Emerson Fittipaldi

Emerson Fittipaldi

Born	(1946-12-12) 12 December 1946 São Paulo, Brazil
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Brazilian
Active years	1970 - 1980
Teams	Lotus, McLaren, Fittipaldi Automotive
Entries	149 (144 starts)
Championships	2 (1972, 1974)
Wins	14
Podiums	35
Career points	281
Pole positions	6
Fastest laps	6
First entry	1970 British Grand Prix
First win	1970 United States Grand Prix
Last win	1975 British Grand Prix
Last entry	1980 United States Grand Prix

Emerson Fittipaldi (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɛmeɾsõw fitʃiˈpawdʒi]; born December 12, 1946 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian automobile racing driver who throughout a long and successful career won the Indianapolis 500 twice and championships in both Formula One and CART.

Early and personal life

Emerson Fittipaldi is the youngest son of prominent Brazilian motorsports journalist and radio commentator Wilson Fittipaldi Sr and his wife Józefa "Juzy" Wojciechowska, a immigrant from Poland of Polish and Russian descent. He was named after American author and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Both his parents had raced production cars shortly after the Second World War and Wilson Sr was also responsible for the first Mil Milhas race in 1956, in São Paulo, having been inspired by the 1949 Italian Mille Miglia. Emerson unsurprisingly became a keen motorsports enthusiast from an early age.

Emerson Fittipaldi is the younger brother of former Formula One driver and team owner Wilson Fittipaldi. He is the uncle of former CART, Formula One and NASCAR driver Christian Fittipaldi. He was married to Maria Helena from 1970 to 1982. They had three children together, Juliana, Jayson and Tatiana. He was married again, to Teresa, in the mid 1980s. They have one daughter, Joana, and a son, Luca. Now, he has another son, Emerson Fanucchi Fittipaldi, born on March 6, 2007, with his new wife, Rossana Fanucchi Fittipaldi.

In his youth in Brazil, Emerson was known as 'Rato' - mouse, which contrasts with 'Tigrão' - big tiger - for his brother. By the end of his career he was most commonly known as 'Emmo' in the United States and the UK.

In September 1997, Fittipaldi, while recovering from injuries in a crash at Michigan International Speedway a year earlier, was flying his private plane across his orange tree farm estate in São Paulo, Brazil. The plane lost power and plunged 300 feet (91 m) to the ground. He suffered serious back injuries. He recovered, and became a born again Christian.

He was a close friend of George Harrison and was with The Beatles guitarist shortly before he passed away in November 2001.

Career history

Emerson in the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School F3 Lotus in the 1969 F3 Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch

Aged 14 Fittipaldi was racing motorcycles, and aged 16 hydrofoils. While racing one day, his brother Wilson took off at 70 mph (110 km/h) and landed upside down - they both decided that although he had survived, they would no longer race hydrofoils and moved onto to racing karts.

The pair moved to racing Formula Vees, and built up a company with their parents. In his second season in single-seaters, Fittipaldi won the Brazilian Formula Vee title at 21 years old. He left for Europe in 1969, with the ambition to convince team owners of his talent in three months. After some podiums and his first victories in Formula Ford, Fittipaldi was first trained and then subsequently engaged by the Jim Russell Driving School Formula Three team.

Formula One

Fittipaldi driving the Lotus 72 at the Nürburgring in 1971.

Fittipaldi continued to win, drawing the attention of Colin Chapman, who was looking for a driver to support the Austrian Jochen Rindt in the 1970 Formula One season. The team's No 3 driver, he ended up becoming No 1 driver after Rindt was killed at Monza and John Miles left the team. Thrust into the spotlight by leading F1's top team, he proved up to the task and won for Lotus in its first race post-Rindt.

In his first full year as Lotus' lead driver in 1971, Fittipaldi finished sixth in the drivers' championship as the team further developed the previous season's Lotus 72. Armed with what was arguably the greatest Formula one design of all time, the Lotus 72D, Fittipaldi proved dominant in 1972 as he won five of 11 races and easily won the F1 Drivers' Championship from Jackie Stewart by 16 points. At 25 he was then the youngest champion in F1 history. It appeared he might do it again in 1973. But after three wins from four attempts with the 72D, he began to struggle in the new 72E that was unveiled mid-year. It resulted in the reverse of the previous year, Stewart beating Fittipaldi for the Drivers Championship by 16 points; though the combination of the 72D and E's points earnings were enough to gain Team Lotus the 1973 F1 Manufacturers Championship.

Fittipaldi in the McLaren M23 in the 1974 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch.

