Emerson Fittipaldi raves about his collaboration with Colin Chapman and the Lotus 72 on the “Beyond The Grid” podcast
Formula 1 legend Emerson Fittipaldi calls the Lotus 72 his favorite car in Grand Prix racing. “That was the best car of my entire career,” said the two-time world champion on the “Beyond The Grid” podcast.
“We developed the car throughout the year with Colin [Chapman],” explains Fittipaldi. “We worked on the suspension geometry, the downforce, and the aerodynamics.”
“But it was always an incredible car on the track. I would come back to the paddock, share a glance with it, and then become one with it. It was an extension of my body.”
From 1970 to 1973, the future McLaren driver raced for Colin Chapman’s team. In the Lotus 72, Fittipaldi won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1972. His second world title followed in 1974 in the McLaren M23.
Lotus icon Chapman in particular played an important role for the 1989 and 1993 Indy 500 champion: “Colin was a genius, and he had the right instinct for how to set up a car,” explains the 79-year-old.
“I remember how, whenever I talked about the car, he would place two fingers [to his temple]. Then the right solution would follow immediately. It was incredible, because there was no telemetry back then. It was just a feeling. You’d tell Colin something, he’d work on it, and improve the car. It was a fantastic car.“
The two-time champion describes the M23, which Fittipaldi was recently seen driving in Miami, as a more conventional car in the podcast. ”Lotus had torsion bars, which made it difficult to get the right angle,” explains Fittipaldi.
“We worked on it the whole time. At McLaren, the car was more conventional, but we had three different wheelbases. We had a long wheelbase, a medium wheelbase, and a short wheelbase for short tracks like Monaco.”
“There was another good example of McLaren’s logistics. We were able to adjust the weight distribution so that we drove with more weight on the front axle on short tracks. We had more preparation from track to track to adapt the M23 to different circuits and characteristics, especially compared to Lotus. That was thanks to Alastair Caldwell and Gordon Coppuck.”
In the end, the Paulista has 14 Formula 1 World Championship victories to his name. After his stint at McLaren, he spent five more or less successful years with a racing team he built himself. Further successes in the CART series would follow later.