'The secret to a long F1 career': Patrese looks back on Brabham BT52

Has any Formula 1 driver evolved so diametrically in how they are perceived as Riccardo Patrese did over his long career? Back in 1978, his second season in Formula 1 at 24, the Italian was the enfant terrible of grand prix racing, a young man labelled as trouble who apparently lacked respect for the established order. And then came Monza, and the death of Ronnie Peterson, for which he became a scapegoat – unfairly so.

OK, James Hunt never forgot or forgave. But consider how nearly everyone else considered Patrese 15 years later. No one could have predicted in the late 1970s that he’d go on for so long in the top flight to set a then-record of 256 grand prix starts. Back then, racing drivers burnt out much quicker. Yet in 1993 here was a man now approaching 40 who was still considered worthy of front-line opportunity; a man of high integrity, who had earned respect not only for his performances in the car but also for the way in which he conducted himself out of it. Here was a man well-loved within F1 circles, an established figure in the best sense – a complete turnaround from that strange, early and cruel perception.

Patrese has always claimed he was misunderstood in those early days, that his shyness was mistaken for arrogance. Whether that reputation was self-inflicted or otherwise, either way it was quite a turnaround.

At Goodwood on Saturday for the 80th Members’ Meeting, Patrese looked relaxed in the paddock as the pair of pristine, needle-sharp Brabham BT52s were wheeled amid a gathering crowd. The hair was pure grey, but little else was different – even if the retro Parmalat overalls were a little too crisp and clean. Riccardo was chatting to old friend Gordon Murray as I approached, the designer telling his old driver how he’d never fitted a rear anti-roll bar to the car as if that was a ludicrous idea, before he was suddenly pulled away for duties elsewhere. Patrese turned and, as you’d expect of a man renowned as a true gentleman of his sport, smiled obligingly when I asked if he could spare a few minutes.

So many cars, seasons, race starts. Where to begin? Let’s try the car in front of us. “I drove a BT52 last year at the Red Bull Ring – that car, the BMW-owned car,” he says, pointing at the No5 with Nelson Piquet’s name on the side. That appearance had been for a ‘legends parade’ at the Austrian GP. “With this car,” he says, motioning towards the No6 featuring his own name, “it was October 1983. This is my car, in which I won in South Africa.”

That was the day Piquet snatched his second world title from under the nose of Alain Prost and Renault, clinically and carefully banking just the points he needed as Patrese raced free to claim the victory, in what he thought would be his final appearance in a Brabham. He’d be in an uncompetitive Benetton-green Alfa Romeo for 1984.

“It’s amazing to think that when I jumped in here [the mechanics] asked ‘do you need to move the driving position?’” says Riccardo. “No, no, the driving position is my driving position!” Little had been touched since that day 40 years ago, it seems. “It was a very nice surprise to find my seat and pedals are still there. They suit me very well.”

Later on, the two-car demo – David Brabham in Piquet’s BMW-owned car, Patrese in his old No6 straight from Bernie Ecclestone’s collection – added to the roster of Goodwood’s magical reunions. OK, the pace was someway short of Piquet’s fabled sub-minute lap from a spring test in ’83… Patrese was tentative on his first taste of the Motor Circuit, the famous old turbo four sounding fluffy and a long way short of its period 1200bhp. But did it matter? Of course not. This car, one of the most beautiful of any era, and this man… that was enough.

“We had good years together at Brabham,” says Patrese of what became his first true F1 home. “It was a happy team and jokes were maybe the most important thing! We always had a very good atmosphere, nice moments together. Nelson and I also got on well too.”

But what was it like driving for Ecclestone? “Bernie? He was in the middle of it all, always present, good ideas, a fantastic boss. Bernie was my friend since I arrived in F1 all the way to the end. I am very grateful for what he gave to me, not only with Brabham but also after.”

Patrese’s F1 career drifted into a slow tail-spin through the middle of the 1980s, after two miserable seasons at Alfa and a parachute return to a Brabham team already dipping into its own nosedive. “I got the possibility to go to Williams [in late 1987] because Bernie knew maybe Brabham was closing” – it wouldn’t yet, but perhaps it should have – “and he suggested to Frank that I do a test in Imola because Nigel [Mansell] couldn’t do it, to check my ability.” This was after Mansell’s title challenge had ended with a whump into a barrier at Suzuka. “And because of that test and Bernie’s idea, I got a contract with Williams.” Patrese subbed for the injured Englishman in Australia, then replaced the departing Piquet for ’88.

When you think of Patrese, do you picture him in blue and white – or a blue, white and yellow Williams? It’s surely a toss-up. What isn’t up for debate is Patrese’s unexpected second wind proved far more lucrative and long-lasting than anyone could have expected back in late-1987. “My best period was with Williams,” Patrese asserts. “After those two bad years with Alfa, Bernie got me back into Brabham. If he had not, probably my career was finished. He rescued me.” And again, it turns out, when he signed that Williams deal for ’88.

Today, we’re used to F1 drivers racing faster for longer. Since Patrese stopped on those 256 starts, eight drivers have surpassed his total, and by some margin. In order from the top, Fernando Alonso – 22 remarkable seasons and counting – Kimi Räikkönen, Rubens Barrichello, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa, the last-named perhaps the Riccardo Patrese of his era.