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Ronnie
Peterson
 made
his Formula 1 debut in 1970 with the March team, the same team he had
been racing for in the junior formula. He immediately impressed the world
with his raw speed. In 1971 he scored five second place finishes and was
runner-up to Jackie Stewart in the World Championship. The March team
was run on a shoestring budget and it was not until he left for Lotus
in 1973, that he won his first race at the French Grand Prix. Teaming
with Emerson Fittipaldi, the current World Champion, he was proving to
be more than a match for the Brazilian. He went on to win three more races
that year and finished third in the World Championship. Fittipaldi soon
left for McLaren and Ronnie Peterson continued with Lotus as the team
leader for the next two years but the Lotus 72 was at the end of its useful
life. In 1976 he returned to March but had limited success. 1977 brought
an offer to drive the 6-wheel Tyrrell. This very complex car was just
the opposite of what Peterson needed. Being a disaster as a test driver
he was lost in the Tyrrell. 1977 served as the low point of his career
and for 1978 he returned to Lotus as a number two to Mario Andretti. Mario
at first questioned this arrangement as he well new that Ronnie was no
number two. As an indication of his character Ronnie accepted this position
without malice; a far cry from the political intrigue that is Formula
1 today. Together they dominated the 1978 season in the Lotus 79 with
Peterson scoring a pair of spectacular wins. Peterson acted the loyal
number two but there were time when his brilliance could not be masked.
He out qualified his teammate at Brands Hatch even though he was using
hard compound tires, rather than the qualifiers which were held for Andretti,
and a half tank of gas! After his victory at Zeltweg in Austria he trailed
Andretti by only 9 points with 4 races remaining. It was well known that
he would be with another team in 1979 and some suggested that he should
just go for the championship with nothing to lose. Nothing except his
word:  "I'm
going to McLaren next year", he said. "It's not announced yet, but Mario
knows, Some of these people," he sighed, "who say I should forget our
agreement now... I don't understand them. I had open eyes when I signed
the contract, and I also gave my word. If I break it now, who will ever
trust me again?" At the next race Andretti's car broke an exhaust and
lost power yet Peterson followed him over the line. Peterson felt that
his time would come next year, as he had been offered a number one position
with McLaren. All of that ended before it began when Ronnie Peterson died
as the result of an accident at Monza. In 1978, in Formula One the music
had stopped, more than a man died that day for Formula 1 had lost its
innocence.
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