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EMERSON FITTIPALDI
Born 12/12/1946, São
Paulo, Brazil
Starts: 144
Points:
Wins: 14
Poles: 6
Fastest Laps: 6
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Young Emerson Fittipaldi broke into the F-1 scene in 1970, after a quick rise through FF, F3 and F2. He debuted in the British GP, qualifying last driving for the Lotus works team, but having no other than Graham Hill by his side, the man who had been champion a couple of years before. By his second race, Emerson had scored three points in the German GP, and after an eventless race in Austria, disaster came for Lotus. Lead driver Jochen Rindt, who was leading the championship, died in Monza, after Emerson himself had an accident. So Lotus withdrew from the race and suddenly Emerson found himself in the unusual position of team leader, at 23 years of age, for the team which was leading the championship. Many youngsters might have cracked, but rather than doing that Emerson won the next race, the US GP, after Pedro Rodriguez ran out of fuel in the latter part of the race. Suddenly, Emerson was the new star in the making, obvious world champion material. For 1971 Emerson was back at Lotus, but the car’s and driver’s performance went a notch down. In fact, Emerson’s best result was a second in Austria, which helped by a couple of thirds and a fifth got him 16 points. Lotus was experimenting with a Turbine car that year, Emerson had a road accident which put him out for one race and losing Rindt finally sank in. However, judging from his F2 exploits Emerson was not a flash in the pan. 1972 started slowly, with a retirement in Argentina, but then Emerson had a succession of great results: 2nd in South Africa, followed by a win in Spain,. 3rd in Monaco, another win in Belgium, second in France and another win in Britain. That was enough to put him in a commanding lead for the championship, which he ended up conquering after wins in Austria and Italy. The year did not end up very well, but Emerson was crowned the first Brazilian world champion, and the youngest ever at the time. For 1973, Emerson had for the first time since 1970 a co-driver of the same caliber, Ronnie Peterson. This might have caused the mid year slump that resulted in Emerson failing to defend his crown. The year started well enough: three wins from the first four races, and six straight podiums. Things started to go bad after Monaco, and Stewart had kept very close to Emerson during the start of the year. When Peterson began to find his pace at Lotus, it became apparent that Emerson was overdriving a bit, witness to that is the fact that he scored five of his six fastest laps during that year. Fittipaldi retired four times in succession, including a fairly avoidable accident with Scheckter in France, while dicing for the lead. He had an accident in practice in Holland, which essentially put him out of the hunt for two races. In Austria he was leading when he retired. So by Italy it was clear that Stewart would be champion, but even so, Emerson put in two great performances in Italy and Canada, that netted two second places. Some swear that he won the confusing Canadian race, which ended up assigned to Revson. By the end of the year, it was clear that Emerson would not stay at Lotus, and he made a shrewd decision signing for McLaren, which had the most promising design of the year, the M23. Indeed, Emerson soon got settled well in the new camp, winning his second race for McLaren, with a number of good results in the beginning of the year. From the French to the Austrian GP Emerson posted three retirements, which allowed Clay Regazzoni to get closer to him on the table. Even so, Emerson reacted well in the last three races, finishing 2nd in Italy, winning in Canada and posting a fourth in the USA, being crowned world champion twice at 27 years of age! 1975 appeared to be good, starting with a win in Argentina and 2nd in Brazil, but unfortunately for Emerson, Niki Lauda and the Ferrari were uncatchable, plus there was another mid year slump. This was salvaged by a win under treacherous conditions at Silverstone, and a couple of 2nds in the final two races, meaning that Emerson had either been champion or runner up for 4 years running. Then news that sunned the racing world. Rather than continuing the good life as a top driver at McLaren, Emerson made a move to his brother’s Copersucar sponsored team. In hindsight it was one of the worse moves in F-1 ever. The Fittipaldi brothers probably thought that putting together a Ford Cosworth/Hewland gearbox special could ensure them of victories. However, not all Cosworths or Hewlands were the same, neither were the Goodyear tires that shod the cars, they would soon find out. Emerson dropped from a top-2 driver status to scoring a meager three points during the course of 1976, from three hard earned 6th places. The car showed some promise in Interlagos, posting the 5th qualifying time, after being 3rd on the timesheets for some time. For 1977, Emerson was back in the Fittipaldi team, and the beginning of the year was not bad: 3 scores our of four races. At least the Copersucar proved to be strong, although not fast, enduring the very hot South American races. However, the middle of the year as again bad news for Emmo, as the new David Baldwin designed F5 did not work well, and the former world champion had to endure the shame of non qualification twice more. Emerson did get an additional three points from 4th in Holland. For 1978, the Baldwin car was redesigned by Giacomo Caliri, and it became a more effective racer. In fact, Emerson finished second in Brazil, on sheer merit. There were some signs of hope, as the car performed well on several occasions, qualifying in the top ten a few times, and netting 18 points at the end of the year. Part of the spike in performance was due to the fact that Goodyear decided to allot the former world champion some decent tires for a change. For 1979, the F5A was used in some races, and the new F6 in others. With the F5A, Emerson got a 6th point in Argentina, which turned out to be the only point of the year. The F6 was not a good car, and Emerson was nearer the back of the grid again. For 1980, the brothers decided to buy the assets of the withdrawing Wolf team, Keke Rosberg included. The team also had a new sponsor in Skol beer. In general, Emerson’s performance in qualifying was very discrete, and Rosberg was obviously quicker. Emmo managed to get a final podium, from 3rd in Long Beach, plus another point from a sixth in Monaco. By the end of the year he decided he had enough, and changed to a managerial role, attempting to keep the team afloat. Emerson and Wilson managed to do so for a couple of more years, but then the dream of a Brazilian F-1 car was gone. Emerson went back to Brazil, and began racing go-karts for fun. Eventually he tested the Spirit F-1 (designed by the M23 designer Gordon Coppuck) car in 1984, but no deal was cut. The fire was back and he ended up in Indy cars, forging a career that was as successful as his early F-1 days. He has recently raced competitively in the GP Masters series, close to 60 years of age!
Cars Driven
Formula 2: Lotus
Formula 3: Lotus
Formula Ford: Merlyn
Formula Ve: Fitti-Ve
Formula Indy: March, Lola, Penske
GP Masters: Reynard
Sports-Cars: Willys Interlagos, Malzoni-DKW, Karmann-Ghia Porsche, Fitti-Porsche, Lola T-210, Porsche 917, March GTP, Porsche 911 (IROC(, Camaro (IROC)
Can-Am: Porsche 917
Touring Cars: Renault 4CV, Alfa Zagato, Renault R8, Renault Gordini, Willys Interlagos, VW, Ford Capri