Vittorio Brambilla

Brambilla began racing motorcycles in 1957 and won the Italian national 175cc title in 1958. He continued to race motorcycles on a casual basis throughout his career, finishing 12th in a guest appearance at the 1969 Italian 500cc motorcycle Grand Prix riding a Paton. Before becoming a mechanic he also raced go-karts. His older brother, Ernesto ("Tino"), was also a racing driver.

Brambilla returned to racing in 1968, competing in Formula 3 and winning the Italian championship in 1972. By 1972, he was also racing in Formula 2. He finished 2nd to Jacky Ickx in a 1970 two-heat Formula Two race at the Salzburg Ring in Salzburg, Austria. In a 1973 Formula Two race at Hockenheim, covering 271.5 km (168.7 mi) in two 10-lap heats, he drove a March BMW to 4th place. In 1973, Brambilla also won the City of Enna Cup, the fifth event in the European automaker's championship for 2,000 cc cars, averaging 195 km/h (121 mph) over 290 km (180 mi) in an Abarth-Osella. He also captured pole for the Monza 4-hour auto race in a BMW 3.5 CSL.

In his first year of Formula One in 1974, Brambilla was as quick as his teammate Stuck but more accident-prone. In the Swedish GP he ran in fifth until an engine problem. He finished tied for 18th, last, in the 1974 Formula One World Championship standings.

In 1975, Brambilla amazed many at the Belgian GP, where he led until encountering brake problems after 54 laps, and at the 1975 Swedish Grand Prix, where he secured pole position until a transmission failure forced retirement after 36 laps. His great day came at the Österreichring in 1975, when he won a wet Austrian Grand Prix with a 27-second margin over James Hunt in only 29 laps. He spun off and wrecked the nose of his car as he took the chequered flag, completing his slowing-down lap with the front of the car destroyed while waving to the crowd — being the first victory of an Italian driver since the 1966 Italian Grand Prix with Ludovico Scarfiotti. As the race was shortened with 60% of the distance completed, he received 4.5 points instead of 9 for the win.

A more serious accident occurred that season when Brambilla crashed his March through a new curve at Watkins Glen during qualifying for the 1975 United States Grand Prix. He backed into a guard rail but was unhurt. Before his accident Brambilla was second fastest with a lap of 190.24 km/h (118.21 mph). During 1976 he suffered several accidents and mechanical retirements, collecting only one point at the 1976 Dutch Grand Prix. He qualified his March in 8th position for the 1976 United States Grand Prix West. In the race, Brambilla was tapped from behind by Carlos Reutemann before they reached the first turn. He lost the right rear wheel on his March on the 35th lap of the 1976 United States Grand Prix after holding fifth place for a time.

In 1977, Brambilla moved to the Surtees team, where he scored six points. At the same time he also drove for the Alfa Romeo sports car team, achieving the World Championship for the team. Brambilla finished 8th in the 1977 Monaco Grand Prix.

Brambilla continued with Surtees in 1978. At the 1978 United States Grand Prix West he placed 17th in qualifying with a time of 1:23.212. His #19 Beta Surtees TS 19 finished 14th after experiencing engine failure on lap 50.

At the 1978 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Brambilla suffered serious head injuries when he was hit by a flying wheel during a multiple car collision on the opening lap. In reaction to that race, in which Ronnie Peterson sustained fatal injuries, it was announced in October 1978 that the Italian Grand Prix would move to the Autodromo Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola for the next three years, although this did not actually happen until 1980. Brambilla recovered and returned to participate in the 1979 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Brambilla drove briefly for the Alfa Romeo Formula One team in 1979 and 1980. On the first day of qualifying for the 1979 United States Grand Prix, Brambilla was timed at 134.98 km/h (83.87 mph), with heavy rain causing a slick track and slower times.

In December 1979, Alfa Romeo revealed its Formula One race car for the 1980 season, naming Patrick Depailler, Brambilla, and Bruno Giacomelli as its drivers. The car was nearly identical to one driven by Giacomelli in the 1979 Italian Grand Prix: a wing car design with a V-12 engine generating more than 520 hp (388 kW). Alfa Romeo also announced it was working on a 1,500 cubic centimeter turbocharged engine to begin track testing in a Formula One car in the summer of 1980. Brambilla retired at the end of the 1980 season.

In the early 1990s, Brambilla opened a Formula One memorabilia shop in Milan, occasionally driving the safety car during the Italian Grand Prix. He died at Lesmo, near Milan, of a heart attack at the age of 63 while gardening at his home, reportedly collapsing while mowing the lawn.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.