Ricardo Rosset

Ricardo Rosset
Born	(1968-07-27) July 27, 1968 São Paulo, Brazil
Occupation(s)	Racing driver, businessman
Years active	1993–1998 (Formula racing), 2008 (GT3), later businessman
Known for	Formula One driver, sportswear company founder

Ricardo Rosset (born 27 July 1968) is a Brazilian racing driver. He finished as the runner-up in the 1995 International Formula 3000 Championship and participated in 33 Formula One Grands Prix starting from his debut at the 1996 Australian Grand Prix, although he did not earn any championship points. After his time in Formula One, he shifted his focus to building a sportswear company based in Brazil.

Formula Three

Following his advancement through the Formula Opel Euroseries, Rosset competed in the British Formula 3 Championship during the 1993 season with Alan Docking Racing. He ended the year tied for sixth place, achieving one second-place finish at Silverstone. In the subsequent 1994 campaign, he moved to AJS, where he improved to fifth overall and claimed his inaugural F3 victory at Snetterton.

Formula 3000

Rosset entered the International Formula 3000 series with Super Nova Racing in the 1995 season, finishing second behind teammate and champion Vincenzo Sospiri. During this period, he secured two wins, including his first-ever triumph in F3000.

Footwork (1996)

Although an offer from Minardi was available, Rosset signed with Footwork in , partnering Jos Verstappen. He found it difficult to match Verstappen’s speed as the financially limited team concentrated resources on their quicker driver and could not supply equal machinery or spare components.

Lola (1997)

In , Rosset joined the MasterCard Lola outfit alongside former F3000 teammate Vincenzo Sospiri. The team withdrew after failing to qualify for the 1997 Australian Grand Prix due to the uncompetitive nature of the Lola T97/30, which also caused them to lose backing from MasterCard. Consequently, Rosset did not compete for the remainder of that season.

Tyrrell (1998)

For 1998, Rosset was chosen by Craig Pollock as Tyrrell’s second driver alongside Toranosuke Takagi, despite opposition from Ken Tyrrell, who preferred drivers such as Verstappen or Norberto Fontana. Pollock, who was focused on establishing BAR, valued Rosset’s sponsorship contributions as a means to support the team financially, which eventually led to Tyrrell’s departure midway through the year.

The 1998 season proved difficult for Rosset, who faced criticism regarding his driving. He failed to qualify at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he spun and became stuck on a kerb during qualifying. While commentators questioned his suitability for Formula One, Rosset blamed a worn clutch for the incident. His mechanics showed their frustration by humorously altering the lettering on his paddock scooter. Despite these setbacks, he managed an eighth-place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix, which was Tyrrell’s best result that year.

Throughout the season, Rosset competed with Danish driver Tom Kristensen for his seat but outperformed him during testing and qualified ahead of teammate Takagi at the French Grand Prix. His struggles included narrowly missing qualification at the Spanish Grand Prix, missing practice sessions due to injury, and being involved in a significant crash at the Belgian Grand Prix. His final failure to qualify at Tyrrell’s last race in Japan marked the end of his Formula One career.

Rosset later asserted that Tyrrell favored Honda-backed Takagi by granting him advantages aimed at securing Honda’s support, which resulted in Rosset being sidelined within the team.

Post-Formula One Career

Following his departure from Formula One, Rosset stepped away from competitive racing to dedicate himself to developing his sportswear enterprise in Brazil. He made a comeback in 2008 by participating in the Brazilian GT3 Championship, teaming up with filmmaker Walter Salles. Together, they achieved four victories driving their Ford GT and concluded the season as runners-up.

Capitalizing on this momentum, Rosset acquired his 1996 Footwork FA17 chassis with plans to compete in a historic F1 series scheduled for 2009, although this plan did not materialize. Subsequently, he purchased his 1998 Tyrrell 026 through an eBay auction and now retains both vehicles privately. Reflecting on his time in Formula One, Rosset expressed that he consistently delivered his utmost effort and remains indifferent to external judgments.

He further distinguished himself by securing the Porsche GT3 Cup Brasil championships in 2010, 2013, and 2015.

Complete British Formula Three Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	DC	Points
1993	Alan Docking Racing	Ralt RT37	Mugen-Honda	A	SIL Ret	THR 8	BRH 6	DON DNS	BRH 6	SIL 8	OUL Ret	DON 8											6th	18
		Dallara F393											SIL 3	DON 10	SNE 3	PEM 9	SIL 2	SIL 6	THR 6
1994	Team AJS	Dallara F394	Mugen-Honda	A	SIL 9	DON 10	BRH 6	BRH 10	SIL 6	SIL 4	BRH Ret	THR 6	OUL 5	DON 5	SIL Ret	SNE 1	PEM 4	PEM 3	SIL 3	SIL 2	THR 3	SIL Ret	5th	132

Full International Formula 3000 Results

(key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole position) (Races in italics signify fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final Position	Points
1995	Super Nova Racing	SIL 1st	CAT 2nd	PAU 9th	PER 1st	HOC 9th	SPA 4th	EST 5th	MAG Retired	2nd	29

Full Formula One Results

(key)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Championship Position	Points
Template:F1	Footwork Arrows Hart	Footwork FA17	Hart V8	AUS 9th	BRA Retired	ARG Retired	EUR 11th	SMR Retired	MON Retired	ESP Retired	CAN Retired	FRA < br > 11th	GBR < br > Ret	GER < br > 11th	HUN < br > 8th	BEL < br > 9th	ITA < br > Ret	POR < br > 14th	JPN < br > 13th		NC	0
Template:F1	MasterCard Lola F1 Team	Lola T97/30	Ford V8	AUS < br > DNQ	BRA	ARG	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	AUT	LUX	JPN	EUR	NC	0
Template:F1	nowrap	[[Tyrrell Racing	PIAA Tyrrell Ford]]	nowrap	[[Tyrrell Racing	Tyrrell]][[Tyrrell 026	026]]	nowrap	[[Ford Motor Company	Ford]][[V10 engine	V10]]	|AUS	|BRA	|ARG	|SMR	|ESP	|MON	|CAN	|FRA	|GBR	|AUT	|GER	|HUN	|BEL	|ITA		NC	0
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Full Stock Car Brasil Performance

Season	Team	Vehicle	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Final Position	Total Points
2014	Vogel Motorsport	Chevrolet Sonic	INT 1 16	SCZ 1	SCZ 2	BRA 1	BRA 2	GOI 1	GOI 2	GOI 1	CAS 1	CAS 2	CUR 1	CUR 2	VEL 1	VEL 2	SCZ 1	SCZ 2	TAR 1	TAR 2	SAL 1	SAL 2	CUR 1	NC†	0†
2015	Vogel Motorsport	Chevrolet Sonic	GOI 1 Ret	RBP 1	RBP 2	VEL 1	VEL 2	CUR 1	CUR 2	SCZ 1	SCZ 2	CUR 1	CUR 2	GOI 1	CAS 1	CAS 2	BRA 1	BRA 2	CUR 1	CUR 2	TAR 1	TAR 2	INT 1	NC†	0†

† Not eligible to earn championship points.

External links

• Driver profile at F1 Rejects