(born
April 17 1954 ) is an
Italian former
Formula One (F1) racing driver, from
1977 to
1993 . He started 256
Grands Prix , making him
To Date the most experienced F1 driver in history. In
2006 he will return to racing in the inaugural season of the
Grand Prix Masters formula for retired F1 drivers.
Patrese was born in
Padua ,
Veneto . He made his debut in
1977 with the
Shadow racing team at the
Monaco Grand Prix when the team were forced to change drivers mid-season. Later that year team-leader
Jackie Oliver left Shadow to form the
Arrows team, taking Patrese with him. Shadow took Arrows to court, arguing that the design of the Arrows car was so similar to their own that Arrows had stolen it. The court agreed, forcing Arrows to redesign their car, which they did in just six weeks.
In
1978 Patrese very nearly won Arrows' second race, the
South African Grand Prix , until engine failure forced him to retire 15 laps from the end. Later that year, Patrese was involved in a pile-up when he came together with
James Hunt and other drivers' cars at the start of the
Italian Grand Prix . One of the other drivers involved was
Ronnie Peterson , who, despite receiving injuries that were not life-threatening, died from an
Embolism the following day. Although Patrese was never officially blamed for the accident, Hunt led a fierce campagin against him and succeeded in having Patrese banned from the next race. TV replays suggested that it was Hunt who had caused the accident, but Hunt never accepted this and later continued to very unfairly criticise Patrese when
Commentating on F1 races for
BBC TV .
In
1982 Patrese moved to
Brabham and gained a lucky win at that year's
Monaco Grand Prix when there were five leaders including
Andrea De Cesaris and then
Didier Pironi who both ran out of fuel whilst leading the final lap. A second win followed in
1983 at the
South African Grand Prix and crashing out late in the race while leading at San Marino but in a season which saw his team-mate
Nelson Piquet claim his second Drivers' Championship title, Patrese finished a distant ninth. It would be seven years before he made another visit to the top step of the
Podium .
A move to
Alfa Romeo in
1984 delivered two lackluster seasons resulting in eight world championship points and a single visit to the podium at his
Home Grand Prix .
In
1986 Patrese returned to Brabham, but by now the team was a spent force and would never again take a driver to victory in a grand prix. Two more winless seasons followed despite the team's
BMW engine being considered at the time to be the most powerful on the grid. Despite the trials of uncompetitive machinery, Patrese never publicly criticised the team and earned respect throughout the sport for his professionalism.
Toward the end of the
1987 season, Patrese was given the chance to revitalise what seemed to be a declining career when the
Williams driver
Nigel Mansell was injured whilst qualifying for the
Japanese Grand Prix . With the help of Brabham owner
Bernie Ecclestone , Patrese was drafted in to replace Mansell for the season's finale in
Australia .
Patrese impressed the Williams management sufficiently to be signed by them as
Nelson Piquet 's replacement for the
1988 season. However, 1988 saw Williams struggling with an uncompetitive car powered by non-
Turbocharged Judd engines and it was not until the following year and the arrival of
Renault engines that Patrese and his team-mate
Thierry Boutsen were able to challenge for race points. Patrese finally won his third Grand Prix at the
1990 San Marino Grand Prix and finished that year's Drivers' Championship in seventh place.
In
1991 Nigel Mansell returned to Williams and, together with Patrese, the team became genuine contenders for both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships. Two wins at
Mexico and
Portugal gave Patrese his most competitive F1 season thus far and a respectable third place behind Championship contenders Mansell and
Ayrton Senna .
Williams dominated F1 in
1992 and Patrese continued to deliver in his role of second driver to Nigel Mansell, moving out of the way while leading comfortably for Mansell at that years French Grand Prix while taking his only win (at the
Japanese Grand Prix ) and visiting the podium eight other times. With
Alain Prost , Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell all desperately trying to sign for Williams, Patrese's position looked to be under threat and he signed for
Benetton before the end of the year. Ironically, only Prost was able to agree terms with Williams for
1993 and would probably have been happy to have Patrese as a team-mate.
While Williams continued to dominate F1 in 1993, Patrese found it difficult to live with his prodigiously talented new team-mate
Michael Schumacher and before the end of the season Benetton informed Patrese that he was "free to seek an alternate drive". As most teams already had drivers signed for
1994 , Patrese opted for retirement and brought the longest F1 career in history to a conclusion.
At the time of writing (2006), Patrese's record 256 Grand Prix starts has stood for more than 10 years. With recent seasons including as many as 18 races, however, current drivers such as Michael Schumacher and
Rubens Barrichello seem well-placed to surpass his total.
In
2002 , as thanks for his years of service to Williams, Patrese was invited to test the team's latest F1 car.
