Eliseo Salazar

Eliseo Salazar

Chilean Eliseo Salazar (left) never had good enough equipment to prove his worth in Formula One. His most memorable moment in the sport came when he tangled with the race leader while being lapped.

The occasion was the 1982 German Grand Prix which was being led by Salazar’s friend Nelson Piquet. The reigning world champion collided with Salazar at the Ostkurve chicane and was so enraged he clambered from the cockpit and launched a flurry of punches and kicks at Salazar, before commandeering the only course car back to the pits.

Prior to that Salazar had struggled to qualify a March in the first half of 1981 before enjoying better results in an Ensign. He only saw the chequered flag twice but on the second occasion,. at Zandvoort, he came in sixth and scored a point.

Salazar went one better with ATS at Imola the following year, in a race which was boycotted by a large number of rival teams. Following his collision with Piquet he saw out the season but made an unhappy return with RAM the following year. After four consecutive non-qualifications he left the sport.

He later appeared in Formula 3000 before heading to America to continue his single-seater career. The early years of the breakaway Indy Racing League yielded one win for Salazar in 1997 at the Las Vegas season finale.

He went on to compete in the Dakar Rally and, more recently, GT racing.