F1Weekly Podcast # 1033
Play Podcast: 02-26-24f1weekly1033.mp3
Greetings and racing regards from Ronnie Peterson’s hometown, Örebro. Nasir brings us another very important and historical interview for the F1 weekly listeners. Motorsports Mondial is proud to bring you this conversation with Tommy Peterson. Our bonus this week…Désirée’s 2007 pre-season introduction of a young Lewis Hamilton. Fernando should listen!
Ronnie Peterson – The Super Swede.
On February 14, 1944 in Örebro, located north of Stockholm, a child was born to Bengt and his wife Maj-Britt Peterson. They named him Bengt Ronnie Peterson.
Today, the racing world remembers him as Ronnie Peterson – the Super Swede.
Ronnie was quick from an early age, from racing bicycles around the family house and as evidenced by getting numerous tickets on his moped.
After winning karting championships in Sweden and being competitive on the continent, he drove his father’s Mercedes Diesel to Karlskoga track to qualify for his racing license.
Man who issued the license to Ronnie was Wissell, the two Swedes would go on to be rivals on the track. The student famously holding off the teacher to win the prestigious Monaco F3 race in 1969.
Moments with Max
That performance in the principality – and winning the European F3 championship – earned him a three-year deal with Max Mosley’s March team.
It was in the streets of Monte Carlo the following year, 1970, where Ronnie raced in Formula One for the first time. His March was entered by Colin Crabtree’s Antique Automobiles and finished just outside the points in seventh. His debut finish was his best result in nine starts that season.Highlights of the 1971 season were his first Formula 2 victory at Rouen-les-Essarts, and two second place finishes; Monaco behind Jackie Stewart, and in the epic five-car dash to the chequered flag at Monza, which made England’s Peter Gethin one-hit wonder.
Ronnie took his second championship in three years by winning the Formula 2 series over another driver who would go on to be a Grand Prix great, Carlos Reutemann.
His third and final year (1972) at March saw him finish 9th in the championship. Third at the classic 14.2-mile long Nürburgring was the only podium of the season.
Grand Prix Wins
Ronnie became gem of the JPS Lotus team at the end of the season after signing a three-year contract with Colin Chapman. In the previous season, the team had taken Emerson Fittipaldi to the world championship.
Emmerson and Ronnie were the strongest driver pairing of the day just like Alonso and Hamilton at McLaren in 2007.
In similar fashion, both Emerson and Ronnie won several races, but lost the championship.
Heartbreak at home.
The emergence of Ronnie Peterson as the fastest and most exciting driver to watch in Grand Prix racing led to the inaugural Swedish Grand Prix, in 1973.
The homeboy did not disappoint. Ronnie took pole position, and led 78 of 80 laps before a slow puncture robbed him of a certain victory.
Ronnie’s first win came at Paul Ricard, after his teammate Emerson Fittipaldi collided with new kid on the block, Jody Schechter.
The Super Swede’s second victory came in Steiermark region of Austria at the fast Österreichring.
Going into the Monza round Jackie Stewart was looking good for his third championship, but Emmo still had a fighting chance. Before the race, Ronnie agreed with Chapman and Emmo that in the later stages of the race if he is leading the race, he will give up the position to Emmo when given the signal by Chapman.
As it turned out, Lotus cars were running one-two with Peterson leading. Like Emmo, he kept waiting for the signal from Chapman which never came. Ronnie won the race and Stewart the championship.
“I changed my mind during the race,” was the response Emmo got from Chapman when he inquired why he did not show the slow sign to Peterson.
It was right there and then Emerson decided to leave Lotus and moved to Marlboro McLaren, where he re-claimed his title in the following season.
His fourth and final win of the season came at Watkins Glen in upstate New York, and he finished third in the championship.
In 1974, victories were scored at Dijon-Prenous, Monte Carlo and Monza.
Ronnie’s third and final year at Lotus in 1975 was winless. There were only three races where he scored pounts; fourth in Monte Carlo was the best result of the season.
Back to Bicester
Ronnie started the 1976 season at logos with Lotus. He then switched to his first Formula One team March the season saw him score 10 points, nine of which came from his third and final success at Monza and the other point was scored in the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
Another change of team and two additional wheels on the Tyrrell P34 resulted in three points scoring finishes. Third step on the podium at Zolder in the Belgian Grand Prix was the best result.
