LEGENDS: When Emerson Fittipaldi shocked Formula 1

F1 Beyond The Grid

karenellenbevan

News, Sports News, Leisure, Automotive, Sports

4.7 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why would a double F1 World Champion at the height of his powers walk away from a winning car? For the 1976 season, Emerson Fittipaldi stunned the sport by leaving McLaren and setting up his own team. He wanted a challenge, and he certainly got one.

50 years later, Emerson tells Tom Clarkson why he and his brother Wilson launched Copersucar, a team based in their home country of Brazil. He also remembers the dramatic events that led him to start his own team – winning the World Championship with Lotus and considering retirement before winning a second title with McLaren, and the conversations with Ferrari which could have changed the course of his career.

Emerson’s passion for F1 still burns bright. He drove his championship-winning M23 in Miami at a McLaren showrun. He also keeps a close eye on every Grand Prix, and gives his views on Kimi Antonelli’s impressive start to the 2026 season.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	50 years ago, Emerson Fittipaldi shocked the Formula One world by leaving McLaren just a year after becoming a two-time world champion.
0:14.9	He didn't move to a rival or go and race in another series or retire. He created his own Formula One team.
0:22.8	I knew that it would be a struggle because when you start a new Formula One team,
0:27.7	normally you need four to five years to be competitive normally.
0:32.1	But as an athlete, you always have to have a new challenge.
0:35.6	And there was a big challenge myself and my brother
0:38.0	to go to our own team.
0:39.9	My God, everybody by surprise.
0:42.5	It was an incredibly brave move
0:45.0	and one that might never have happened
0:47.2	given the crossroads he was at
0:49.0	after winning his first title.
0:51.6	When I won my first World Championship,
1:11.0	I had lunched my father, myself, and my brother, nobody knows this. I looked to my father, Samud, I retired from Formula One. And my father said, you're retired from Formula One? I said, yes. I left to Brazil. I had the dream to be a Grand Prix driver. I won the World Championship. What else I want? And then my father give me a very good advice.
1:16.6	Hello everyone. Welcome to F1 Beyond the Grid with me, Tom Clarkson.
1:22.2	I always enjoy chatting to Emerson Fidipaldi because he's such a brilliant storyteller
1:27.4	and his passion for Formula
1:29.2	1 still burns brightly. Half a century after he and his brother Wilson created the Kopasuka
1:35.6	Formula 1 team, I wanted to take Emerson back to the defining moments of his career that led to
1:41.9	that sensational chapter. The thoughts about retirement after his first title with Lotus
1:47.1	and how his dad persuaded him to continue racing.
1:51.0	His decision to leave Lotus for McLaren
	...

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