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F-1 BIOGRAPHY BY CARLOS DE PAULA

BRAMBILLA, VITTORIO

Born 11/11/1937, Monza

Deceased May 26, 2001

Starts:74

Points: 15.5

Wins:1

Poles:1

Fastest Laps:1

The over enthusiastic Brambilla was definitely a fast driver on his day, however unpolished. By the time he made it to Formula 1 he was a veteran, having began in motor sports all the way back in 1957. For a while he acted as mechanic for older brother Ernesto, who flirted with Ferrari in the late 60’s, to no avail. Vittorio ended up racing again, in spite of advancing age, and became known as the Monza Gorilla in Formula 3 circles. He soon jumped to Formula 2, eventually becoming one of the few drivers in the 1973 season to challenge dominating Jean Pierre Jarier. Driving a Beta sponsored March BMW, Brambilla won two rounds of the championship, and in some tables appears as runner up in the championship (regulations were very confusing that year, with two levels of races, other tables show Mass as runner up). This convinced his sponsors that Brambilla had to be in Formula 1 in 1974, and he was signed up by March as of South Africa. In the early part of the year, Hans Stuck appeared to be one of the season’s finds, but his star soon flickered, and by mid season Brambilla and Stuck were on equal footing. The 741 was not much of a good machine, but after qualifying 13th, Brambilla took 6th place in Austria. Then came the 1975 season. The 741 was used in the first two races of the season, run uncompetitively. However, as soon as the 751 took to the race tracks, a new March team and Brambilla emerged. He qualified 7th in South Africa, retiring with mechanical problems, and went a couple of places better in Spain, qualifying and finishing 5th in the season’s first “half race”. Then he surprised all by qualifying 5th in Monaco, a “driver’s track”, then further astounded his critics qualifying 3rd in Zolder and running a few laps in the lead. Unfortunately, he qualified well, but barely finished. Then in Sweden, Brambilla scored pole position, and run away with the race but a drive shaft broke finishing off his chances. He was suddenly a man to be reckoned with, and in fact, he continued to race competitively all year, ending up the winner of the rain shortened  Austrian Grand Prix. Unfortunately most people remember than in the cool down lap an overly excited Brambilla crashed his car and bent his wide nose in front of  surprised and wet fans. He had made his mark, for better or for worse. For 1976, Brambilla would remain in the March team, which initially ran Brambilla and Stuck. Then, for Long Beach, Ronnie Peterson was signed, and suddenly Brambilla was no longer the fastest man around. He continued to qualify in the top ten with great frequency, in fact, he only failed to do so in four races that year. Matters became worse when March decided to field a fourth car for Merzario, spreading resources thin. A number of retirements ensued, including several collisions, one of them involving team mate Peterson in Britain, and all Brambilla could do was another 6th place in Zandvoort. For 1977 he left March, and went to Surtees, never a very good career move. However, the TS19 was not a bad car the year before, and Brambilla managed to qualify close to the top 10 most of the year. He appeared less feisty than in the year before, and scored points three times, including 4th in Belgium. Surtees retained Brambilla and his Beta sponsorship for 1978, but by then the TS19 was no longer competitive. Vittorio did not qualify for the street races, and managed to score points for the last time in Austria. Then he was involved in the Monza accident that resulted in Ronnie Peterson’s death, keeping him out of the race tracks in early 1979. All the same, at that point Brambilla was yesterday’s news, and unlikely to be signed up by any team on a regular basis. He was involved in the early phase of Alfa Romeo’s return to Formula 1, racing in the last three races of 1979 with a season best o 12th in Monza. He was used by Alfa Romeo a couple more times in 1980, retiring in both instances, bringing the curtain down on his G.P. career. He continued racing sports cars competitively that same year, but age had caught up with him, and he quit motorsports in 1981. He died in May 26, 2001, a relatively young 65.       

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Last modified: March 28, 2007