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In 1987, at the tender age of 11, Ricardo took part in his first Kart race, and won it!
The following year he was runner-up in the prestigious Curbita Karting Championship and three years later he won it, aged 15.
In 1992 he finished fourth in the Sao Paulo Karting Championship before progressing to single-seaters for 1993 when he finished sixth in the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet Championship. In 1994 he moved up to Brazilian F3 finishing fifth, a year later he was F3 Champion not just of Brazil but South America. Ricardo had arrived!
The following year he moved to Europe and participated in the International F3000 Championship, with two wins he finished fourth in a hotly contested championship. In the same year Ricardo was invited by Mercedes to compete in International Touring Cars, the first Brazilian to do so.
A year later Ricardo won the F3000 Championship, with three race wins, and was appointed official test driver with the Jordan F1 team.
In 1998 Ricardo won the FIA GT1 Championship with Mercedes in addition to his duties as test driver for McLaren.
Finally in 1999 Ricardo progressed to F1, joining Jacques Villeneuve at British American Racing. Despite the great expectations and the hype, it proved to be a torrid year for both the drivers and the team, the highlight being a a high-speed crash at Spa Francorchamps which almost perfectly 'mirrored' Villeneuve's accident a few moments earlier.
He remained with BAR, now powered by Honda, for 2000 but as the team failed to improve and the pressure mounted Ricardo found himself publicly, and unfairly, criticised by his team-mate. Within the team, the Brazilian was popular because of his attitude and his ability to get on well with everyone, however during his final months at BAR he clearly wasn't happy.
In 2001 he moved to Jordan where he was employed as third driver. At the Nurburgring he replaced Heinz-Harald Frentzen who had been injured in the Canadian GP two weeks earlier. A couple of months later when Eddie Jordan sensationally sacked Frentzen on the eve of the German GP, Ricardo was once again drafted in a 'substitute', unfortunately he crashed after 7 laps.
Whereas it was thought that Ricardo would replace Frentzen for the remainder of the season, Jordan instead brought in Jean Alesi who had been driving for the financially unstable Prost team.
With no F1 drive, not even a test seat, for 2002, Ricardo opted for the fledgling Telefonica World Series which he won, almost with ease. Just as it looked as though his F1 career might be at an end however, Toyota called the young Brazilian and offered him a job as its third man, a position he retained in 2003, 2004 and now, 2005.
When Cristiano da Matta was sensationally dropped by Toyota after the German GP, Zonta was promoted to second race driver.
An electronics problem marred his return to racing (Hungary), whilst in Belgium and Italy he finished, but well off the pace. For the Chinese GP he was replaced by Jarno Trulli who had joined Toyota from Renault, but was given Olivier Panis' seat for the final race of the season, in his native Brazil.
Ricardo's best qualifying performance was in Italy, where he started eleventh, ahead of Panis. However, the poor performance of the TF104 didn't allow the Brazilian to shine.
Other than McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa and Alexander Wurz, Ricardo was often the pace-setter in the Friday free practice sessions during the 2005 Grand Prix season, and no doubt his performances played a part in the team's remarkable progress, particularly Jarno Trulli's qualifying performances.
For a while it looked as though Ricardo might get a chance to demonstrate his skills in an actual Grand Prix again, but it was not to be. Although he was asked to deputise for Ralf Schumacher, the race in question was at Indianapolis, and despite qualifying thirteenth, it was to no avail, as politics - under the guise of safety concerns - ensured that the Brazilian, along with 15 other drivers, was to sit out the ninth race of the season.
Retained by Toyota for 2006, Ricardo could do little to stop the Japanese team's decline.
Perhaps having read the writing on the (Toyota factory) wall, Ricardo opted to move to Renault for 2007. The French team gets a highly experienced test and race driver, with a year's experience of Bridgestone rubber.
A move to the reigning World Champions will do no harm to Ricardo's CV, however, whether we will ever see the Brazilian racing in F1 again remains to be seen.
Well known for his relaxed attitude, Ricardo is popular with fellow drivers and the fans, one of the sport's true nice guys.
Statistics - Prior to 2007 Season
Drivers' Titles: 0
Seasons in F1: 4
Grand Prix: 36
Wins: 0
Points: 3
Poles: 0
Fastest Laps: 0
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