Fittipaldi driving for his brother's eponymous team at the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Fittipaldi left Lotus to sign with the promising McLaren team. Driving the highly efficient McLaren M23, he had three victories in 1974, reached the podium four other times, and beat out Clay Regazzoni in a close battle for his second championship. The following season, he notched two more victories and four other podiums, but was second to a dominant Niki Lauda. However, at the height of his F1 success, Fittipaldi shocked everyone by leaving McLaren to race for older brother Wilson Fittipaldi's Copersucar-sponsored Fittipaldi Automotive team.

It was hardly a world class organization and the double champion regularly struggled, even failing to qualify for three races in his time there. Despite this, he remained with the team for five seasons but only managed a best finish of second. Emerson Fittipaldi decided to retire from racing at the end of 1980. He has since said that his last two years in Formula One were very unhappy: "I was too involved in the problems of trying to make the team work, and I neglected my marriage and my personal life", although at the time he cited the deaths of many of his colleagues as his reason. He was only 33, but had been racing in Formula One for a decade. He had failed to finish seven of the last ten races that year and had several times been outpaced by his Finnish teammate Keke Rosberg (a future champion himself). He moved into the management of the team alongside his brother. The team struggled on for another two years with minimal sponsorship, going into receivership at the end of 1982.

CART

After leaving F1 in 1980, Fittipaldi took time out from major racing for four years, returning in 1984 in CART. The 38-year old spent his first season acclimatising to IndyCars, driving for two teams before joining Patrick Racing as an injury replacement. He stayed five years with the team, recording six victories and solid finishes in the overall standings. In 1989 he had five wins and finished in the top five in every race he completed, giving him a CART championship. Among his wins was a dominant performance in the Indianapolis 500 where he led 158 of 200 laps and won by two laps, but only after a dramatic duel with Al Unser, Jr. in the closing laps of the race. With both drivers a commanding six laps ahead of third place Raul Boesel, Unser ran down Fittipaldi after a late-race restart and passed him for the lead on lap 196. Three laps later, Fittipaldi used lap traffic to his advantage to pull alongside Unser on the backstretch. Neither driver would give way, and the two cars touched wheels as they went through turn three side by side. Unser's car spun out of control to hit the outside wall, while Fittipaldi was able to maintain sufficient control to keep his car moving straight. In spite of the altercation, Unser saluted Fittipaldi from the infield with a double thumbs-up sign as he brought his car through turns three and four on the subsequent caution-slowed final lap.

Emerson Fittipaldi racing in the Indianapolis 500 in 1994

Roger Penske hired Emmo for his racing team in 1990 and he continued to be among the top drivers in CART, winning a race with Penske for six straight years. In 1993 he added a second Indianapolis 500 victory by taking the lead from defending Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell on lap 185 and holding it for the remainder. The race was more well known for him breaking Indy victory lane tradition when he drank a celebratory bottle of orange juice instead of the traditional bottle of milk. He was only the second driver to not drink milk at Indy since the tradition was founded in 1936 (and firmly established in 1956). Fittipaldi owned several orange groves in his native Brazil, and wanted to promote the citrus industry. He was widely criticized and ridiculed for the action, even though he later took a sip of milk (after the television cameras were off).

Fan reaction to the milk snub was highly negative, and he was booed a week later at Milwaukee. In the years following, many fans continued to hold the action against him. In interviews since, Fittipaldi explained his action, and apologised for the wave of negativity that followed. Fittipaldi returned to Indianapolis to drive the Chevrolet Corvette Pace Car for the 2008 Indianapolis 500. Despite coming clean, he was again booed and heckled by some fans during the Public Drivers' Meeting.

Approaching 50, he was still with Champ Car in 1996 when an injury at the Michigan International Speedway ended his career. Fittipaldi did not return to the series as a driver after the injury but in 2003 he made a return to Champcars as a team owner.

Later Career

Emerson Fittipaldi in the 2011 São Paulo Indy 300. He waved the green flag at the start of the race.

Fittipaldi was the acting team principal for the Brazilian A1 GP entry.

In 2005 Fittipaldi made a surprise return to competitive racing in the Grand Prix Masters event held at Kyalami in South Africa, finishing second behind former CART sparring partner Nigel Mansell.

