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by Kevin Guthrie

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The bespectacled young Italian did not look like a racing driver, but Riccardo Paletti was serious about his motor racing career, to the extent that he took his own medical adviser to races with him to monitor his body's performance. He has frequently been dismissed as a rich kid who got to Formula 1 because of his father's money, but to assume this is to do his memory a great disservice.

Despite not appearing to be the most athletic of individuals, Paletti had a background in martial arts and skiing. Indeed, he was a national karate champion as a teenager. His racing career started late and hardly set the world alight. His early outings were steady if nothing else. It is impossible to escape from the fact his racing ambitions were fulfilled as a result of a generous father who ran a successful business which included importing Pioneer stereo equipment. Despite Pioneer appearing as a sponsor on Paletti's car in Formula 1 it was his father's money that got him there.

By 1981 there were clear signs of improvement and that year yielded two podium finishes in Formula 2. For such an inexperienced driver he was making good progress. Paletti himself had said that he would have preferred to stay for another season in Formula 2 and gain but experience but Pioneer were impatient to make the move to Formula 1, where the real publicity was.

Nevertheless Riccardo was initially delighted to be confirmed as a Formula 1 driver for 1982 as part of the small Osella team. His team-mate would be the experienced Jean-Pierre Jarier but, as the season progressed, Paletti would come to realise that the struggling organisation could only really afford to run one car effectively.

The first three races brought disappointment as Riccardo failed to qualify, but at San Marino his luck changed. With several teams missing following a dispute between FISA and FOCA he qualified the Osella in 14th and last position. His joy was short-lived. In the race he retired after seven laps with broken suspension. Unbeknown to anyone at the time, those seven laps were to be the only ones Riccardo would complete in his Formula 1 career.

The Belgium Grand Prix was held in sombre mood following the death of Gilles Villeneuve in qualifying but Paletti wasn't involved anyway, having again failed to qualify. In Monaco he again failed to make the grid, a task made even more difficult by the 20 car limit imposed in the principality. In Detroit he qualified again but an unfortunate series of events meant that he was left without a car for the race, as Jarier had commandeered it.

The circuit in Montreal was now known as Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, to commemorate Canada's recently departed hero. Riccardo had a much improved qualifying and lined up 23rd on the grid. As the lights turned to green the cars accelerated away, all apart from Didier Pironi's Ferrari on pole position. Several cars managed to swerve past the Ferrari but Riccardo, late on the scene and apparently unaware of the danger, ploughed straight into the back of it at around 120mph. The force of the impact pushed Pironi's car some distance across the track. Pironi climbed out and made his way across to the wreck of the Osella along with the medical team. It was clearly a desperate situation with Paletti crushed against the steering wheel and it was made even worse when fire broke out. Despite a cameraman getting in the way of their efforts, the rescue crew worked calmly and effectively, but there was no hope of saving Paletti. Agonisingly, the entire nightmare was witnessed just a few yards away by his mother, who had flown over to watch her son race. Riccardo Paletti was just 23 years old. There is a circuit in Italy named in his memory.

Learn more about this author, Kevin Guthrie.

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