European karting champion in 1975, he duly graduated through Formula Three to land a ride in Formula Two for 1979. Despite a mixed season, he was signed to lead the works March squad in 1980, finishing third behind the dominant Tolemans.

Set for a move with March to Formula One for 1981, he lost the drive to Derek Daly and so went to the US and shone in the CanAm sports car series. Teo got his Formula One break in 1982, though, with Toleman. It was a wretched year and he was glad when long-time backer Robin Herd helped him land an Indy Car ride for 1983. Teo claimed pole for the Indy 500 and notched up four wins. Back in Formula One in 1984, with Brabham, he scored his first points with third place around the streets of Detroit. His first pole came with Toleman in 1985, at the Nurburgring, but he retired with clutch failure.

Indeed, Teo retired most races. Toleman metamorphosed into the Benetton team in 1986, and Teo took two more poles near the end of the year, again without results to match this expertise in qualifying in the wild days of turbocharged engines that would hold together only for a few pumped-up laps. The 1987 season was more successful in terms of gathering points, but it was to be Teo's last in Formula One, as he moved back to Indy Cars. He chose to drive the Porsche project car. It did not work, so he went sports car racing and won the 1991 world title for Jaguar. He drifted back to Indy Cars, but has since returned and is overseeing his son Stefano's progress through Formula Three.

Reproduced from The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Formula One published by Carlton Books