Ronnie Peterson (Örebro, 14 February 1944 – Milan, 11 September 1978), known as “SuperSwede”, was one of the fastest drivers in the history of Formula 1. In 123 Grands Prix he took 10 wins, 14 pole positions, 26 podiums and 9 fastest laps, and although he never won the title he finished runner-up in the championship twice, in 1971 and 1978. He died at 34 after the crash at the start of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Updated September 2026.

Peterson is the classic case of a driver remembered more for speed than for titles. He never won a world championship, but many fans consider him one of the greatest of his generation, and his name still divides the experts when the talk turns to the fastest driver of all time. Here is his story, from karts to Monza.

The beginnings: from karts to Formula 3

Ronnie Peterson was born on 14 February 1944 in Örebro, Sweden. He raced karts first, and in 1963 and 1964 he was Swedish champion. He then moved to single-seaters: Formula 3 saw him emerge in the late 1960s, up to the 1969 championship win with a Tecno, the year he also won the Formula 3 support race at the Monaco Grand Prix.

In Formula 1: March and Lotus

Peterson made his Formula 1 debut in the 1970 Monaco Grand Prix, in a March 701 run by Colin Crabbe’s team. In 1971, again with March, he was world championship runner-up with 33 points and won the European Formula 2 title.

In 1973 he moved to Lotus and took his first Formula 1 win at the French Grand Prix: that season he won four races (France, Austria, Italy and the United States) and finished the championship third with 52 points. In 1974 he won three more (Monaco, France, Italy) and was fifth. After a difficult 1975 season, in 1976 he returned to March and won the Italian Grand Prix, while in 1977 he raced for Tyrrell.

In 1978 he went back to Lotus as number two to Mario Andretti and took two wins, in South Africa and Austria. At the end of that championship he was second, with 51 points, behind Andretti.

An iconic helmet

Peterson’s helmet was easy to recognise: metallic blue with a Swedish-yellow peak and banding. The 1973 version, worn on the John Player Special Lotus, with sponsor decals above the visor and on the chin, is the only helmet to survive from his best period and is now a collector’s item. Fans still associate it with him at once.

The SuperSwede: never world champion

Peterson never won the Formula 1 world championship: he was second in 1971 and again in 1978, in a season that ended after his death. For many fans his value lies precisely in his speed: some consider him the fastest driver ever to race in F1. In 1973 the move to Colin Chapman’s Lotus was the best phase of his career, with four wins in a season. If you are interested in another great name, also read the profile of Ayrton Senna.

Monza 1978, the end of everything

The Italian Grand Prix was run at Monza on 10 September 1978. The start was given before all the cars had lined up, and in the chaotic start that followed, at the chicane, James Hunt was drawn alongside by Riccardo Patrese and, veering left, hit the right rear wheel of Peterson’s Lotus 78. The car went into the barriers and caught fire. Peterson was trapped, but Hunt, Clay Regazzoni and Patrick Depailler managed to free him from the wreck.

He was taken to the Niguarda hospital in Milan with about 27 fractures in his legs and feet. During the night he suffered a fat embolism, a complication that can follow fractures of the thigh bone, and he died on the morning of 11 September 1978, aged 34.

After the crash the drivers of the GPDA blamed Patrese and had him excluded from the United States Grand Prix; later investigations cleared him, and this kind of “justice” has never been repeated in F1.

The film “Superswede”

If you want to know more about Peterson, watch the documentary “Superswede: A film about Ronnie Peterson”, from 2017, directed by Henrik Jansson-Schweizer. It tells Ronnie’s life and career through the eyes of his daughter Nina Kennedy, who appears in the film and is also a producer, with interviews with F1 figures such as Niki Lauda and Jackie Stewart, and looks back at his death at Monza and the dangers of that era.

Images, from top: Ronnie Peterson, March BH (Gillfoto, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0); Ronnie Peterson (Gillfoto, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0); Ronnie Peterson, Lotus 79, 1978 Dutch Grand Prix (Martin Lee, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0).

Sources: Wikipedia, Ronnie Peterson; Formula One History, Ronnie Peterson; Wikipedia, 1978 Italian Grand Prix; Atlas F1, Peterson’s death; GrandPrix247, Ronnie Peterson; Viaplay Content Distribution, Superswede; Christie’s, Peterson’s helmet.