Patrese: 1982's forgotten hero
Riccardo Patrese could, and arguably should, have been a title contender in 1982. But as he explains to Edd Straw exclusively for AUTOSPORT, that's not how it eventually played in one of F1's craziest seasons
Could Riccardo Patrese have been the third man in the 1982 world championship shoot-out at Las Vegas? You could ask the same question of around half a dozen or more drivers, but you can make a compelling argument that had Brabham continued to field the Italian in the Cosworth-powered BT49D for the second half of the campaign, he'd at the very least have been in the hunt, along with Keke Rosberg and John Watson.
Patrese, who rated the BT49D, along with the Williams FW14, as his favourite car among the many he raced during his grand prix career, certainly believes that to be the case. But he doesn't look back on what happened with bitterness.
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