Eddie Cheever

Edward McKay Cheever Jr. (born 10 January 1958) is an American former racing driver who competed in 132 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix between 1978 and 1989, more starts than any other American driver in history, achieving nine podium finishes and scoring 70 championship points across a twelve-season career that saw him drive for nine different teams, before later winning the 1998 Indianapolis 500 as both a driver and team owner in the Indy Racing League. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, but raised largely in Rome, Italy, where his family moved when he was young, Cheever grew up in a unique bicultural environment that would later serve him well in the European-dominated world of Formula One, and he was introduced to motorsport at age eight when his father took him to a sports car race at the historic Monza circuit near Milan, an experience that ignited his passion for racing and set him on the path that would define his life.

Cheever began racing go-karts in Italy as a child and showed immediate natural talent, winning both the Italian and European Karting Championships at age 15, remarkable achievements that marked him as one of the most promising young racers in Europe and attracted the attention of racing teams looking for future stars. He progressed through the junior formulae in Europe during the mid-1970s, competing in Formula 3 and Formula 2, and by 1978, at just 20 years old, Cheever was ready for his Formula One debut. Cheever made his first Formula One appearance at the 1978 Argentine Grand Prix driving a Hesketh-Ford, though he failed to qualify, but he successfully made the grid at the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami later that season, becoming one of the youngest Americans to compete in Formula One, though an engine problem forced his retirement after just eight laps, a frustrating but educational introduction to the pinnacle of motorsport.

His early Formula One career saw him drive for a variety of midfield and backmarker teams including Hesketh, Osella, and Tyrrell, and while competitive results were rare, Cheever gained valuable experience and began to establish himself as a quick, professional driver who could extract maximum performance from inferior machinery. The 1981 season with Tyrrell proved to be Cheever's breakthrough year in Formula One, as he achieved five points-scoring finishes—a significant accomplishment during an era when only the top six positions scored points—demonstrating consistent competitiveness and earning him recognition as one of the sport's rising talents. His performances with Tyrrell earned Cheever a significant career upgrade for 1982, when he signed with the French Ligier team and immediately delivered his best results to date, achieving three podium finishes including a second-place at the Detroit Grand Prix, where he finished behind winner Nelson Piquet and ahead of the McLaren of John Watson, confirming that he possessed genuine speed when provided with competitive equipment.

The 1983 season represented the pinnacle of Cheever's Formula One career, as he signed with the factory Equipe Renault team to partner French superstar Alain Prost, one of the sport's leading teams and a realistic contender for both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships. During his single season with Renault, Cheever finished seventh in the World Championship with 22 points, achieved three more podium finishes—including a second-place at the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal—and qualified on the front row of the grid at the United States Grand Prix West at Long Beach, demonstrating that he could run with the sport's elite when given the opportunity. However, Cheever's time with Renault lasted only one season, as the French manufacturer decided to pair Prost with Patrick Tambay for 1984, and Cheever moved to Alfa Romeo for 1984 and 1985, where he continued to score points but never recaptured the consistent front-running form he had shown with Renault.

After brief stints with Haas Lola in 1986, Cheever found a home with the Arrows team for 1987-1989, where he partnered British driver Derek Warwick and enjoyed some of his best later-career performances, most notably finishing third at the 1988 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, a result that was almost overshadowed by a technical controversy when officials discovered that his Arrows A10B's fuel tank capacity was 151 liters instead of the legal maximum of 150 liters, though further examination revealed the actual tank size was 149 liters, clearing him of any wrongdoing. Cheever's final Formula One podium came at the 1989 United States Grand Prix in Phoenix, his birthplace, a poetic bookend to his Formula One career as he finished third on home soil, and he drove his final Formula One race later that season before moving full-time to American racing.

Across his twelve-season Formula One career, Cheever participated in 143 Grands Prix, started 132 races, achieved nine podium finishes, scored 70 championship points, and drove for Hesketh, Osella, Tyrrell, Ligier, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Haas Lola, and Arrows, making him one of the most traveled and experienced American drivers in Formula One history, and his 132 starts remain the record for American drivers, a mark unlikely to be broken given the current rarity of American participation in Formula One. After leaving Formula One, Cheever competed in American open-wheel racing, first in CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) and later in the Indy Racing League when the sport split in 1996, and in that year he formed his own team, Team Cheever, becoming both a driver and team owner.

The 1998 Indianapolis 500 brought Cheever his greatest triumph in motorsport when, at age 40, he won America's most prestigious race driving for his own team, defeating Buddy Lazier and becoming only the third driver-owner to win the Indianapolis 500 since 1946, joining the legendary A.J. Foyt and Roger McCluskey in that exclusive club, and vindicating his decision to return to American racing after his Formula One career. Team Cheever continued to compete in the Indy Racing League throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, running cars for various drivers and becoming one of the series' established operations, though Cheever himself gradually reduced his driving duties and focused on team management and driver development.

Throughout his career, Eddie Cheever was known for his professionalism, consistency, and ability to maximize the potential of whatever machinery he was given, qualities that enabled him to sustain a twelve-year Formula One career despite rarely driving for championship-contending teams, and his bicultural background—American by birth but raised in Italy and completely comfortable in European racing culture—made him unique among American drivers and contributed significantly to his longevity in Formula One. Since retiring from active competition, Cheever has worked as a motorsport commentator and analyst for American television coverage of Formula One and IndyCar racing, providing expert insight drawn from his extensive experience at the highest levels of the sport, and he has remained a respected figure in American and international motorsport, his name synonymous with perseverance, professionalism, and the golden era of American drivers in Formula One during the 1970s and 1980s when drivers like Cheever, Mario Andretti, and Danny Sullivan carried the American flag in European Grand Prix racing.