Top 10 F1 drivers with the most race starts

#7 - Riccardo Patrese (256)

Riccardo Patrese (left) finished driver's championship runner-up in 1992

The third and final Italian on this list is the man who held the record for the most race starts for the best part of two decades. Riccardo Patrese got his F1 break with Shadow after the tragic passing of Tom Pryce in South Africa and he'd get his first podium the following year in Sweden after moving to Arrows.

He'd remain with Arrows until the end of 1981, picking up the odd podium along the way but Brabham came calling for 1982. Bernie Ecclestone's team had just won the driver's championship with Nelson Piquet in 1981, and Patrese took his opportunity straight away, claiming his first win during an extremely eventful Monaco Grand Prix in 1982. The Brabham was fast but it was also hopelessly unreliable making a challenge for the championship near-impossible.

Patrese would fade into the midfield obscurity, but when Williams got their act together in 1989, the Italian would have his best years in Formula 1, finishing third overall in both 1989 and 1991 and as runner-up in 1992.

Consistency rather than outright incredible speed was Patrese's style, standing on the podium 37 times compared to his 6 wins, with a seven-year gap between victories between 1983 and 1990. Patrese would have one last season in F1 in 1993, partnering Schumacher at Benetton and hanging up his racing gloves at the end of the campaign.