Riccardo Paletti (15 June 1958 – 13 June 1982) was an Italian motor racing driver. Paletti was killed when he crashed on the start grid in his second Formula One start, only two days before his 24th birthday. Life before racing Born in Milan, Riccardo Paletti was the son of Gianna and Arietto Paletti, a Milanese entrepreneur who had built his fortune as a real estate developer, and amongst a number of business interests was the importer for Pioneer audio equipment in Italy. Paletti's early sporting interests were broad; he was Italian junior karate champion at thirteen, and was in contention for a place on the Italian national alpine skiing youth team. Racing before Formula One In 1978 Paletti entered nine races in Formula Super Ford, and in his inaugural race he led for 18 laps. Although he did not win during the first season, he took two second places and finished third in the overall championship. During the end of his first season, he also made his Formula 3 debut in the Italian Championship with a March-Toyota. In 1979, Paletti entered a full F3 championship season, but his best placings were two fifth-place finishes. Later the same year, he competed in a few Formula 2 races for the first time with the team run by Mike Earle. His best result was at Misano, where he finished eighth. For the 1981 European F2 championship season, Earle severed his collaboration with March to start with Onyx. Paletti tested extensively during the winter, and the effort paid off during the opening rounds of the season, as he qualified 10th in the first race at Silverstone, before finishing second behind Mike Thackwell. He retired in the second round at Hockenheim but set the fastest lap of the race, and his good form continued in round three at Thruxton, where he finished third — this time behind Roberto Guerrero. At that point, he was joint second in the championship with Stefan Johansson, trailing Thackwell by three points. But from then, his results declined, and he finished tenth in the championship. Formula One career Although still on a learning curve in the lower class racing, Paletti decided to join the uncompetitive team Osella in 1982. He admitted that Formula One struck him with a little bit of fear, but his sponsor, Pioneer, wanted him to move up and Paletti did not want to miss his