Teammates

It has become a given that a driver’s main rival is his teammate and I have been pondering when this idea emerged. There have been instances of teammates being very close friends and the late Chris Nixon celebrated the bond between Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins in his superb book, Mon Ami Mate. Moss and Fangio were friends, while Fangio had been mentored by his rival, Achille Varzi.

Luigi Villoresi mentored Alberto Ascari who, in turn, took Eugenio Castellotti under his wing as, later, Jackie Stewart groomed François Cevert. Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson made a great combination at Lotus in 1978, Mario developed the Lotus 79, which Ronnie could not have done, and expressed admiration for what Peterson could do with the car. For his part, Ronnie helped Andretti to the world championship.