Ronnie Peterson

Bengt Ronnie Peterson (born 14th February, 1944 in Örebro, Sweden) is a Swedish former racing driver known for his appearances in Formula One.

Formula One

1976: John Player Team Lotus

Peterson returned to Lotus for another season, joined by Mario Andretti. It would be a difficult season for the Swede, with Andretti extracting more from the car on a more regular basis than Peterson. Peterson showed flashes of pace, but a good result was often thrown away due to bad luck of his own making.

Peterson's season would end early at the German Grand Prix, where he span at the Ostkurve from the batle for 4th and subsequently being collected by the Ensign of Emilio de Villota, with both drivers needing medical assistance to get out of the car. Peterson suffered multiple broken ribs and two broken vertebrae, forcing him to miss the rest of the season. He would be replaced by Patrick Tambay.

1977-1978: Team Ensign

After a lacklustre performance in 1976, 1977 saw Lotus sign British upstart Thomas Nurmester ahead of Peterson, so he opted to head up an all-Swedish lineup at the Ensign team alongside Gunnar Nilsson.

Despite the generally unfancied N176B-Alfa Romeo combination his season started well, taking two points finishes in the first three races. However, disappointing drives in Spain and Belgium along with a first lap collision sending him to back of the field at Monaco, left Peterson heading into the French Grand Prix with three races without a point, where he would come home in 5th position. Two more points finishes were to follow before a barren latter half of the year, but more impressively, the Swede managed to coax his Ensign to the finish for an at-the-time record of 15 races.

For the second year of his two-year contract Peterson would be partnered by American rookie Bobby Rahal, after Gunnar Nilsson left the team.

Complete Formula 1 Results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	WDC
1976	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 77	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG Ret	RSA Ret	USW 4	ESP Ret	BEL 6	MON Ret	SOV Ret	FRA 4	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT INJ	NED INJ	ITA INJ	CAN INJ	USA INJ	JPN INJ		7	15th
1977	F&S Properties Team Ensign	Ensign N176B	Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12	ARG Ret	RSA 4	USW 5	ESP 8	BEL 13	MON 13	FRA 5	TUS 9	SOV 6	GBR 5	NED 10	GER 8	AUT 10	ITA 13	CAN 13	USA 7	JPN Ret	10	12th
1978	F&S Properties Team Ensign	Ensign N178	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 8	RSA Ret	USW Ret	ESP 11	BEL DNPQ	MON 9	SUI 11	MUG 9	GBR 6	FRA 9	NED Ret	GER Ret	AUT 9	ITA 9	CAN Ret	USA Ret		1	18th
1979	F&S Properties Team Ensign	Ensign N179	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG DNQ	BRA 14	RSA DNQ	USW DNQ	ESP DNPQ	BEL DNPQ	MON DNPQ	EUR DNPQ			GBR DNQ							0	-
	Penthouse Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 011	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8									SMR 10	FRA 17†
	Équipe Renault Elf	Renault RS10	Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t												GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED C	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA Ret