, in a Lotus 72. He took three more wins that year, in Austria, Italy and the United States, but poor reliability restricted him to only third place in the World Championship at season's end.
For 1974, the Lotus 76 was brought forth. The car, however, proved to be a failure, disliked by both Peterson and his teammate Ickx. The team therefore opted to let them drive the much older Lotus 72:s. Peterson did well in the old car and claimed three more victories: the French and Italian Grands Prix, as well as the Monaco Grand Prix.
1975 was a bad year for Lotus. Peterson and Ickx were forced to drive with the now archaic 72 model, whose age was now really beginning to show.
Peterson had signed for Shadow but Lotus owner Colin Chapman convinced him to stay with Lotus due to a promise Chapman made to accelerate the rate of development on the Lotus 77. He drove the first race of 1976 in the Lotus 77 before rejoining March Engineering. Driving the March 761, he won the Italian Grand Prix.
He also continued to drive sports cars, particularly for BMW in 1974 and 1975. For instance, he was paired with Hans-Joachim Stuck in a BMW 3.0 CSL for the South African "Wynn's 1000" in November 1975, where they started on pole but finished in second after a number of stops with engine vibrations, spark plug, and similar problems. Stuck and Peterson together for BMW in Europe, Africa, and also in North America.

1977: Tyrrell

In 1977, he raced for Tyrrell, driving the six-wheel Tyrrell P34B. Peterson retired from the opening four races of 1977, he spun off in Argentina, was involved in a crash with Jochen Mass's McLaren and Clay Regazzoni's Ensign in Brazil, and suffered fuel systems problems in South Africa and United States West. He finished eight in Spain but retired at Monaco with brake failure. Peterson's only podium finish was a third place at a rain effected race in Belgium. Hopes were high at home in Sweden but Peterson retired with ignition problems and then finished 12th at France. He had an engine failure in Britain, finished ninth at Germany and got fifth in Austria. Peterson retired with ignition problems at Holland, sixth in Italy and 16th in the United States. Peterson retired from the last two races of 1977, a fuel leak in Canada and in Japan, he collided with Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari but the crash killed a marshal and photographer as they were standing in a prohibited area of the track when the accident occurred.

1978: Lotus

Peterson surprised many by leaving Tyrrell to return to John Player Team Lotus for 1978.
He won the 1978 South African Grand Prix, with a last-lap victory over Patrick Depailler, as well as the Austrian Grand Prix, in the innovative 'ground effect' Lotus 79. His teammate Mario Andretti won the Drivers' Championship with Peterson acting effectively as the Team "No. 2" with the pair scoring four 1–2 wins, all with Andretti at the lead. Both of Peterson's wins occurred when Andretti encountered trouble, with Andretti winning once when Peterson failed to finish. Many times, Peterson followed Andretti closely home, leading to speculation that 'Team Orders' were in place.
Throughout the 1970s Peterson had the reputation of being the fastest driver in F1 in terms of raw speed. During the 1978 season Andretti would frequently post the faster qualifying time. Another view, held by some contemporary observers, was that while Peterson may have in fact been the outright quicker of the two, it was Andretti's considerable car development skills that brought the recalcitrant Lotus 78 and 79 to full potential, and Peterson's seeming deference to Andretti was a tacit acknowledgement of this. Despite this, Peterson was offered a seat at McLaren at 1979. Peterson refused to contribute to any controversy, and on numerous occasions dismissed the speculation by stating that Andretti had simply turned the faster time.

