Auto Racing Commentary

I suppose it is a bit hard to be a 2-time world champion’s brother, specially if you are a race car driver yourself. In addition to being a champion, Emerson was also a pioneer, but in that respect, Wilson pulls a lot of weight himself – he was the first Brazilian to race in quite a few categories.   It is easy to dismiss Wilson’s achievements in motor sport, specially not paying attention to a lot he did in Brazil. So this article will not stress so much Wilson’s short official formula 1 career, but rather, his achievements elsewhere. If even the excellent book Grand Prix Driver’s Who’s Who, by Steve Small, makes several blunders concerning Wilson’s career, what can be expected of other lesser sources? Emerson’s older brother began racing in 1962, and was quickly hired by the Willys works team. Willys produced Renault cars under license in Brazil, which included the Dauphine (called Gordini there) and the Interlagos, which was a version of the French Alpine sports car. Wilson

Until the 70’s, non-championship Formula 1 races were an important part of the racing calendar. In the 50’s, in fact, sometimes there were more non-championship races than those valid for the championship. These were different times, of course. In the 50’s the official calendar comprised about 8 races, rather than the 20+ of our days. While in the 50’s most non-championship races were still held in Italy and France, by the 70’s, the vast majority was held in England, at Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Oulton Park. Such non-championship races were also held as trial for future official events, such as the Argentine Grand Prix of 1971 and the Brazilian Grand Prix of 1972.   After 1983, Non-Championship F1 races, including the traditional Race of Champions were gone. Not only was the calendar full, but TV money and sponsorship ensured teams and drivers did not need to boost their coffers with prize and start money paid in such races, which was not much, at any rate. Such races

For most Formula 1 fans, Luiz Pereira Bueno, often referred as Luiz Bueno, was just another unknown, wealthy driver from a far away land who managed to buy his way into a single ride in Formula 1 and fulfill a dream. It is true that Bueno had a single Formula 1 start, the Brazilian Grand Prix of 1973, driving an outdated Surtees model and finishing a lowly 12th after starting dead last. However, Bueno was not wealthy and he was definitely not a nobody . He was one of the main drivers of the pre-Fittipaldi generation, for Luiz had been racing since 1957 and rose to prominence as a Willys (Renault) factory driver in the early 60’s. There he raced Gordinis, Interlagos (a Brazilian version of the Alpine), Alpine, Formula Junior and the Bino prototypes. He won many races in the yellow cars, and even after the demise of Willys as a manufacturer, Bueno raced the Bino prototypes for a few more seasons. One of the best things that happened to Brazilian racing was the closing of the Interl

Formula 1 dynasties are not that unusual. Just recently, Nico Rosberg, son of Keke, emulated his father’s 1982 feat and became world champion. Before that, Damon, son of Graham Hill, also managed to repeat his dad’s feat and became a world champion. There have been less successful dynasties: Michael Schumacher,   the F1 records   destroyer until second notice, was a seven-time world champion, however his brother Ralf only managed to win a few races, not bad for some families. Some children did better than their dads: Max Verstappen is this generation`s hot shoe and may yet be a world champion, while his father Jos only managed a couple of podiums.   Jacques Villeneuve, the son, won a championship, yet most, including this writer, consider his father much better. At any rate, the son was better than the uncle, the eponymous Jacques. Emerson Fittipaldi raced against his brother for a short while, and there is very little comparison between their F1 results. Later on, Wilson’s son Chr

Fernando Alonso`s victory at SPA, driving a Toyota in an endurance race was a dream of mine. I appreciate Alonso, but am not necessarily a die-hard fan of his. The dream has to do with something else. I began following racing at first timidly as an 8-year old in 1969, and my first full season of "serious" racing was 1972. By then I had become aware of the different categories, venues, and styles. I loved Formula 1, but I also loved the World Championship of Makes. That season, a large number of Formula 1 drivers still raced in the Endurance championship. Off the top of my head, I came up with this list of drivers that raced in both F-1 and the Prototype championship that year: Ickx, Regazzoni, Marko, Galli, De Adamich, Bell, Redman, Peterson, Schenken, Ganley, Cevert, Hill, Migault, Beltoise, Amon, Pescarolo, Pace, Soler-Roig, Revson, Merzario, Andretti, W. Fittipaldi Jr., Wisell and Stommelen. Out of many drivers used by Ferrari in its prototype campaign in 1972, onl

Things have changed immensely for Formula 1 teams. Up until the early 70s, Formula 1 teams were basically forced to build cars for other formulas, racing them as works teams or selling them to customers. The  extra income  was necessary, until commercial sponsorship matured in the mid 70s, and Bernie Ecclestone expanded the Formula 1 concept into a more viable proposition. Lotus, for instance, built Formula 3 and Formula 2 cars, selling them to customers in the early part of the decade. Lotus F3 cars were very common in 1970/71, rare by 1973, when Lotus had built the last non-Formula 1 car, the Formula 2 that became known as Texaco Star. There was some talk of a Formula Indy Lotus in the early 80's, but it never materialized. Brabham was a major race  car  builder, in fact the cars were very common in F2, F3, Formula Atlantic, and even in Formula 5000. The Brabham BT40 was the last formula 2/formula 3 from that constructor, in 1973, and a Brabham BT43 Formula 5000 that bri

You don’t have to be a big connoisseur of motorsport to figure out that despite the apparent comradery, sincere hugs in the podium, and hearty laughs at press briefings, there is a lot of competition in the sport. There always was, there always will be. Super inflated egos, good doses of money, media exposure, sponsors, adrenaline, fame, beautiful women, all mixed with nationalism and short careers are explosive elements. Each teammate is really just another Formula 1 opponent. That's why there is so much antipathy among drivers in the top category of motorsport, specially now that racing is no longer as deadly as in yesteryear - danger actually enabled comradery. However, whether you like it or not, one less colleague means an open opportunity. Here's the scenario. A driver risks his own life to save the driver who involuntarily ruined his Formula 1 career. I'm not inventing things, it happened. In 1973 Ferrari was going through one of its worst seasons.