Back to Black & Gold
He went back to Lotus for the 1978 season as teammate and number two to Mario Andretti. Ronnie’s first win of the season came at Kyalami when Patrick Depailler’s Tyrrell ran out of petrol in the closing laps.
Ronnie’s second and final win of his career came at the Österreichring. In between he ran a close second to Mario in some races, especially the Dutch Grand Prix, and friends advised him to forget the #2 status in the team and go for the win as this was probably his best opportunity to win the championship.
Ronnie responded, “My eyes were open when I signed the contract.”
Super Swede had no intention of breaking his contract and he had shown similar loyalty at March.
In an ironic twist of fate, Mario Andretti became the second American world champion, unfortunately, in similar circumstances as the first American world champion Phil Hill.
R.I.P. Ronnie is laid to rest at the Almby cemetery alongside his wife Barbro.
Both lost their teammate and only challenger to the championship at Monza.
Many thanks to Flemming Jantzen in Copenhagen for his help in meeting Tommy and Anders.
- – Nasir Hameed.
Bahrain Race Preview
I am excited to get the season underway and start racing again.
I am looking forward to the weekend ahead in Bahrain. We had a good few testing days and learned a lot from the car. Of course, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and we still need to make sure we do everything right to have a strong first weekend. Everyone has done plenty of laps here in Bahrain, so hopefully shouldn’t encounter too many surprises in terms of set up direction for the week ahead. All in all, I am excited to get the season underway and start racing again.
We had a solid week of testing, we maximised everything we possibly could and the car felt really good.
It’s finally time to go racing and I am really looking forward to this weekend. We had a solid week of testing, we maximised everything we possibly could and the car felt really good, I was happy with it and we feel the reliability is there. It’s always interesting to see how things change on the first weekend, going into qualifying and then raceday with a lot of new concepts on the grid, a lot of other teams look strong but it’s so hard to tell from testing. We have taken a new direction with the RB20 and I am excited to jump in the car in a competitive environment and see how we match up. I am not looking too far ahead, I want to get comfortable with the car and take things race by race, I am expecting 2024 to be a close battle between teams, which could make things fun!
Stats and Facts:
- Max’s victory in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix was the first time he’d won the opening race of a Formula One season.
- Checo’s runner-up finish in the 2023 Drivers’ Championship was not only his best season finish, but the first time the Team’s drivers finished 1-2 in the final championship standings
- Last year saw Max become only the third driver in F1 history to complete every racing lap in a season, following on from Michael Schumacher (2002) and Lewis Hamilton (2019).
- Max and Checo qualified and finished the race 1-2 in Bahrain last season and have a good track record at the circuit. Both have had race victories at the venue and have the same number of career podium finishes here (three).
- The 2024 season marks the beginning of Oracle Red Bull Racing’s 20th season in F1. Since its debut at the 2005 Australian GP, the Team has amassed 113 victories, and the next win will equal Williams for fourth on the all-time list. The Team has also won an unprecedented 31 of the last 33 GPs. This total on its own would be the ninth highest total for any constructor in F1 history.
IndyCar series pre-season testing
Palou Fastest as St. Pete Preparation Intensifies at Sebring Test.
SEBRING, Fla. (Monday, Feb. 26, 2024) – Less than two weeks before the start of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, Alex Palou is starting right where he stopped in 2023 – on top.
Reigning and two-time series champion Palou led the first day of a two-day test Feb. 26 on the short circuit at Sebring International Raceway, turning a top lap of 52.0883 seconds in the No. 10 DHL Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing. Testing was separated into morning and afternoon sessions, with Palou’s best lap coming in the afternoon on the notoriously bumpy, challenging circuit.
“Nowadays, we don’t get as many tests as we would like,” Palou said. “We would always want to have a lot of test days, but honestly, it’s super important when we are only one week and a half out of St. Pete.
“We want to go through a lot of the engineering list that we’ve been thinking about all offseason. We won’t have enough time. But it’s a way to get the rest of the drivers, just all the crew, all the team together and try and get some ideas in person.”
Testing will continue Tuesday at the historic Florida circuit, with all teams continuing to run without the hybrid system that will be introduced later this season. The 2024 season also opens in Florida on Sunday, March 10 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.