Ricardo Rosset

Ricardo Rosset (27 July 1968 - Present): Brazilian racing driver who competed in 33 Formula One Grands Prix between 1996 and 1998, best remembered for driving the disastrous Lola T97/30 in 1997 and later for his success in GT racing. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Rosset progressed through Brazilian and international junior formulae in the late 1980s and early 1990s, competing in Formula Three and Formula 3000. He brought significant sponsorship from Brazilian companies, which enabled his path to Formula One. Rosset made his F1 debut with the Footwork team in 1996, competing in 14 races and achieving a best finish of tenth place at the Argentine Grand Prix.

For 1997, he moved to the new Lola team, which proved to be one of the most catastrophic entries in F1 history. The Lola T97/30 was hopelessly slow and unreliable, and Rosset failed to qualify for the opening race in Australia by over 11 seconds. The team withdrew from F1 after just one race. Rosset spent the rest of 1997 without a drive before joining the Tyrrell team for 1998, where he competed in 18 races with a best finish of 11th.

He never scored a World Championship point in his 33 race starts. After leaving Formula One, Rosset found considerably more success in GT and sports car racing. He won the Brazilian Porsche GT3 Cup Championship three times and became a respected competitor in international GT racing. His post-F1 career demonstrated that he possessed genuine racing ability that had been masked by uncompetitive machinery during his time at the highest level.

Rosset remains active in motorsport and is remembered as part of the generation of well-funded but ultimately unsuccessful F1 drivers. Known for: Driving the catastrophic Lola T97/30 in 1997, failing to qualify by 11 seconds in Australia, never scoring a point in 33 F1 starts, and later winning three Brazilian Porsche GT3 Cup Championships.