Born on Christmas Day 1943, Wilson Fittipaldi Jr was the son of Wilson Sr, a motorsports journalist and radio commentator, and his wife Juzy. His father was responsible for the first Mil Milhas race in 1956, inspired by the Italian Mille Miglia. Wilson Jr, often called ‘Wilsinho’ or ‘Tigrão’, developed a passion for motorsport from a young age.
Fittipaldi began racing in karts he and his brother built in Brazil during the 1960s, before progressing to Formula Vee. A trip to Europe in 1966 to race in Formula Three did not materialize due to team conflicts in Brazil, and he did not return to England until 1970, following his brother Emerson’s success in Formula Two. In 1970, driving a Lotus 59 entered by Jim Russell Driving School in British Formula Three, he won a round at Silverstone), beating Carlos Pace and Dave Walker. He competed alongside future Formula One champions Niki Lauda and James Hunt that year, gaining further success in non-championship rounds, which led to a move to the European Formula Two championship for 1971.
In Formula Two in 1971, Fittipaldi drove for Team Bardahl-Fittipaldi in Lotus and March chassis, achieving a podium finish at Hockenheim and fourth places at Rouen and Mantorp Park. These results secured him a deal with the Brabham Formula One team for the 1972 season as a pay driver. He debuted in Formula One with Brabham on 1 May 1972.
Fittipaldi’s Formula One career began with a podium finish at the 1972 Brazilian Grand Prix, a non-championship race. He was a moderately competitive midfield runner for Brabham in 1972 and 1973, scoring his only World Championship points with a sixth place in Buenos Aires and a fifth place at the Nürburgring in 1973. His best qualifying results were ninth in Monaco and tenth at Mosport, both in 1973.
Frustrated with being a paying driver and a second driver restricted by team orders from Bernie Ecclestone, Fittipaldi took a break from driving in early 1974 to establish a Brazilian Formula One team, Copersucar-Fittipaldi. He participated in the Grande Premio Presidente Emilio Medici non-championship race that year with Brabham before focusing on his new venture. The team did not achieve significant success, with Wilson as the sole driver in 1975 managing only six finishes, his best being tenth and last at the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, and failing to qualify for several races. He stepped down from driving in 1976 when his brother, Emerson, joined the team from McLaren. His three championship points, scored in 1972 and 1973 with Brabham, made him the most successful sibling of a Formula One World Champion until Ralf Schumacher’s arrival in 1997.
Fittipaldi occasionally returned to competitive driving. He competed in the Brazilian Stock Car championship in the 1980s and early 1990s, winning several rounds. In 1994 and 1995, he won the Mil Milhas race, founded by his father, sharing a Porsche with his son Christian. In February 1998, he announced his return to the Brazilian Stock Car championship. In 2000, he drove a Mercedes-Benz at the Nürburgring round of the FIA European Truck Racing Cup, finishing eighth and eleventh. In 2008, he and Emerson entered the Brazilian GT3 Championship, driving a Porsche 997 GT3 for WB Motorsports.
The Fittipaldi brothers were the first siblings to compete in the same Formula One race, and also the first to score points in the same race, both achieving this at the 1973 Argentine and German Grands Prix. Before them, Jimmy and Jackie Stewart, Pedro and Ricardo Rodríguez, and Ernesto and Vittorio Brambilla had raced in Formula One, but not simultaneously.
Wilson Fittipaldi’s son, Christian, debuted in Formula One in 1992 and scored his first point at the 1992 Japanese Grand Prix, making Wilson and Christian the first parent and child to both score points in Formula One. This feat has since been repeated by several other families, including the Hills, Andrettis, Villeneuves, Rosbergs, Nakajimas, Piquets, Magnussens, Verstappens, Palmers, and Schumachers.
Beyond Formula One, Fittipaldi and his brother financed their early racing careers by establishing a successful custom car accessory business and building karts and Formula Vee cars. They also created a one-off sports car chassis with Porsche mechanicals in 1968. After retiring from driving, Fittipaldi managed his family’s business interests, including a Mercedes-Benz dealership, and worked in television. He also managed his son Christian’s racing career from 1996 and became technical director of the WB motorsport team in Brazilian V8 stock cars in 2004.
Fittipaldi suffered a cardiac arrest on 25 December 2023, his 80th birthday, after choking on food during dinner. He was resuscitated and admitted to a hospital, where he was sedated and intubated, before dying in São Paulo on 23 February 2024.
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