Death

The 1978 Italian Grand Prix at Monza started badly for Peterson. In practice he damaged his Lotus 79 race car beyond immediate repair and bruised his legs in the process. Team Lotus had a spare 79, but it had been built for Andretti, and the taller Peterson did not fit comfortably inside. The team's only other car was a type 78, the previous year's car, which had been dragged around the F1 circuit that season with minimal maintenance.
In the days after the race, many drivers on circuit stated that the race starter lit the green light for the race too early. Although a Formula One start is meant to be a standing start for all cars in the field, the early green light meant that cars in the rear rows were still rolling when the green light came on. This resulted in cars in the back getting a jump on those at the front, and an accordion effect as the cars approached the first chicane, bunching them tightly together. The front four, Andretti, Gilles Villeneuve, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Niki Lauda, were far enough ahead to avoid any drama, but Peterson had made a poor start from the third row of the grid, and was immediately passed by Alan Jones, Jacques Laffite and John Watson.
Jody Scheckter and Riccardo Patrese, starting 10th and 12th, had moved to the right across the line that separated the Grand Prix front straight from the approach to the old Monza banking. While Scheckter's Wolf was able to rejoin the track well ahead of the bunching pack, Patrese moved back in just ahead of James Hunt, who feinted left and collided with Peterson, with Vittorio Brambilla, Carlos Reutemann, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Patrick Depailler, Didier Pironi, Derek Daly, Clay Regazzoni and Brett Lunger all involved in the ensuing melee.
Peterson's Lotus went into the barriers hard and caught fire before bouncing back into the middle of the track. He was trapped in the burning wreck, but Hunt, Regazzoni and Depailler managed to free him before he received more than minor burns, while track marshals were extinguishing the car. He was dragged free and laid in the middle of the track fully conscious, but with severe leg injuries. Hunt later said he stopped Peterson from looking at his legs to spare him further distress.
At the time there was more concern for Brambilla, who had been hit on the head by a flying wheel and was slumped comatose in his car. Brambilla was seriously hurt and did not race again in Formula One until a year later. Peterson's life was not seen to be in any danger. Sid Watkins and his medical team headed over to Brambilla's car to extract him from the wreckage. The injured drivers along with Peterson were taken to a hospital in Milan and the race was restarted when the track had been cleaned up.
At the hospital, Peterson's X-rays showed he had about 27 fractures in his legs and feet. After discussion with him, Peterson was sent to intensive care so that the surgeons could operate to stabilize the bones. There was some level of dispute between the doctors regarding whether all fractures should be immediately fixed or not. During the night, Peterson's condition worsened, and he was diagnosed with fat embolism. By morning he was in full kidney failure due to the embolism, and was declared dead at 9:55am on 11 September 1978.
His teammate Mario Andretti clinched the championship at the race. "It was so unfair to have a tragedy connected with probably what should have been the happiest day of my career", Andretti said, "I couldn't celebrate, but also, I knew that trophy would be with me forever. And I knew also that Ronnie would have been happy for me". Peterson took second place in the 1978 drivers' standings posthumously.
, was unveiled in August 2003.
Peterson competed in 123 Grand Prix races during his career, winning ten of them.
At his funeral, the pallbearers included Åke Strandberg, James Hunt, Jody Scheckter, John Watson, Emerson Fittipaldi, Gunnar Nilsson and Niki Lauda.

Legacy

Formula One driver Riccardo Patrese was blamed by several members of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association with being a primary cause of the first lap wreck at the Italian Grand Prix. He was banned from competition for one race, from the 1978 United States Grand Prix.
In 1979, George Harrison paid tribute to Peterson with a song and music video called "Faster".
The circumstances of Peterson's death were prosecuted in an Italian criminal court. Driver Riccardo Patrese and race director Gianni Restilli were both charged with roles; Patrese, for manslaughter because of an unsafe maneuver on track which was considered to be a primary cause of the wreck, and Restilli, as contributing to Peterson's death by starting the race with a premature start signal. Both were cleared of criminal charges on 28 October 1981.
Peterson's widow Barbro never got over his death and committed suicide on 19 December 1987. She was buried alongside Ronnie in the Peterson family grave in Örebro. She and Ronnie had a daughter named Nina Louise who was born in November 1975.
There is a statue of Peterson in Örebro, by Richard Brixel. The official Ronnie Peterson museum was officially opened by Ronnie's daughter, Nina Kennedy, in Örebro on 31 May 2008. Nina Kennedy Peterson is on Instagram, and continues his legacy. The museum unfortunately closed in October 2009 because it was unable to secure further government funding.
"Superswede: A film about Ronnie Peterson",, directed by Henrik Jansson-Schweizer, with the participation of Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nina Kennedy, & Niki Lauda, is available on YouTube, as are several other short tributes.
During the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix fellow Swedish racing driver Marcus Ericsson wore a special helmet in tribute to Peterson which was modeled on Peterson's.
In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, Peterson was ranked the 21st best Formula One driver of all time.

Racing record

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

YearEntrantChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617Pts
Malcolm Guthrie RacingMarch 702FordTHR
DNS		HOC
Ret		BAR
Ret		ROU
PERTUL
IMO
4		HOC
3		4th14
March EngineeringMarch 712MFordHOC
Ret		THR
NÜR
Ret		JAR
Ret		PAL
ROU
1		MAN
1		TUL
1		ALB
VAL
1		VAL1st54
March EngineeringMarch 722FordMAL
Ret		THR
1		HOCPAUPALHOC
3		ROUÖSTIMOMAN
Ret		PERSAL
Ret		ALBHOC
3		NC0
Team LotusLotus 74FordMALHOCTHRNÜRPAUKINNIV
Ret		HOCROU
DNS		MNZMANKAR
5		PER
7		SALNORALB
DSQ		VAL
Ret		NC0
March Racing TeamMarch 742BMWBARHOCPAUSALHOCMUGKAR
1		PERHOCVALNC0
Project 3 RacingMarch 752BMWESTTHR
Ret		HOCNÜRPAUHOCSALROUMUGPERSILZOLNOGVALNC0
March EngineeringMarch 762BMWHOC
Ret		THRVALSALPAUHOCROUMUGPERESTNOGHOCNC0

