(born in
Monza ,
November 11 1937 - dead in Lesmo,
Milan ,
May 26 2001 ) was
Formula One driver from
Italy who raced for the
March ,
Surtees and
Alfa Romeo teams. His nickname was "The Monza Gorilla"; he began racing motorcycles in 1957 and won the Italian national 175cc title in 1958. Before becoming a mechanic he also raced
Go-karts . He returned to racing in 1968, in
Formula 3 and won the Italian championship in 1972; by the time he was already racing
Formula 2 , where he won several races and bought his way into Formula 1. His great day came at the
Osterreichring in 1975, when he got a victory in a wet
Austrian Grand Prix . He is best remembered for spinning off and wrecking the nose of his car as he took the chequered flag and completing his slowing down lap with the front of the car destroyed and waving madly to the crowd. As the race was shortened, he only received 4.5 points instead of 9 for the win. During the next two years he suffered several accidents and mechanical retirements, including while leading from the pole at
Anderstorp ,
Sweden . At the same time he also drove for the
Alfa Romeo sports car team in 1977, achieving the World Championship for the team.
In a multiple pileup at
Monza in 1978, in which
Ronnie Peterson died, he suffered serious head injuries, but recovered to drive briefly for the Alfa Romeo F1 team in 1979 and 1980, before retiring. He died of a heart attack at the age of 63 in his home.
(Note: grands prix in denote race '''victories'''.)
