THE GREAT SHOWDOWN

Words: Roberto Boccafogli

Newspapers in the mid-1970s called him “Enzo Ferrari’s bogeyman”. That man was Emerson Fittipaldi, whose illustrious racing career saw him win the Formula One world championship twice and the IndyCar title (then known as the CART championship) once, including two victories at the Indianapolis 500, a race that Ferrari himself had attempted to win in 1952 with Alberto Ascari in the 375 Special. Fittipaldi was first Formula One world champion in 1972, driving Colin Chapman’s Lotus car. In 1973 he had a chance for a second consecutive title, only to find himself frustratingly thwarted by the British owner’s refusal to issue team orders to his teammate Ronnie Peterson at the championship decider at Monza.

Above: a smiling Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil (left) and Clay Regazzoni of Switzerland joke with a newsman during qualifying for the 1974 US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen

Emerson left the team practically overnight and for the 1974 season the Brazilian racer signed for McLaren, a team that in those days had won just eight Grand Prix and was not considered by anyone as a competitive threat. At Maranello, meanwhile, Ferrari was beginning to scent victory again, ten long years since its most recent title when John Surtees had triumphed in the 158 F1 in 1964. Ferrari was in a strong position as it lined up with the revolutionary 312 B3-74 race car. Revitalised by the engineering genius of Mauro Forghieri and with the returning Clay Regazzoni and Austrian debutant Niki Lauda as its drivers, the Maranello manufacturer soon began to rack up pole positions. Victories followed too: first, courtesy of the Austrian driver (in Spain and The Netherlands), then the Swiss racer soared to a win at the legendary Nürburgring to take the overall lead in the Formula One championship.

Above, left: Emerson Fittipaldi (left) shares a friendly chat with the Ferrari teammates Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni, at the 1974 French Grand Prix at Dijon-Prenois. Above, right: Clay Regazzoni leads the 1974 Belgian Grand Prix

Come the final 1974 race, at Watkins Glen, and Fittipaldi’s McLaren was level with Regazzoni on 52 points, with the Brazilian racer ahead in the standings, having won more races. “Three years earlier, Enzo had asked me over for a handshake,” recalls Emerson. “I went to Maranello and Ferrari suggested I leave Lotus for him, but to race in the World Sportscar Championship. If all had gone well, I’d also have had the chance to compete in some Grand Prix. But I was only interested in Formula One, so nothing came of it.”

Above, from left: Regazzoni (Ferrari), Lauda (Ferrari), and Fittipaldi (McLaren) on the podium at the 1974 Dutch Grand Prix won by Lauda

At Watkins Glen that October weekend it was a challenging start for Ferrari: Niki was in fifth, over three tenths of a second away from the pole position held by Carlos Reutemann in the Brabham; Clay was in ninth, over six tenths behind. The 312 B3-74 had been finely balanced all season, but in America the right set-up was proving elusive. Fittipaldi takes up the story: “In qualifying, I was only eighth, just in front of Clay. I was incredibly nervous. The pressure was immense. But on Sunday, the closer we got to the race the more clear-headed I felt.” Ever the competitor, even today he recalls the race in detail. “Regazzoni made the better start,” he says, “and by the first corner had already passed me. On the next incline, though, I managed to get into his slipstream. The opportunity to attack came at the deceleration point going into corner 2. I feinted to attack on the left but Regazzoni blocked me off straight away. I was just far enough away to veer to the right and pull alongside him on that side, putting me in the perfect position for the next corner. Clay pushed me onto the grass with two wheels, but decelerating into corner 3 he had to take a slightly wider line to avoid contact, giving me the few centimetres I needed to pull off the manoeuvre. In the next two corners, I extended my lead just enough to make me think that – unless I had any technical issues – I would be world champion again.”

Above, left: two-time Formula One World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi today. Above, right: Scuderia Ferrari's Mauro Forghieri, Giacomo Caliri and Giulio Borsari examine Regazzoni’s car at the 1974 Spanish Grand Prix

And Fittipaldi was right. Overshadowed by the tragic accident that cost the life of 25-year-old Austrian Helmuth Koinigg, the race finished with a Brabham one-two, with Reutemann ahead of Carlos Pace. Emerging British star James Hunt came third in the Hesketh, which meant Fittipaldi secured fourth spot and was crowned world champion.

“That Sunday was one of the most thrilling of my life,” says Fittipaldi, about becoming Brazil’s first two-time Formula One World Champion. “I can still see those huge crowds of people who greeted me on my return to São Paulo.” In 1976 Emerson came close to driving for Ferrari. Enzo had called him, in full crisis mode in August, offering him the 312 T2 of Lauda, who had been seriously injured in the infamous accident at the Nürburgring. But Fittipaldi was involved in the Copersucar Formula One team managed by his brother, Wilson junior. Once more nothing came of the approach.

Above: Lauda’s Ferrari 312 B3 and Fittipaldi’s McLaren M23 lead off the front row of the grid at the 1974 Canadian Grand Prix

That meant his Ferrari debut was not to come until late 2014 – forty years after Enzo’s first approach – on Fittipaldi’s home circuit of Interlagos, where he took the wheel of a 458 Italia GTE for the AF Corse team in the World Endurance Championship (WEC).

Unfortunately, the race didn’t go well due to technical issues. “But that Ferrari was another exceptional car,” he says. “Despite very little practise, I found I could still push as hard as I could go. And since then, I’ve never stopped thinking about what it would have been like to race for Ferrari in Formula One. That had been my dream since childhood – but I lived it out in reverse, in the role of opponent.”

Cover image: Fittipaldi’s McLaren M23 leads Regazzoni in the Ferrari 312 B3 and John Watson’s Brabham BT44, during the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in 1974

THIS STORY WAS TAKEN FROM ISSUE 63 OF THE OFFICIAL FERRARI MAGAZINE