Graded drivers not eligible for European Formula Two Championship points

Complete Formula One World Championship results

YearEntrantChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617Pts
1970Antique Automobiles Racing TeamMarch 701Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8RSAESPMON
7		BEL
NC		NC0
1970Colin Crabbe RacingMarch 701Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8NED
9		FRA
Ret		GBR
9		GER
Ret		AUTITA
Ret		CAN
NC		USA
11		MEXNC0
1971STP March Racing TeamMarch 711Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8RSA
10		ESP
Ret		MON
2		NED
4		GBR
2		GER
5		AUT
8		ITA
2		CAN
2		USA
3		2nd33
1971STP March Racing TeamMarch 711Alfa Romeo T33 3.0 V8FRA
Ret		2nd33
1972STP March Racing TeamMarch 721Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ARG
6		RSA
5		9th12
1972STP March Racing TeamMarch 721XFord Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ESP
Ret		MON
11		BEL
9		9th12
1972STP March Racing TeamMarch 721GFord Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8FRA
5		GBR
7		GER
3		AUT
12		ITA
9		CAN
DSQ		USA
4		9th12
1973John Player Team LotusLotus 72DFord Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ARG
Ret		BRA
Ret		RSA
11		3rd52
1973John Player Team LotusLotus 72EFord Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ESP
Ret		BEL
Ret		MON
3		SWE
2		FRA
1		GBR
2		NED
11		GER
Ret		AUT
1		ITA
1		CAN
Ret		USA
1		3rd52
1974John Player Team LotusLotus 72EFord Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ARG
13		BRA
6		MON
1		SWE
Ret		NED
8		FRA
1		GBR
10		AUT
Ret		ITA
1		CAN
3		USA
Ret		5th35
1974John Player Team LotusLotus 76Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8RSA
Ret		ESP
Ret		BEL
Ret		GER
4		5th35
1975John Player Team LotusLotus 72EFord Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ARG
Ret		BRA
15		RSA
10		ESP
Ret		MON
4		BEL
Ret		SWE
9		NED
15		FRA
10		GBR
Ret		GER
Ret		AUT
5		ITA
Ret		USA
5		13th6
1976John Player Team LotusLotus 77Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8BRA
Ret		11th10
1976March EngineeringMarch 761Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8RSA
Ret		USW
10		ESP
Ret		BEL
Ret		MON
Ret		SWE
7		FRA
19		GBR
Ret		GER
Ret		AUT
6		NED
Ret		ITA
1		CAN
9		USA
Ret		JPN
Ret		11th10
1977Elf Team TyrrellTyrrell P34BFord Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ARG
Ret		BRA
Ret		RSA
Ret		USW
Ret		ESP
8		MON
Ret		BEL
3		SWE
Ret		FRA
12		GBR
Ret		GER
9		AUT
5		NED
Ret		ITA
6		USA
16		CAN
Ret		JPN
Ret		14th7
1978John Player Team LotusLotus 78Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ARG
5		BRA
Ret		RSA
1		USW
4		MON
Ret		BEL
2		ITA
Ret		USACAN2nd51
1978John Player Team LotusLotus 79Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ESP
2		SWE
3		FRA
2		GBR
Ret		GER
Ret		AUT
1		NED
2		2nd51

Non-Championship Formula One results

YearEntrantChassisEngine12345678
1971Frank Williams Racing CarsMarch 711Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ARGROC
Ret
1971STP March Racing TeamMarch 711Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8QUE
18		SPRRIN
2		OULVIC
16
1971STP March Racing TeamMarch 711Alfa Romeo T33 3.0 V8INT
Ret
1972STP March Racing TeamMarch 721XFord Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ROC
13		OUL
Ret		REP
1972STP March Racing TeamMarch 721Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8BRA
2		INT
1972STP March Racing TeamMarch 721GFord Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8VIC
8
1973John Player Team LotusLotus 72EFord Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ROC
Ret		INT
2
1974John Player Team LotusLotus 76Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8PREROCINT
Ret
1975John Player Team LotusLotus 72EFord Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ROC
3		INT
DNS		SUI
4
1977Elf Team TyrrellTyrrell P34Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ROC
10
1978John Player Team LotusLotus 78Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8INT
Ret

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Journals

Internet