Emerson Fittipaldi was born in São Paulo, Brazil. He is the younger son of Wilson Fittipaldi Sr, a motorsports journalist and radio commentator, and Józefa "Juzy" Wojciechowska. Fittipaldi was named after American author and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Both of his parents raced production cars, and his father was responsible for the first Mil Milhas race in 1956, inspired by the 1949 Italian Mille Miglia. Emerson and his brother Wilson Fittipaldi became motorsports enthusiasts as children.
At age 14, Fittipaldi raced motorcycles, and at 16, hydroplanes. After an accident involving his brother, both Fittipaldi brothers focused solely on racing land vehicles. In 1967, Fittipaldi won the 6 Hours of Interlagos in a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia at age 20, and a year later the 12 Hours of Porto Alegre. The pair moved to racing Formula Vees, and Fittipaldi won the Brazilian Formula Vee title at age 21. He left for Europe in 1969, where he achieved podiums and victories in Formula Ford. He was trained and engaged by the Jim Russell Driving School Formula Three team, winning nine F3 races in the MCD Lombard Championship to become the 1969 champion.
For 1970, Fittipaldi moved up to Formula Two, joining the Lotus semi-works Team Bardahl campaigning Lotus 59B. He ended the eight-race season in third place behind Clay Regazzoni and Derek Bell.
Fittipaldi made his race debut for Team Lotus as a third driver at the 1970 British Grand Prix. After Jochen Rindt was killed at the 1970 Italian Grand Prix, Fittipaldi became Lotus's lead driver in only his fifth Grand Prix. He scored a fourth place at the German Grand Prix and won his first post-Rindt race for Lotus at the United States Grand Prix. In his first full year as Lotus's lead driver in 1971, Fittipaldi finished sixth in the Drivers' Championship. He proved dominant in 1972, winning five of 11 races and claiming the F1 Drivers' Championship at 25, becoming the youngest champion in F1 history at the time. In 1973, Jackie Stewart beat Fittipaldi for the Drivers' Championship.
Fittipaldi then moved to McLaren for 1974. Driving the McLaren M23, he had three victories and beat Clay Regazzoni for his second championship, also helping McLaren win their first Constructors' Championship. In 1975, he notched two more victories but was second to Niki Lauda.
Prior to the 1976 season, Fittipaldi moved to his brother's Fittipaldi Automotive team, being replaced by James Hunt at McLaren. He remained with the team for five seasons but only managed a best finish of second. Fittipaldi retired from racing at the end of 1980, citing his unhappiness with the team's struggles and neglecting his personal life.
After leaving F1 in 1980, Fittipaldi took four years out from major racing. In 1984, he made his debut in the American CART series. He joined Patrick Racing as a replacement for Chip Ganassi and achieved his first victory in CART at the 1985 Michigan 500. Fittipaldi stayed five years with Patrick Racing, recording six victories.
In 1989, Fittipaldi had five wins and was the CART champion. He had a dominant performance in the 1989 Indianapolis 500, leading 158 of 200 laps and winning after a dramatic duel with Al Unser Jr. Roger Penske hired Fittipaldi for his racing team in 1990. In 1993, he added a second Indianapolis 500 victory by taking the lead from Nigel Mansell. During this race, Fittipaldi broke tradition by drinking orange juice before milk in victory lane, which led to negative fan reaction and a $5,000 forfeiture from his winnings. He later apologized for the incident. Despite the passage of 15 years, he was booed and heckled by some fans during the parade laps for the 2008 Indianapolis 500 where he drove the Chevrolet Corvette Pace Car.
In May 1994, Fittipaldi skipped a practice session for the Indianapolis 500 after his close friend Ayrton Senna died in a crash. Fittipaldi was one of the pallbearers at Senna's funeral. Fittipaldi nearly won his third 500 in 1994 but clipped the turn 4 wall with 15 laps to go while leading. Approaching 50, Fittipaldi was still driving in CART in 1996 when an injury at Michigan International Speedway ended his career. Fittipaldi finished his CART career with 22 wins. In 2003, he returned to CART as a team owner.
Fittipaldi was the acting team principal for the Brazilian A1 GP entry. In 2005, he made a surprise return to competitive racing in the Grand Prix Masters event at Kyalami in South Africa, finishing second behind 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 2014, at age 67, he entered the 2014 6 Hours of São Paulo.
Fittipaldi is the younger brother of former Formula One driver and team owner Wilson Fittipaldi. He is the uncle of Christian Fittipaldi. He has been married three times and has several children. His son, Emerson Jr., competed in the 2021 F4 Danish Championship. His daughter Tatiana married racing driver Max Papis. His grandsons Pietro Fittipaldi and Enzo Fittipaldi are also racing drivers; Pietro made his Formula 1 debut at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix and was signed to run a full IndyCar schedule with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for 2024.
In September 1997, while recovering from injuries, Fittipaldi was involved in a private plane crash, sustaining serious back injuries. He is a Protestant in the Presbyterian tradition. In 2016, Fittipaldi established Fittipaldi Motors and, along with Pininfarina and HWA AG, created the Fittipaldi EF7 sports car project. In August 2022, Fittipaldi announced his candidacy for the Italian Senate, representing the South American overseas constituency as a member of the Brothers of Italy political party, but was defeated by [Mario Borghese](atlas:mario-borghese].
Fittipaldi was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001. He was also inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 2004.
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