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The Fittipaldi Story That Became a U.S. Legend
My friends, Emerson Fittipaldi’s life story is remarkable, unbelievable, and driven by incredible inner strength. The Trailblazer and Pioneer At 25 years old, in 1972, Emerson Fittipaldi reached the top of the world with Lotus in Formula 1, becoming the youngest driver at the time to win a world title in the category. He repeated the feat in 1974, this time with McLaren, becoming a two-time champion. Emerson is widely revered for having “opened the doors” of European motorsport to the generations of Brazilians who came after him, such as Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet. I remember very well Emerson and Wilson (his brother) making their way around the team pits, eating boxed meals any way they could, draining engine oil themselves, chasing after a loose tire, and literally “tying knots in raindrops.” They secured sponsorship from Copersucar and formed the first and only Brazilian team in F1, bringing great pride to Brazilians, but immediately drawing criticism from journalists who “knew it all” and said it would never work, instead of supporting them. The Fittipaldi brothers were treated unfairly, they tried to move forward in every possible way, but the doors were closed with great sadness years later; yet the Spirit of Victory never left them, especially Emerson. Those who are big fans of Ayrton Senna—and he truly deserved the public’s affection—do not know that Senna was a “student” of the Fittipaldi school, raced for the same teams, and received phenomenal help from Emerson. After leaving F1, the Fittipaldis were no longer talked about; some magazine articles claimed he was broke in the interior of São Paulo after a severe blight hit his orange farm. Years passed, and Mário Andretti called Emerson and invited him to come see IndyCar in the U.S. Emerson replied, “I’d really like to, but I don’t have money for the ticket.” Mário said, “Don’t worry about a thing, I’ll cover everything.” And so Emerson went to see IndyCar, the ovals, the extremely high speeds nearing 400 km/h, the yellow flag, fatal accidents, and an entirely different dynamic from F1. And shaken by the Andretti’s insistence that he could still compete, Emerson saw a light at the end of the tunnel. But who would put up the money? Who would sponsor a retired former driver? Pepe Romero, a Cuban and owner of WIT Racing, showed pioneering spirit and initiative by saying, “I’ll sponsor you,” which brought Emerson great joy. But the Cuban added, “There’s only one condition: the car and the racing suit have to be pink. Do you accept?” Emerson looked at Wilson, thought for a moment, and replied, “It’s my favorite color.” At that time, IndyCar was broadcast on TV Manchete, and the car always broke down, finishing last or next to last, and I thought: Has Emerson GONE MAD? After the great career he had in F1, to make such a fool of himself? But despite everything, he started finishing fifth, sixth, and gradually moving up. The other American drivers kept helping Emerson with tips, conversations, and tremendous support. Emerson kept improving quietly, in his own shy way. Showing that they still believed in him, he was signed by Patrick Racing, and at that point he regained his champion’s self-esteem and began to feel at home on American tracks, achieving several wins and strong finishes. And I watched all that thinking: If Emerson becomes champion again, I’ll go on my knees to the Bonfim Church in Salvador. Then came 1989, the most famous race in the world, with 500,000 spectators at the track and 2 billion viewers watching on TV: the Indianapolis Grand Prix. Emerson started from fifth place. He used a strategy of staying among the top six throughout the long race. With 20 laps to go, he attacked and began passing one opponent after another, with only Al Unser Jr., a fierce competitor, ahead of him. With four laps to go, Emerson moved into first place, but was soon overtaken by Al Unser Jr. and became frantic in his effort to catch him. With two laps remaining, after a small mistake by Al Unser, Emerson pulled alongside side by side. They stared each other down on the straight and into the corner. Al Unser Jr. wanted Emerson to let him pass; Emerson refused. The cars touched, Al Unser hit the wall hard, and Fittipaldi’s long-awaited, seemingly impossible victory happened. He drank orange juice on the podium instead of the traditional race milk, to promote Orange Juice sales. He became the first foreign driver to win the race; until then, only Americans had won it. Al Unser Jr. complained a lot that Emerson had blocked him, but the victory was confirmed, and that forgotten former driver returned to glory and the international jet set in triumphant fashion. He even became a business partner of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger at Planet Hollywood, became a brand ambassador for Hugo Boss, Rolex, and several car manufacturers, and had his name engraved on one of Miami’s avenues because of the great achievement he accomplished. Invited for an interview on David Letterman’s show, after all the world wanted to meet the Brazilian who had won Indianapolis, he arrived with his calm manner, extremely polite, thanked Mario Andretti and his family, thanked Pepe Romero for believing in him, became emotional, cried, and said that becoming champion in Indianapolis was a childhood dream and that he was very happy. Emerson joined Team Penske, won many races, and once again Indianapolis in 1993, and Americans fell in love with him. To this day, he can only arrive at an American racetrack with many bodyguards, because the attention is immense, even from children. We recently lost another great idol, Oscar Schmidt from basketball. We must value these “legends”; they were the pioneers, the trailblazers, and thousands followed in their footsteps. After Emerson, IndyCar opened the door to many foreign drivers and opened negotiations with new sponsors and new cable TV channels, which caused financial numbers to multiply many times over. The lesson is: it doesn’t matter what others think of us; what matters is what we think, dream, and aim for. If someone sees us as a good professional, great; if others do not, so be it; but we must not be shaken by criticism or angry haters. We should always stand in a sphere of hard work, dedication, and honesty, regardless of any fact or comment.
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