On December 6, 1948, Keijo Erik Rosberg was born in Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden. Nicknamed Keke (easier to pronounce), he and his parents moved back to their native Finland early in his life, and he took Finnish nationality. His early career in motorsport was a departure for a Finnish motorsport driver of the time, choosing with success to go circuit racing in Formula Vee, Formula Atlantic, Formula Pacific, Can Am and the F1 feeder series Formula 2.

Keke’s first drive in F1 was with the Theodore team in 1978, immediately making a name for himself winning the non-Championship BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone. In very wet conditions he beat some of the biggest and most established names from F1, only his 2nd race. After this early success he had a series of bad seasons with uncompetitive teams, the pointless ‘81 season particularly bad. Despite this he impressed the Williams team, and with a seat spare in 1982 after Alan Jones’ sudden retirement, Keke finally had a competitive drive. He took full advantage of it, winning his first grand prix at Dijon, and taking the 1982 F1 World Championship.

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