In 2008, Emerson and his brother Wilson entered the Brazilian GT3 Championship, driving a Porsche 997 GT3 for the WB Motorsports team.. In 2011 he started embracing social media by opening up an official twitter and facebook account, as well as becoming a Chairman of Motorsport.com

Award

He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Pts.
1970	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 49C	Ford V8	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR 8	GER 4	AUT 15									10th	12
		Lotus 72C	Ford V8										ITA DNS	CAN	USA 1	MEX Ret
1971	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 72C	Ford V8	RSA Ret	ESP Ret																6th	16
		Lotus 72D	Ford V8			MON 5	NED	FRA 3	GBR 3	GER Ret	AUT 2		CAN 7	USA NC
	World Wide Racing	Lotus 56B	P&W gas turbine									ITA 8
1972	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 72D	Ford V8	ARG Ret	RSA 2	ESP 1	MON 3	BEL 1	FRA 2	GBR 1	GER Ret	AUT 1		CAN 11	USA Ret						1st	61
	World Wide Racing	Lotus 72D	Ford V8										ITA 1
1973	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 72D	Ford V8	ARG 1	BRA 1	RSA 3															2nd	55
		Lotus 72E	Ford V8				ESP 1	BEL 3	MON 2	SWE 12	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	NED Ret	GER 6	AUT Ret	ITA 2	CAN 2	USA 6
1974	Marlboro Team Texaco	McLaren M23	Ford V8	ARG 10	BRA 1	RSA 7	ESP 3	BEL 1	MON 5	SWE 4	NED 3	FRA Ret	GBR 2	GER Ret	AUT Ret	ITA 2	CAN 1	USA 4			1st	55
1975	Marlboro Team McLaren	McLaren M23	Ford V8	ARG 1	BRA 2	RSA NC	ESP DNS	MON 2	BEL 7	SWE 8	NED Ret	FRA 4	GBR 1	GER Ret	AUT 9	ITA 2	USA 2				2nd	45
1976	Copersucar-Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi FD04	Ford V8	BRA 13	RSA 17	USW 6	ESP Ret	BEL DNQ	MON 6	SWE Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 6	GER 13	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA 15	CAN Ret	USA 9	JPN Ret		17th	3
1977	Copersucar-Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi FD04	Ford V8	ARG 4	BRA 4	RSA 10	USW 5	ESP 14	MON Ret		SWE 18										12th	11
		Fittipaldi F5	Ford V8							BEL Ret		FRA 11	GBR Ret	GER DNQ	AUT 11	NED 4	ITA DNQ	USA 13	CAN Ret	JPN
1978	Fittipaldi Automotive	Fittipaldi F5A	Ford V8	ARG 9	BRA 2	RSA Ret	USW 8	MON 9	BEL Ret	ESP Ret	SWE 6	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 4	AUT 4	NED 5	ITA 8	USA 5	CAN Ret		10th	17
1979	Fittipaldi Automotive	Fittipaldi F5A	Ford V8	ARG 6	BRA 11		USW Ret	ESP 11	BEL 9	MON Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret									21st	1
		Fittipaldi F6	Ford V8			RSA 13
		Fittipaldi F6A	Ford V8										GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA 8	CAN 8	USA 7
1980	Skol Fittipaldi Team	Fittipaldi F7	Ford V8	ARG NC	BRA 15	RSA 8	USW 3	BEL Ret	MON 6	FRA Ret											15th	5
		Fittipaldi F8	Ford V8								GBR 12	GER Ret	AUT 11	NED Ret	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA Ret

Formula One non-championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1971	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 72C	Ford V8	ARG Ret	ROC Ret	QUE Ret	SPR 7	INT Ret	RIN	OUL	VIC 2
1972	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 72D	Ford V8	ROC 1	BRA Ret	INT 1	OUL 2	REP 1	VIC Ret
1973	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 72D	Ford V8	ROC Ret	INT Ret
1974	Marlboro Team Texaco	McLaren M23	Ford V8	PRE 1	ROC 3	INT
1975	Marlboro Team McLaren	McLaren M23	Ford V8	ROC 5	INT 2	SUI Ret
1978	Fittipaldi Automotive	Fittipaldi F5A	Ford V8	INT 2
1980	Skol Fittipaldi Team	Fittipaldi F7	Ford V8	ESP 5

