Alex Dias Ribeiro (born November 7, 1948) is a former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

from

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. He entered in 20

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

World Championship Grands Prix but scored no World Championship points.

Career

After solid graduation from the lower formulae (he placed fifth in the

1976 European Formula Two season The 1976 European Formula Two season was contested over 12 rounds. Équipe Elf Switzerland driver Jean-Pierre Jabouille clinched the championship title. In a change from 1975 pure race engines was allowed and would be to the end of the formula in ...

), Ribeiro paid for his drive in the

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

Formula One team for the season (his main sponsors were

Caixa Econômica Federal The Caixa Econômica Federal (, ''Federal Savings Bank''), also referred to as Caixa or CEF, is a state-owned Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. It is the fourth largest banking institution in Brazil, as ...

and

Souza Cruz Souza Cruz S.A., doing business as BAT Brasil, is a Brazilian tobacco manufacturing company based in Rio de Janeiro. Souza Cruz is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco. The company was founded in 1903 by the Portuguese immigrant Albino Souza ...

). However, the season turned into a nightmare. March owner

Max Mosley Max Rufus Mosley (13 April 1940 – 23 May 2021) was a British businessman, lawyer and racing driver. He served as president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the Sport governing body, governing body for Formula One. A ...

hired four drivers, and the team simply could not provide for them all. Ribeiro's reputation as a driver suffered. In 1978, he tried to save his credentials as a racing driver and set up a privately owned F2 team to enter the 1978 European Formula Two season, a year dominated by the March factory team. His car was painted with the words "Jesus Saves", which he also painted his Formula One cars. Ribeiro managed to win the

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

round dramatically after favorites

Bruno Giacomelli Bruno Giacomelli (; born 10 September 1952) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . Giacomelli won one of the two 1976 British Formula 3 Championships and the Formula Two championship. From to , Giacome ...

and

Marc Surer Marc Surer (born 18 September 1951) is a Swiss former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Born in Arisdorf, Surer began kart racing aged 20. He moved to Germany in 1974 to compete in Formula Vee, as motor raci ...

retired from the race. The rest of the season, however, bore no fruit. Then, in 1979, the fellow Brazilian Fittipaldi team offered him two chances to qualify a second car, for the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Formula One Grand Prix. However, the team was concentrating on former F1 champion

Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Fittipaldi won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with Team ...

, and Ribeiro failed to qualify for both events. He subsequently went on to perform chaplaincy at the F1 events he attended as the driver of the Medical Car and is arguably the most accomplished driver in th
'Christians In Motorsport'
group. In 1994, he joined the

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team (), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' ("Canary Squad", after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Brazilian Football Co ...

as a pastor at the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

in the United States. He held worship services for the team and later wrote a book about the team's journey to victory, titled "Who won the '94 World Cup?" (¿quién Ganó La Copa Mundial?). At the 2000 Monaco Grand Prix, Ribeiro crashed his Medical Car at the Tabac curve before Saturday morning practice, and passenger doctor Sid Watkins broke three ribs. At the

2002 Brazilian Grand Prix The 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the XXXI Grande Prêmio Marlboro do Brasil) was a Formula One motor race held on 31 March 2002 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil. It was the third round of the 2002 Formula One season ...

, Ribeiro was involved in a potentially serious incident. During the morning warm-up on race day Sunday,

Enrique Bernoldi Enrique Antônio Langue e Silvério de Bernoldi (; born 19 October 1978) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who raced for the Arrows Formula One team in 2001 and 2002, and was the test driver for British American Racing (later Honda) be ...

crashed his Arrows in Turn 2. When Ribeiro, driving the Medical Car, went out to check on Bernoldi, he opened the door to the car. Just as he opened it,

Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld (; born 10 May 1977) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Heidfeld began competitive kart racing aged 11. He progressed to Formu ...

came along in his

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG, currently competing in Formula One as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and also known simply as Kick Sauber or Sauber, is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who pro ...

and smashed into the open door. Both Ribeiro and Heidfeld were uninjured. In 1981, Ribeiro wrote an autobiographical book called "Mais Que Vencedor" (rough translation "More Than A Winner"), in which he nicknamed March owner Max Mosley "Mack Mouse" and March engineer

Robin Herd Robert John "Robin" Herd (23 March 1939 – 4 June 2019) was an English engineer, designer and businessman. Herd studied at St Peter's College, Oxford, having turned down an offer to play cricket for Worcestershire at the age of 18. He initia ...

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

". He owned a motorbike shop in Brasilia where both

Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to . Piquet won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in , , and , and won 23 ...

and

Roberto Moreno Roberto Pupo Moreno (born 11 February 1959), usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a Brazilian former auto racing, racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 c ...

worked as young mechanics, therefore having the unusual distinction that the same shop produced 3 Formula One drivers.

Racing record

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ribeiro, Alex 1948 births Living people Sportspeople from Belo Horizonte Racing drivers from Minas Gerais Brazilian racing drivers Brazilian Formula One drivers Hesketh Formula One drivers March Formula One drivers Fittipaldi Formula One drivers Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople of Portuguese descent European Formula Two Championship drivers Stock Car Brasil drivers Brazilian Christians Top Race V6 drivers