How do you rate Riccardo Patrese?

[ralf fan]

Highest GP's in f1.... a quick driver yet with the Williams that he had in 92 was always over shadowed by Mansell in terms of race results and never got as many wins and pts as he should have in that car... at times he was unlucky with reliability...

So how do you rate Riccardo Patrese ?

[Super Tourer]

Solid dependable No2 who could ,every now and then, rise to the occasion and take a win.

He performed a similar role alongside Piquet at Brabham in the early 80's.

Also a very nice guy.

ST

[ralf fan]

yeah a bit like Rubinho....

[Armco Bender]

He loked like the next great thing when he came into F1,especially when he was running away with the '78 South African in the new Arrows,till the engine blew.
I think the aftermath of Monza '78 really affected his career after that.

[Bononi]

Like RB, indeed. A talented driver but only to be the second best for other champions. He had some great drives but never consistent to make a winning career. One of the highlights of his career, was a dramatic "looping" after touching Bergher's wheel when he slowed down for a pit at Estoril...

[MacMan]

a bit like DC and Rubens and many other drivers, a bloody good driver but inconsistant too often

[Mr V]

Iirc, didn't he (along with the Benetton team) set the fastest ever pit stop? 4.5 seconds at Spa 1993, only to spin on the pit lane exit as he rejoined the circuit.

[DaveOrama]

I agree with MacMan. A fast dirver who could pick up the pieces, but was too erratic to string results together.

[Fireblade]

And still holds the record for the highest amount of Grand Prix starts.(256)

[Raglanparade]

I think the one to beat his GP starts record will be another italian that goes by the name of Giancarlo.
I think we all knew who rubens idol was now dont we ?

[Snrub]

Yes you are right Mr. V.

I've only seen some select races from 1993 and he was absolutely blown away by MS. I'd say much more so than Irvine or RB.

[santori]

But that was right at the end of his career.

[Teretonga]

The season with Bennetton was a killer for Patrese but that was no different than Brundle,Lehto,Verstappen or Herbert.
The real indication is in his years at Williams with Mansell and Boutsen prior to 1992. (mansell wa much moreat home in the 'active' car tha Patrese). He put in some very very good qualifying and race performances in those years and was loved by the Williams crew including Patrick head. Very very competent but not a Scumacher/Senna/Prost level driver.(to name some of his contemporaries)

[deeks6]

Certainly a good driver - consistent and quite good at bringing the car home. As for his performances against teammates (the best guide):

- Against Mansell, he was not too far away in 88 and 91 and beat him home on the odd occaision until 92 when he was demolished.
- Against Piquet, he did very well and beat him in 82 as I recall.
- Against Boutsen, he just beat him in 89 but was clearly beaten in 90.
- Against Jones, he was towelled...but that was his first year in F1.
- Agaist Schumacher, he was totally outclassed but, then again, who isnt?
- Against all his old Arrows and Alfa teammates, he killed them.

All of that says he was a Barrichello, Coulthard kind of driver...the type that is generally fast, generally consistent, fairly kind to the equipment and on some days very good but not WDC material.

[santori]

Yep, I'd agree with all that except for '82 which was weird for Brabham, with problems using the new BMW engine. Patrese did end up just ahead of Piquet but I don't think anyone thought that was anything other than one of those strange situations which unreliable cars throw up every now and again. Piquet was better in almost all the races.
Also, Piquet was stripped of his Brazilian victory under dubious circumstances (as Rosberg was stripped of his second place) and was far ahead in '83.

[santori]

Looking up the year - qualifying went 11 - 4 to Piquet, and Piquet was probably the better in the races apart from Monaco and Paul Ricard. (Piquet also had one DNQ but that was because his car broke in first qualifying while second qualifying was rained out).
Which isn't to say that Patrese did badly. He did very well - it's just that at that time Piquet was, along with Villeneuve, the best driver in the world.

[freud]

I would call him an 'oppurtunist' who had good symbiotic relationships with some teams. Though he is definitely not the worst driver ever to sit in an f1 car.... I mean he could use the brakes, he could accelerate the car and balance it. He was not that bad at all!

[Rafael]

Patrese, the greatest second driver of the history!

[x_dt]

Which was the best season in his F1 career? Perhaps 1991 (2 wins, often outqualified Mansell)...

[Jordi]

Patrese is probably to be considered like Berger, a very good driver that in the right circumstances could have been World Champion. Still his record is quite good and is remembered as a good, clean driver.

[BootsOntheSide]

Those last two years of his career definetly put a newgative spin on his abilities, because Mansell and Schumacher respectively destroyed him. Podiums were there for the taking in 1993's Benetton, but he only took one (by atrition) whereas Michael got several, including a win in Portugal. In 1992 Mansell blew him away, plain and simple,a dn was much faster in the car almost everywhere. It's fair to say that at least half a dozen drivers (Senna, Schumacher, Alesi, Brundle, Prost, Berger) could've finsihed as championship runner up in the second Williams.

The rest of his career marks him out as a good number 2, who was rarely as quick as the superstars, but was consistant and brought the car home regularly. In his early days he was seen as reckless (although the situation after Monza 1978 was very unfair) but he matured significantly to become stable, dependable and pleasant.

The Rubens comparison is very apt indeed - just as I think a strong young team-mate such as Alonso would now demolish Rubinho.

[BootsOntheSide]

I'd go along with 1991 being his best season as well. In the early races he did have the better of Mansell. 1989 was also terrific in a Williams which ahd no right to be truly competitive, finsihing 3rd despite no wins.

[EERO]

I'll never forget that South African GP in '78. He was brilliant and as Armco Bender said up above, seemed to be the real deal and also as Armco said, was never the same after the investigation following his role in Peterson's fatla crash at Monza later that season.

Frankly, no one suspected the kid would live long lenough. The fact that he holds the record for most starts was inconceivable in 1978. In the end, he was a quick, dependable driver who probably should have retired before Schumacher devastated him.

[Knowlesy]

Patrese was an enigma really wasn't he....unbelievable in the first half of 1991 yet fell away like nothing else on earth in the second half!

From then on he was destroyed by Mansell and nearly got bveaten to second in the championship in the most dominant Williams ever at that point.

The wayhe was destroyed in 1993 was a rather sad end to his career too.

He reminds me of Ralf Schumacher a bit.

[Mr V]

The irony of 1993 was that Patrase didn't need to go to Benetton. However, he believed that Prost would partner Mansell, little did he know that Mansell would leave.

By the time that he (and the rest of the world) realised, he had already signed a contract with Benetton, a contract that Benetton wouldn't release him from because they wanted any info he had about the active suspension on the Williams.