CART results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1984	Patrick Racing	LBH 5	PHX1 12	INDY Ret	MIL	POR	MEA 7	CLE Ret	MIS1	ROA	POC	MDO 4	SAN Ret	MIS2 12	PHX2	LS	LVG Ret		15th	30
1985	Patrick Racing	LBH 2	INDY Ret	MIL 8	POR 3	MEA 2	CLE 8	MIS1 1	ROA 5	POC 6	MDO 8	SAN Ret	MIS2 13	LS Ret	PHX 8	MIA Ret			6th	104
1986	Patrick Racing	PHX1 3	LBH Ret	INDY 7	MIL Ret	POR Ret	MEA 2	CLE Ret	TOR Ret	MIS1 Ret	POC Ret	MDO Ret	SAN 3	MIS2 3	ROA 1	LS 7	PHX2 5	MIA Ret	7th	103
1987	Patrick Racing	LBH Ret	PHX Ret	INDY Ret	MIL 7	POR Ret	MEA 3	CLE 1	TOR 1	MIS 7	POC Ret	ROA Ret	MDO 6	NAZ Ret	LS Ret	MIA 10			10th	78
1988	Patrick Racing	PHX Ret	LBH Ret	INDY 2	MIL 3	POR 3	CLE Ret	TOR 4	MEA Ret	MIS Ret	POC Ret	MDO 1	ROA 1	NAZ 8	LS Ret	MIA Ret			7th	105
1989	Patrick Racing	PHX 5	LBH 3	INDY 1	MIL Ret	DET 1	POR 1	CLE 1	MEA 2	TOR 2	MIS Ret	POC Ret	MDO 4	ROA 5	NAZ 1	LS 5			1st	196
1990	Team Penske	PHX 5	LBH 2	INDY 3	MIL 3	DET 7	POR 9	CLE 3	MEA 6	TOR Ret	MIS Ret	DEN Ret	VAN 6	MDO 12	ROA 2	NAZ 1	LS 6		5th	144
1991	Team Penske	SRF Ret	LBH Ret	PHX 3	INDY Ret	MIL 8	DET 1	POR 2	CLE 2	MEA 7	TOR Ret	MIS Ret	DEN 2	VAN Ret	MDO 2	ROA 6	NAZ 8	LS 4	5th	140
1992	Team Penske	SRF 1	PHX 3	LBH 3	INDY Ret	DET 8	POR 2	MIL 4	NHA Ret	TOR Ret	MIS Ret	CLE 1	ROA 1	VAN Ret	MDO 1	NAZ 7	LS 19		4th	151
1993	Team Penske	SRF 2	PHX Ret	LBH 13	INDY 1	MIL 3	DET Ret	POR 1	CLE 2	TOR 2	MIS 13	NHA 3	ROA 5	VAN 7	MDO 1	NAZ 5	LS 2		2nd	183
1994	Team Penske	SRF 2	PHX 1	LBH Ret	INDY Ret	MIL 2	DET 2	POR 2	CLE Ret	TOR 3	MIS Ret	MDO 3	NHA 3	VAN 9	ROA 3	NAZ 3	LS 4		2nd	178
1995	Team Penske	MIA Ret	SRF Ret	PHX 3	LBH Ret	NAZ 1	INDY DNQ	MIL Ret	DET 10	POR Ret	ROA 15	TOR 10	CLE Ret	MIS 5	MDO Ret	NHA 5	VAN 7	LS 16	11th	67
1996	Hogan Penske	MIA 13	RIO 11	SRF Ret	LBH Ret	NAZ 4	500 10	MIL 4	DET Ret	POR Ret	CLE Ret	TOR Ret	MIS Ret	MDO	ROA	VAN	LS		19th	29

Indy 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1984	March	Cosworth	23rd	32nd	WIT
1985	March	Cosworth	5th	13th	Patrick
1986	March	Cosworth	11th	7th	Patrick
1987	March	Chevrolet	33rd	16th	Patrick
1988	March	Chevrolet	8th	2nd	Patrick
1989	Penske	Chevrolet	3rd	1st	Patrick
1990	Penske	Chevrolet	1st	3rd	Penske
1991	Penske	Chevrolet	15th	11th	Penske
1992	Penske	Chevrolet	11th	24th	Penske
1993	Penske	Chevrolet	9th	1st	Penske
1994	Penske	Ilmor-Mercedes	3rd	17th	Penske
1995	Lola	Ilmor-Mercedes	Failed to Qualify		Penske

Helmet

Fittipaldi's helmet is blue (sometimes with a dark blue grid effect) with a red vertical stripe crossing the helmet from the top and a red horizontal stripe that cover all the area under the visor (resulting the blue part to form 2 circles), in some seasons he adds a brazilian flag in the sides or change helmet model (simspon bandit or Bell model with 2 eyeholes). in his formula indy years, the vertical stripe has 5 black lines, the blue changes to navy and on the blue area on the top were added sky blue and azure cylinders. his compatriot Tarso Marques sports a helmet with similar design (with the vertical stripe being fluo yellow and on the side of the inferior area there are red curved lines rather than a horizontal line)

See also

• Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet - Brazilian Formula One three time world champions
• Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell and Jacques Villeneuve - Other Formula One and CART champions.
• Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Mario Andretti, and Jacques Villeneuve - Other Formula One and Indianapolis 500 champions.
• Jody Scheckter and Michael Schumacher - Other Formula One champions with brothers racing in the series.

References

Books

Ludvigsen, Karl (2002). Emerson Fittipaldi Heart of a Racer. Osceola: Motorbooks International. ISBN 185960837x. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

External Links

• The Greatest 33
• Emerson embracing social media