Alex-Dias Ribeiro

The 1973 Brazilian Formula Ford champion with five wins from seven starts, Alex then headed for Europe and an excellent first season in F3 with a works GRD, winning three rounds. His career continued its upward trend with a factory F3 March in 1975, which led to a full season for the team in Formula 2 in 1976. Although a win eluded him, he was, with Arnoux, usually the fastest man around.

Hiring a Hesketh, Alex made a steady F1 debut in the US GP, before taking on his only full Grand Prix season with a works March in 1977. It was to be a disastrous campaign, with drivers and management blaming each other for the cars’ disappointing performances.

Back in Formula 2 in 1978 with his own ‘Jesus Saves Racing’ March 782, Alex initially showed he had lost none of his talent with a brilliant win at the Nürburgring, but gradually his season tailed off and the little team lost heart. In 1979 Ribeiro reappeared with Fittipaldi at the non-championship Dino Ferrari GP, but retired early on. He was later invited to drive for the team in the end-of-season North American races, but failed to qualify the car on both occasions. Alex subsequently enjoyed a long career in touring cars (and occasionally Sud-Am single-seaters) back in his native Brazil.

In 1999 he returned to the Grand Prix scene, having been invited to drive the Mercedes CLK circuit safety car.