The faster Rodriguez brother?

F1 Retro – March 1998

“I may be biased, but I think he would have become another Prost or Senna,” says Jo Ramirez, friend and mechanic of the mercurial Ricardo Rodriguez, killed 60 years ago this November.

“To get a guy who comes to F1 and makes the sort of impression he did at Monza in 1961, that only happens maybe once every 10 years or so…”

Ramirez is speaking in our March 1998 Mark Hughes archive piece remembering the Rodriguez brothers.

Though the older Pedro went on to great sports car success before tragically also losing his life in 1970, it’s Ricardo who was thought to be the faster.

The youngest-ever Ferrari driver at just 19 years and 208 days old, he stunned the F1 world by qualifying second on his debut at Monza in ’61.

While Pedro became known for a smoother driving style (see his Porsche 917 performance at the Brands Hatch 1000Kms, 1970…), Ricardo raced closer to the edge.

“Although he was young he was not immature from a human point of view,” says Ferrari engineer Mauro Forghieri. “The quality of his driving was still instinctive.”

Ricardo sadly never had the chance to capitalise on his abilities though, crashing fatally in Mexico a year after his F1 debut.

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