F1 Racing UK – August 2019

F1 RACING AUGUST 2019 91

So to Mexico, and the accidentthat ended Rodríguez’s life.

“I wasn’t there that day,” said Jo Ramirez, one of his closest

friends, “but peoplewho were told me itwas just horrible – they

were trying tohelp him, butthere was nothing anyone could do.

‘Don’t let me die, please don’t let me die,’ he kept saying...”

It was as a result of meeting Rodríguez that Ramirez came to

spend his life in motor racing: “We came from very different social

backgrounds, but became great friends, and I asked himto help

me get into racing. When he had his first F1 drive I was still in

Mexico, but he telephoned me after qualifying on the front row. He

said, ‘They ask me which gear I’m using in this corner, and when I

start braking for that one – and I don’t knowwhat to tell them!’

“It was a big blow for mewhen hedied but I never thought of

getting out of racing – by now Iwas too much involved, and it was

all because of Ricardo. I’ve never doubted that hewas going to be

one of the greatest.

“Over theyears I also got to know Pedro very well – hewas more

of an introvert, but after Ricardo’s death came out of his shadow.

One Saturday in July 1971, he and his girlfriend were comingto u s

for dinner, but then hecalled to say he wouldn’t be able to make

it – he’d been asked to drive a Ferrari at the Norisring, and Pedro

never could turn down a race. Such a tragic family.”

On occasion Rodríguez was able to demonstrate his talent,
winning the Targa Florio with Olivier Gendebien and Willy
Mairesse, fighting Hill all the way at Spa in a battle for third place,
and clearly outshining his team mates at the Nürburgring. His
willingnessto take outrageous risks, though, worried his fellow
drivers, and even Ferrari professed concern for the young man.
InMy Terrible Joys, his appropriatelyentitled memoirs, Ferrari
said this: “Ricardo Rodríguez is a fierceyoung man, whodrives
with a terrifying carelessness. Isaid to him, ‘Ricardo,you’ll onlybe
the great racer you wantto be if you learncontrol. If not, I’mnot
sure how muchlonger yourtalent forimprovisationwill save you’.
Ricardo said hegot the
message, but I knew he
was being eaten alive
by blind ambition,
and that hisfamily
was kindlingit, rather
than trying tocool it

• I wrote to his father
  about it.”
  Hill, too, worried for his team-mate: “If he lives I’ll be
  surprised...” The times, they were different.

In his brief career Rodríguez managed two points finishes in the

Ferrari 156, the second being sixth at the Nürburging in 1962

I KNEW HE WAS BEI EN

ALIVE BY BLIND ON

-ENZO FERRARI

”