Francisco Adolpho "Chico" Serra (born 3 February 1957) is a Brazilian

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

Biography

Serra made his mark in International motorsport when he won the 1979

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seat ...

, one season after his compatriot

Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...

had won the title. His performance caught the eye of

Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once. Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...

, he himself a British Formula 3 Championship winner in 1969, who signed him for his Formula One team Fittipaldi. Serra debuted alongside

Keke Rosberg Keijo Erik Rosberg (born 6 December 1948), known as "Keke" (), is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series, as well as the first Finnish ...

on 15 March 1981 in

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, finishing seventh. Serra's result would turn out to be the best one for the team over the rest of the season. In 1982, with Rosberg moving to Williams, Fittipaldi resized the operation, fielding only one car for Serra. Serra scored his first championship point for finishing sixth in the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. At the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix, Serra and countryman

Raul Boesel Raul de Mesquita Boesel (, born 4 December 1957) is a Brazilian former racing driver who raced for the March and Ligier Formula One teams and later raced in Champ Car and the Indy Racing League. He won the 1987 World Sportscar Championship and t ...

made headlines for having a short scuffle after the qualifying session. Serra was furious at Boesel for blocking his last flying lap after waving Rosberg by. Boesel denied that this was intentional. Fittipaldi's lack of pace meant that Serra occasionally failed to qualify. As the best of the non-qualified drivers, he was in contention for starting the

1982 Swiss Grand Prix The 1982 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Dijon-Prenois in France on 29 August 1982. The race, contested over 80 laps, was the fourteenth race of the 1982 Formula One season and was won by Keke Rosberg, driving a Williams FW08 ...

after

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

withdrew

Patrick Tambay Patrick Daniel Tambay (25 June 1949 – 4 December 2022) was a French racing driver, commentator, and politician, who competed in 123 Formula One races between 1977 and 1986, securing five pole positions and winning twice. Between 1977 and 198 ...

's entry but

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

rejected Serra's request on the ground that Ferrari announced Tambay's retirement, who on Sunday morning did not feel well enough to race, too late. In 1983 Serra raced for Arrows. Despite scoring three top-ten finishes in his first four outings with the team, he was released after the

1983 Monaco Grand Prix The 1983 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on 15 May 1983. It was the fifth race of the 1983 Formula One World Championship. The 76-lap race was won by Finnish driver Keke Rosberg, driving a Williams-Ford, with Braz ...

and replaced with

Thierry Boutsen Thierry Marc Boutsen (born 13 July 1957) is a Belgian former racing driver who raced for the Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan teams in Formula One. He competed in 164 World Championship Grands Prix (163 starts), winning three rac ...

. Overall Serra participated in 33

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

World Championship Grands Prix. Following the end of his Formula One career, Serra made one CART

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...

start in 1985 at the

Portland International Raceway Portland International Raceway (PIR) is a motorsport facility in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is part of the Delta Park complex on the former site of Vanport, just south of the Columbia River. It lies west of the Delta Park/Vanport ...

for

Ensign Racing Ensign was a Formula One constructor from Britain. They participated in 133 grands prix, entering a total of 155 cars. Ensign scored 19 championship points and no podium finishes. The best result was a 4th place at the 1981 Brazilian Grand Pri ...

but suffered an engine failure. Serra has participated in Brazilian stock car racing since the 1980s and was series champion in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Serra was a good friend of

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...

as they both climbed the motorsport ladder at the same time. In 1981 Serra recommend Senna to Ralph Firman, who had his team in the

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

1600. In 1994 Serra refused to attend Senna's funeral. In an interview with the Brazilian magazine ''Grid'' he said that he disliked the hypocrisy surrounding the event. "There was too much pretence, which made me sick. Some people came a long way just to use the situation for their own good. These people never helped him, and they wanted to make us believe that they were great friends who were suffering so much. Going to the funeral was more beneficial to them than winning at Indianapolis". Serra is the father of racing driver

Daniel Serra Daniel Gardano Serra (born 24 February 1984) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 29 Chevrolet Cruze for Eurofarma-RC and is also a Ferrari Factory Driver. He won 3 ti ...

Complete Formula One World Championship results

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key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

Brazilian racing drivers Brazilian Formula One drivers Fittipaldi Formula One drivers Arrows Formula One drivers European Formula Two Championship drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers Stock Car Brasil drivers 1957 births Living people Formula Ford drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Brazilian Champ Car drivers {{Brazil-autoracing-bio-stub Team Joest drivers