Ronnie Peterson-35 years already?

On the eve of Monza 2003, I can't help but think of the day in 1978 when one of the fastest men ever to don a helmet died from his injuries in an accident at Monza. Ronnie Peterson was charismatic yet enigmatic at the same time. Only the circumstances of his career, and it's early end, prevented him from taking his proper place among World Champion drivers. James Hunt considered him the fastest man in F1 following Jackie Stewart's retirement.

Monza had more than its share of tragedies, von Trips, Rindt, etc. But Peterson's death hit hard since I had the pleasure of watching him race in the early-mid 70's.

A note of trivial interest. A good friend of mine, who is an Italian now living in Detroit, is a son of a Milanese surgeon, who happened to be an attending physician at the hospital to which Ronnie was taken after the accident. My friend was 19 at the time, and doesn't even remember why he was at the hospital with this dad that day.

His recollection is about the excitement at the hospital while Ronnie was undergoing surgery for injuries that were serious but not considered life threatening; and how the excitement turned to shock and horror when he died.

RIP Ronnie. The flying Swede is long gone but not long forgotten.

Uh...my memory is better than my math. Of course it's 25, not 35 years. insert embarassed guy icon here

Yep, unbelievable that it's a quarter of a century. I've had my Historic FFord painted in his national colours as a tribute to SuperSwede.

I was there that day and witnessed the accident. At the time we all thought that Brambilla had the worst injuries of those involved in the accident, and I couldn't believe that Ronnie later died. My one and only visit to Monza, not the best of memories.

Great article about Ronnie in Motorsport this month. Its an extract from a book and looks like a very good read.

Thanks for posting this Neil.

As a Swedish-American kid, Ronnie was always my fave and was a glory to watch. 1978 was especially sweet cheering on both Mario ans Ronnie...how quickly it all went sour. I will always revere the Super Swede.

As a young man he was my favourite driver who I followed by magazine.

Superb to watch in anything - especially that BMW 3.5 CSL turbo with over 700hp on tap !!!!!