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From World Champions’ births to race winner anniversaries, here is This Week in Motorsport History.
Emerson Fittipaldi won two world titles during his career (Image Credit: McLaren.com)12th December Emerson Fittipaldi’s birthday
Emerson Fittipaldi was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on the 12th of December 1946.
Fittipaldi made his F1 debut in 1970 at the British GP for Lotus. He would finish eighth. He finished fourth in Germany, the second-highest Lotus after winner Jochen Rindt. Rindt then passed away in an accident in Italy, meaning that from the US GP, Fittipaldi was now Lotus’s team leader.
He instantly impressed, winning in his America, which helped secure the championship for the deceased Rindt. 1971 was a disappointment, with three podiums and sixth in the standings.
1972 was when Lotus introduced the Lotus 72. Fittipaldi would score six consecutive podiums, including three race wins. Fittipaldi was duelling with Jackie Stewart and Denny Hulme for the title, with 22 points separating them with five rounds left.
All three retired in Germany, and Fittipaldi won in Austria, meaning Stewart and Hulme had a low chance of winning the title. He needed to finish at least fourth in Italy, his ancestral home, to clinch the title.
Then, drama! Stewart retired on lap one! At the end of lap one, Ickx led from Clay Regazzoni and Fittipaldi, who had passed Chris Amon and Hulme on the opening lap. Retirements from Regazzoni and Ickx gave him the win, meaning he became F1 champion at what was then his only home race in style by winning!
In 1973, Stewart and Fittipaldi would once again do battle. Fittipaldi won three races, including his inaugural home GP: the Brazilian GP. After round 7, the championship was close, with Fittipaldi two points clear of Stewart.
New teammate Ronnie Peterson had a monumental second half of the season, scoring three times as many points as Fittipaldi and twice the amount of wins as Stewart (four for Peterson, two for Stewart, ending up three points behind Fittipaldi by the season’s end. Stewart took his final title, as he remained consistent until the end of the season, unlike Fittipaldi. Peterson’s competition, coupled with Peter Revson leaving McLaren, meant Fittipaldi moved to McLaren.
He would win his second title after a fierce fight with Regazzoni, Jody Scheckter and Niki Lauda throughout the season. He won his second Brazilian GP and won in Belgium and Canada.
Regazzoni was consistent but won fewer races, evidenced by Fittipaldi having two more wins. Had Lauda not retired in all of the final five races, he may have had something to say, but his time would come.
Fittipaldi left McLaren after taking two wins in 1975, creating Fittipaldi. Little success came with his team; he retired in 1980 from F1. He moved to CART, winning two Indy 500s in 1989 and 1993 and the CART title in 1989.
15th December: Anniversary of Clay Regazzoni’s death
Clay Regazzoni became a legendary figure at Ferrari during his tenure at the Scuderia (Image Credit: speedweek.com)Regazzoni made his F1 debut for Ferrari at the 1970 Dutch GP. He would finish fourth in what was a solid debut. Over the next few races, he proved that this result was not a fluke; fourth in Britain, second places in Austria, Canada, and Mexico, and his first win in Italy meant Regazzoni finished rookie of the year, finishing third in the 1970 season. This was tied for the greatest rookie season in history, being tied with Stewart in 1965.
Two years of struggle would follow, as Ferrari could not compete with Lotus and Tyrrell for the championship, with Regazzoni taking five podiums. By contrast, Ickx had won two races and a further five podiums. Ickx beat Regazzoni in 1971 and 1972, although it is worth noting that Regazzoni did miss two races in 1972.
Regazzoni moved to BRM in 1973 to drive alongside Niki Lauda. However, BRM was declining at this stage, as their car was in its third season, and the car’s designer, Tony Southgate, had left. Lauda and Regazzoni scored just four points over the season. Ferrari also did badly, meaning Ickx and Arturo Merzario were replaced by Lauda and Regazzoni in 1974.
1974 was to be the only year in which Regazzoni and Lauda were equal at Ferrari. Heading into the season’s final third, four drivers were in the hunt for the title: Lauda, Fittipaldi, Tyrrell’s Jody Scheckter and Regazzoni. At this stage, Lauda, Fittipaldi and Scheckter all had two wins. Regazzoni had none.
But, Regazzoni had more points finishes than Lauda, Fittipaldi or Scheckter. Germany would be where Regazzoni finally won, almost four years after his last win. Lauda had no finishes from rounds 11-14, meaning he was out of contention heading into the final round. Scheckter needed to win to even have a chance at the title. For Regazzoni and Fittipaldi, it was fair game as they were tied on points.
Whoever finished higher in the points would win. If neither scored points and Scheckter didn’t win, Fittipaldi would win the title on countback. Scheckter qualified sixth, Fittipaldi qualified eighth, and Regazzoni qualified ninth.
Regazzoni had issues with his damper, meaning his chance of winning the title had vanished. Scheckter retired on lap 44 after a fuel system error and come race end, Fittipaldi was in fourth, giving him the championship by three points from Regazzoni.
Lauda dominated Regazzoni in 1975 and 1976, as he had heavily tested the 312T and the 312T2 Ferrari’s cars. Lauda won the title in 1975 and almost won it in 1976; meanwhile, Regazzoni finished 5th in both seasons. Two poor seasons at Ensign and Shadow followed.
An opportunity came in 1979 with Williams, and despite a poor first half of the season, he had his best season since 1976, taking five podiums, including the first-ever race win for Williams at Silverstone. He was replaced by Carlos Reutemann in 1980, the second time the Argentine took his place.
Sadly, Regazzoni suffered a career-ending crash at Long Beach with Ensign Racing, which paralysed him from the waist down. He passed away on the 15th of December 2006 after a heart attack while driving on the motorway in Parma, aged 67.
Feature Image Credit: @McLarenF1 on X