Ricardo Zonta won the Formula 3000 championship, the leading feeder series to Formula 1 of its day, so expectations were high when he arrived in the top flight with BAR in 1999.
However his debut season proved extremely challenging. BAR’s first F1 car was uncompetitive and unreliable, and Zonta was up against Jacques Villeneuve in a team which had been created for the 1997 world champion.Zonta ended the season point-less, though so did his illustrious team mate, whose beat finish of eighth place matched the rookies. It didn’t help matters that Zonta had to sit out three races after being injured at Interlagos. He and Villeneuve also suffered monumental crashes at the daunting Raidillon bend at Spa-Francorchamps after unwisely entering into a pact to attempt it flat-out.
The 2000 season got off to a more promising start, Zonta picking up a point for sixth place in Melbourne, two places behind Villeneuve. However by the time the season was over Zonta had only add two points more to his tally, leaving him 14th, while Villeneuve was a much-improved seventh. Along the way Zonta had earned the nickname “pebbles” for a series of crashes, including another mammoth shunt while testing at Silverstone.
Zonta was back on the bench again as Ralf Schumacher joined the team. Schumacher’s crash during practice for the United States Grand Prix would have handed Zonta the chance to race again, but he had to join in the boycott of the race by the Michelin-equipped drivers, and then returned to practice duties.
He remained a Toyota test driver then joined Renault in the same capacity in 2007, but that marked the end of his time in F1. He later joined Peugeot’s Le Mans effort, raced in sports cars and then moved into Brazil’s popular Stock Car series.
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