Riccardo Paletti
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| Riccardo Paletti | |
| Nationality |  Italian |
|---|---|
| World Championship Career | |
| Active years | 1982 |
| Team(s) | Osella |
| Races | 8 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podium finishes | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First race | 1982 South African Grand Prix |
| Last race | 1982 Canadian Grand Prix |
Riccardo Paletti (b. 15 June 1958, Milan - d. 13 June 1982, Montreal, Canada) was an Italian motor racing driver. Paletti's Formula One career is among the shortest of all, as he fatally crashed on the start grid in only his second Formula 1 start; it was his first with a full grid.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Paletti joined the uncompetitive Osella team in 1982, bringing funding from Pioneer Radios to secure the second seat in the team. Making his first attempt during the Grand Prix of Kyalami in January of 1982, he did not manage to qualify for the first three Grand Prix races of the season with the Osella.
For the fourth Grand Prix of the season, in Imola on April 25, 1982 amidst a war between the FISA/FOCA, only 14 cars loyal to the organization started the race and Paletti's Osella was one of them. He retired from the race while in 13th position with a defective suspension. For the next two races, again with a full starting grid, he did not qualify.
On his seventh Grand Prix, in Detroit, Michigan, he managed for the first time to qualify on a proper GP grid, but due to a crash in the warm up, he never started the race.
[edit] Death
When he qualified for the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, June 13, 1982, it was the first time Paletti would start in a full line-up. At the start, the lights took an unusually long time to turn to green. During this time, Didier Pironi, who had the pole position, stalled the engine of his Ferrari. When the lights switched to green, the other cars swerved across the track, trying to squeeze past Pironi's stationary car. Raul Boesel just clipped the back left of the Ferrari, spinning his March into the path of Eliseo Salazar and Jochen Mass. Salazar, Boesel and Mass suffered minor impacts but it looked as if everyone had passed the Ferrari without serious consequences. However, Riccardo Paletti could not react in time and slammed into the rear of the stranded Ferrari at 180km/h (around 100 mph), catapulting it into the path of Geoff Lees.
Paletti sustained heavy chest injuries and was lying unconscious in his car, wedged against the steering wheel. Didier Pironi and Sid Watkins, the FIA's head doctor, were on the scene in a matter of seconds to stabilize and assist Paletti. As Watkins climbed over the wreckage of the Osella, the petrol that had leaked from the fully loaded car's ruptured fuel tank ignited, enveloping the car in wall of fire. The heavy fire was quickly extinguished, but by then the critically injured Paletti was without a pulse. He was cut from his wrecked car and rushed to the hospital, where he died soon after arriving. It is, however, a testament to the quality of Formula One's medical team and protective clothing, that despite the fire, he suffered no burns.
Paletti was the second fatality in Formula 1 that year. Just a few weeks before, Gilles Villeneuve had a fatal crash during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. Paletti would be the last driver to die at a Grand Prix meeting for the next 12 years until the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, which took the lives of Roland Ratzenberger during qualifying, and triple world champion Ayrton Senna during the Grand Prix itself.
As a tribute to the young Italian, the racetrack at Varano de' Melegari, Parma, Italy is now called the Autodromo Riccardo Paletti.
His body is buried in the Cimitero Maggiore di Milano.
[edit] Complete Formula One results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Osella Squadra Corse | Osella FA1C | Ford | RSA DNQ |
BRA DNPQ |
USW DNQ |
SMR Ret |
BEL DNPQ |
MON DNPQ |
USE DNS |
CAN Ret |
DUT |
GBR |
FRA |
GER |
AUT |
SWI |
ITA |
LAS |
- | 0 |
[edit] External links
- Autodromo Riccardo Paletti website (Italian)
- Tribute video with images of the driver, his career and the crash that killed him
| Preceded by Gilles Villeneuve |
Formula One fatal accidents June 13, 1982 |
Succeeded by Elio de Angelis |
