Signature of Riccardo Patrese on the Muretto di Alassio.
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from 1977 to 1993. For 19 years, he held the record for the most Grand Prix starts.
He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix. Patrese entered 257 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix and started 256 races. As of the end of the 2021 season he is the ninth-most experienced F1 driver in history. He was runner-up to Nigel Mansell in the 1992 Formula One World Championship, and third in 1989 and 1991. He won six Formula One races, with a record gap of over six years between two of these – the 1983 South African Grand Prix and 1990 San Marino Grand Prix.
Patrese also competed at the World Sportscar Championship for the Lancia factory team, finishing runner-up in 1982 and collecting eight wins.
