Emerson Fittipaldi revealed that he almost quit Formula 1 right after winning his first world title. The Brazilian admitted that he considered ending his career at the peak of his 1972 achievement, when he was driving for Lotus.
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The revelation was made during an appearance on the Beyond The Grid podcast. According to Fittipaldi, the idea came after achieving the main goal that had motivated his move from Brazil to Europe. The two-time world champion said he even communicated the decision to his father, Wilson Fittipaldi, and his brother during a lunch in Switzerland.
“When I won my first championship, I went back home, in Switzerland, and had lunch with my father and my brother. I looked at my father and said: ‘I’m going to retire from F1 after Monza’,” Emerson said. The former driver explained that, at that moment, he believed he had already achieved everything he wanted in motorsport. “‘I left Brazil, I had the dream of being a GP driver, I won the world championship. What more do I want?’” he recalled.
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According to Fittipaldi, his father’s advice was decisive in changing his path in the category. “My father told me that, the way I liked to race, in one, two or three years I would come back to F1, and it would be harder than continuing,” he said. Emerson also recalled that Formula 1 at the time was marked by many accidents, a factor that influenced his reflections on staying in the sport.
The Brazilian also emphasized that he needed to find new goals to stay motivated. “As an athlete, you always need a new challenge,” he said. The decision to continue in the category eventually led Emerson to the two-time championship with McLaren in 1974 and, later, to the Copersucar-Fittipaldi team project, created alongside his brother Wilson Fittipaldi Jr. in 1976.
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