Tomb of former Formula 1 driver Ronnie Peterson destroyed by vandals
Wiki Commons - Lothar Spurzem
F1 News
- GPblog.com
On Tuesday there was sad news from Sweden. The grave of former Formula 1 driver Ronnie Peterson was destroyed by vandals, who stormed the cemetery in Örebro and caused a lot of damage.
Peterson is certainly no stranger to the Formula 1 world. The Swede competed 123 times at the start of a Grand Prix and won no less than ten races. His last race was in Italy in 1978, when his Lotus 78 turned into a real fireball. James Hunt, Clay Regazzoni and Patrick Depailler got him out of the car, but to no avail.
Peterson died of complications during the operation. A bone marrow in the bloodstream killed him. It was a painful loss for the F1 world, which could not crown a Swedish world champion. With two races to go, Peterson still had a view on that, but the title now went to Mario Andretti.
Peterson was buried in his hometown of Örebro in Sweden, where, according to Nerikes Allehanda, no targeted attack was placed on Peterson's grave. He was 'accidentally' involved in the vandalism of the vandals, who destroyed several graves next to Peterson's grave.