Ricardo Rosset

Rosset enjoyed a sound debut year in the 1993 British F3 championship, and hopes were therefore high for his second season in the class. In the end he had to be content with a single win and numerous placings as Jan Magnussen swept all before him. The Brazilian moved up to F3000 in 1995 with few expecting him to figure among the front-runners, especially as he was partnered in the Super Nova line-up by the highly experienced Vincenzo Sospiri. In the event he proved almost the equal of his team leader in terms of speed and eventually took the runner-up slot behind the Italian.

Ricardo's performances brought a drive at Arrows in 1996 where he was initially well off the pace of his team-mate Jos Verstappen, but he proved more impressive after a mid-season heart-to-heart with the team management. He then threw in his lot with Sospiri once more as Eric Broadley launched a brave but ultimately foolhardy attempt to return Lola to the Grand Prix grids in 1997. The débâcle left Rosset with nothing but a testing contract at Tyrrell to fill his time and the budget to negotiate a seat in the team for 1998.

With Tyrrell effectively in its death-throes Ricardo struggled to make an impact, blaming a lack of technical support from the team, who he claimed had 'ruined [his] career' and destroyed his credibility.