Former F1 driver and team owner Wilson Fittipaldi dies aged 80

The older brother of double F1 world champion Emerson and father of Indycar race-winner Christian had been ill for some time.

He had been hospitalised since Christmas Day, which was also his birthday, after he choked on a piece of meat. His family was unable to clear his airway, which triggered a cardiac arrest.

Born in Sao Paulo, he drove a wide variety of cars in his youth, encouraged by father and key Brazilian racing figure Wilson Fittipaldi Sr.

In 1966 he had a brief initial stint in Europe in Formula 3, but it was younger brother Emerson who first made a real impact when he went to the UK in 1969, reaching F1 with Team Lotus the following year.

Wilson made a full-time move to Europe in 1970, taking advantage of Emerson’s success. That year he raced in F3 against the likes of Niki Lauda and James Hunt, winning a British championship round as well as a couple of non-championship events.

At the start of 1971, he made his F1 debut in a works Team Lotus entry alongside Emerson in the non-championship Argentinian GP.

That year he also moved up to F2 with a Team Bardahl Lotus. He scored points on six occasions, notably a third place at Hockenheim, and finished sixth in the championship in a field that included the likes of Ronnie Peterson and Carlos Reutemann.

That propelled him into a seat with Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham F1 team in 1972, as team-mate to Graham Hill. He was third in the non-championship race at Interlagos and logged seventh places in Spain and Germany, but it was a generally disappointing year.

While continuing to race in F2, he remained with Brabham for the 1973 F1 season. Fittipaldi put in a storming drive in Monaco, which he would later pick as the race of his life, before retiring. He scored what would be the only points of his career with sixth in Argentina and fifth at the Nurburgring.

His only appearance in 1974 was with Brabham in a non-championship race in Brasilia before he took time out from F1 to put together his own team in Brazil.

Named after the sugar company which sponsored the team, Copersucar arrived on the grid in 1975, but the first car was uncompetitive, and his best result was 10^th in the US GP.

Despite the team’s lack of form, Wilson convinced Emerson to leave McLaren and join him in 1976, and he retired from driving to run the team.

Several years of struggle followed, but second place for Emerson in his home…