Nicknamed Super Swede, Ronnie Peterson rose from karts to F3 to become European F2 Champion in 1972, and came closest to winning the F1 World Championship in 1973 and 1978. By common consent the fastest driver in Formula 1 in that era, Ronnie Peterson was, paradoxically, a quiet, shy person and an all-round nice guy. Behind the wheel of a car though, he came alive, deferring to no one in his mission to be the quickest û not even his beautiful companion, Barbro. His fans loved him for it, and everyone admired him, from his F1 peers to team owners and mechanics, many of whom testify to this effect in the following chapters. For that reason, he remains an icon of speed, his prowess recalled whenever an ace from the past is required as a benchmark. As Johnny TipletÆs book reveals, Ronnie invariably strove to wring the ultimate performance out of anything he drove. And that, ironically, was probably what cost him the F1 World Championship. Not content with merely winning, he sought to annihilate the opposition and, in the process, subjected cars and tires to stresses greater than they had been designed to accept. If they didnÆt break, he usually won, but not often enough to gain the title.