I came from a family of Swiss farmers, which is not really the ideal grounding to deal with people in the world of motorsport. There were many people during my career who were happy to take my money, but not necessarily look after my interests, or find the right drives for me. So, looking back, I feel I did very well to remain at the top level of the sport as long as I did, especially with the amount of bad luck I had. At the top, a lot is expected of you to perform race on race.
I remember when I first got into Formula One I didn’t have too many friends, I was the “new boy.” I really appreciated the warm welcome Carlos Reutemann gave me, although at the time I thought him a bit strange. My all-time hero was Jo Siffert, he was my inspiration and hero when I was a boy—of course, he was Swiss too. During my Formula One days I drove for many teams, Ensign, ATS, Theodore, Arrows and Brabham. Some not the greatest of teams, but at least it was Formula One. I had some great races too, but due to many reasons—mostly reliability—I didn’t finish too many. My happiest days were with Mo Nunn at Ensign, particularly the 1981 season—he was a good man. We were a very small team with little or no money and no more than six mechanics. In just the second race of the season, the Brazilian GP at the Jacarepagua circuit, Rio de Janiero, the rain fell from the skies continually. I qualified the Ensign in 18th position. I had a great race, posting fastest lap and finishing 4th—just missing out on a podium. It was an amazing effort by the team and a race I look back on with a sense of achievement.
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