Emerson Fittipaldi was born in São Paulo, Brazil, on 12 December 1946. He is the younger son of Wilson Fittipaldi Sr, a motorsports journalist, and Józefa "Juzy" Wojciechowska. Fittipaldi was named after Ralph Waldo Emerson. Both of his parents raced production cars after World War II. 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 his brother Wilson had an accident in boat racing, both brothers focused solely on racing land vehicles. In 1967, Fittipaldi won the 6 Hours of Interlagos in a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia at age 20. A year later, he won the 12 Hours of Porto Alegre. The brothers 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 to F2 with the Lotus semi-works Team Bardahl, finishing third in the eight-race season. His activities in Formula One garnered more attention that year. He 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 his fifth Grand Prix. He won his first post-Rindt race for Lotus at the United States GP.
In 1971, his first full year as Lotus's lead driver, Fittipaldi finished sixth in the Drivers' Championship. He was dominant in 1972, winning five of 11 races and claiming the F1 Drivers' Championship at 25, becoming the youngest champion in F1 history. He held this record for 33 years. In 1973, he struggled with the new Lotus 72E and was beaten by Jackie Stewart for the Drivers' Championship.
Fittipaldi 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 had two more victories but finished second to Niki Lauda.
At the height of his F1 success, Fittipaldi left McLaren to race for his brother Wilson Fittipaldi's Copersucar-sponsored Fittipaldi Automotive team prior to the 1976 season. He remained with the team for five seasons, managing a best finish of second. Fittipaldi retired from racing at the end of 1980, citing unhappiness in his last two years in Formula One. He moved into the management of the team alongside his brother, which struggled and went into receivership at the end of 1982.
After leaving F1, Fittipaldi made his debut in the American CART series in 1984. He joined Patrick Racing and achieved his first victory in CART at the 1985 Michigan 500. In 1989, Fittipaldi had five wins and was the CART champion. He won the 1989 Indianapolis 500 after a duel with Al Unser Jr.
Roger Penske hired Fittipaldi for his racing team in 1990. Fittipaldi won at least one race with Penske for six straight years. In 1993, he won his second Indianapolis 500 by taking the lead from Nigel Mansell. During this victory, Fittipaldi drank orange juice before the traditional bottle of milk, which caused negative fan reaction. He was booed at Milwaukee a week later and again at the 2008 Indianapolis 500 when he drove the Chevrolet Corvette Pace Car.
In May 1994, Fittipaldi skipped a practice session for the Indianapolis 500 after his friend Ayrton Senna died in a crash. Fittipaldi was a pallbearer at Senna's funeral. He nearly won his third Indianapolis 500 in 1994 but clipped the wall with 15 laps to go. In 1996, an injury at Michigan International Speedway ended his CART driving career. He 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 returned to competitive racing in the Grand Prix Masters event at Kyalami, finishing second behind Nigel Mansell. In 2008, Emerson and his brother Wilson entered the Brazilian GT3 Championship, driving a Porsche 997 GT3. He became a Chairman of Motorsport.com in 2011 and began writing a monthly blog column on the official website of McLaren in 2013. At age 67, he entered the 2014 6 Hours of São Paulo.
Fittipaldi is the younger brother of Wilson Fittipaldi and 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.
In September 1997, Fittipaldi was involved in a private plane crash over his orange tree farm, sustaining serious back injuries. He is a Protestant in the Presbyterian tradition. Fittipaldi was a friend of George Harrison. In 2016, he established Fittipaldi Motors and created the Fittipaldi EF7 sports car project. In August 2022, Fittipaldi announced his candidacy for the Italian Senate as a member of the Brothers of Italy political party, but was defeated by 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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