Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (Padova, 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver.

Kart racing World Champion, Italian and European Formula 3 Champion, he raced in Formula 1 from 1977 to 1993 taking part in 256 Grand Prix, an unbeaten record for  15 years, and winning six of them. After a first period of more disappointments than successes at the drive of Shadow, Arrows, Brabham e Alfa Romeo, he  moved to Williams, with which he raced his best seasons, in particular 1989, 1990 and 1991, before concluding his career with Benetton after 17 seasons.

Having an aggressive driving style, he was considered arrogant by other racing drivers and he was not so loved whithin the Circus, and he always was attacked by the English James Hunt. Despite the criticism, he established a good relation with several racing driver, between them Michele Alboreto, Eddie Cheever, Elio De Angelis, Andrea De Cesaris, Thierry Boutsen and Nigel Mansell.

Steering Wheels:

• Riccardo Patrese was one of the most gifted Italian drivers during the late 70s and early 90s, and this steering wheel in our collection was used by the talent during the last four years of his career. In the 1990 Formula 1 World Championship, Patrese drove the high-performance Williams FW13, with which he would triumph in the San Marino Grand Prix and achieve several points thanks to two 4th places in the Hungarian and Japanese Grands Prix, three 5th places in the German, Belgian and Italian Grands Prix and finally two 6th places at those held in France and Australia.

(Source: Wikipedia; Formula1.com)