Emerson Fittipaldi

Emerson Fittipaldi is a former Brazilian racing driver who drove in Formula One and American open-wheel racing. He competed in Formula One from 1970 to 1980, winning two Drivers’ Championships: the first in 1972 with Lotus and the second in 1974 with McLaren. In addition to his F1 success, Fittipaldi won the 1989 IndyCar World Series with Patrick Racing and claimed victory at the prestigious Indianapolis 500 twice, in 1989 and 1993.

Nationality	Brazilian
Born	Emerson Fittipaldi 12 December 1946 Sao Paulo, Brazil

As a third driver, Fittipaldi made his Formula One debut with Team Lotus in the 1970 British Grand Prix. Following the tragic death of Lotus’s lead driver, Jochen Rindt, at the 1970 Italian Grand Prix, Fittipaldi was thrust into the role of team leader after only five races. He quickly proved his talent, securing the 1972 World Championship at the age of 25, becoming the youngest-ever F1 champion at the time—a record he held for 33 years. In 1974, Fittipaldi moved to McLaren, where he won his second championship, also helping the team secure its first Constructors’ Championship.

In a surprising move ahead of the 1976 season, Fittipaldi left McLaren to join his brother’s Fittipaldi Automotive team. However, the team’s cars were not competitive, and Fittipaldi struggled to achieve further success in Formula One, securing only two more podium finishes before retiring in 1980.

After leaving Formula One, Fittipaldi moved to the American CART series, where he found renewed success. In 1989, he won both the CART championship and the Indianapolis 500. He added a second Indy 500 victory to his name in 1993. After retiring from full-time racing in 1996, Fittipaldi continued to race occasionally. In 2005, he made a surprising return to competitive racing at the Grand Prix Masters event in Kyalami, South Africa. Competing alongside other former Formula One drivers, Fittipaldi finished in an impressive second place, just behind Nigel Mansell. At the age of 67, he made a return to endurance racing, competing in the 2014 6 Hours of Sao Paulo.

Emerson Fittipaldi Formula One World Championship career

F1 Career	1970–1980
Teams	Lotus, McLaren, Fittipaldi
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 Teammates

12 Teammates	Involvement	First Year	Last Year
Jochen Rindt	4	1970
John Miles	4	1970
Reine Wisell	13	1970	1972
Dave Charlton	1	1971
Dave Walker	10	1972
Tony Trimmer	1	1972
Ronnie Peterson	15	1973
Denny Hulme	15	1974
Jochen Mass	14	1975
Ingo Hoffmann	8	1976	1977
Alex Ribeiro	2	1979
Keke Rosberg	14	1980

Race Wins

Win Number	Grand Prix
1	1970 United States Grand Prix
2	1972 Spanish Grand Prix
3	1972 Belgian Grand Prix
4	1972 British Grand Prix
5	1972 Austrian Grand Prix
6	1972 Italian Grand Prix
7	1973 Argentine Grand Prix
8	1973 Brazilian Grand Prix
9	1973 Spanish Grand Prix
10	1974 Brazilian Grand Prix
11	1974 Belgian Grand Prix
12	1974 Canadian Grand Prix
13	1975 Argentine Grand Prix
14	1975 British Grand Prix

Complete Formula One results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
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 WD
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

Sources:

1. Emerson Fittipaldi. Wikipedia.com