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.
Despite winning two races in the World Championship of Makes, in Formula 1 the
team went from bad to worse. Its car, which in 1972 was competitive, became a disaster in updated guise. In addition, there was the serious political
situation. Ah, Ferrari politics!!! Mauro Forghieri, the excellent Scuderia
engineer was removed from the team earlier that year. Some say he asked to leave, others
say he was kicked out. The fact is that Caliri, and the other engineers did not
handle things well in 73, and during the course of the year the Cavallino team
collapsed.
Jacky Ickx, the team's top driver for four years, left
before the end of the season. And for the first time in many years, Ferrari was
absent from several GPs.
Meanwhile, Arturo Merzario persevered, testing the F1 cars
and prototypes in Maranello. He had lunch with the Commendatore from time to
time, and actualy persuaded him to bring Forghieri back. Arturo also suggested bringing
back Clay Regazzoni. Little by little, a good version of the B3 was developed, the version that would be used in 1974.
In the middle of the year, Marlboro was already quite
displeased with BRM, and stated that it would not renew the sponsorship, which
was eventually invested in McLaren. Also unhappy was Clay Regazzoni, who had pole
in the first race of the season at Buenos Aires, leading it for a while, but who had completely
lost confidence in the team towards the middle of the season. As Ickx moved
away from Ferrari, Clay worked on his return to the team for 1974.
The obvious thing would be to keep Merzario. Among other
things, he contributed greatly to the development of the B3, plus the Commendatore
actually liked him. Meanwhile, Caliri had been furious with Arturo since the
1000 km of Nurburgring when Arturo failed to comply with team orders and diced
with Ickx for the lead, after the Matra-Simcas dropped out. Caliri, who angrily extracted Merzario from the car when Arturo finally heeded to pit orders, was one of
those who wanted the Italian out of the team. The Merzario hate-club eventually
convinced Lucca di Montezemolo, the new boss, that Arturo should be kicked out.
Many names were considered. Jean-Pierre Jarier, who was the
rage in F2 that year, Chris Amon, former team driver, even the names of
Brazilians Pace and Emerson were considered. In the end, through Regazzoni’s
lobbying, Ferrari ended up opting for his former BRM team mate Niki Lauda, rejecting Arturo.
The Italian had no choice but to go to the weak Iso-Marlboro team,
thus ending any possibility of a top flight F1 career once and for all.
The rest is history. The B3 became an excellent car, and Ferrari
narrowly missed the 1974 championship. Lauda was the fastest driver of the
year, and in 1975 became the first Ferrari champion since 1964.
1976 - the Nurburgring is the scenario once more. After driving
an excellent GP of England with March, at one point reaching fourth position,
Arturo Merzario loses the place due to lack of sponsorship. The world of F1 is
small. The same Jacky Ickx with whom Merzario had his issues between 1973 and
1975 left the Williams team, dejected, after
the British Grand Prix. Frank did not hesitate, and despite financial issues with Merzario in 1975 that led the Italian to leave the team and almost seize Williams property in Monza, Frank rehired
Arturo.
Merzario and Lauda recently
Williams's car, a former Hesketh, was a piece of crap. It
was no wonder that Ickx left the team. But Merzario, above all, liked to race
and be a part of the scene, so much that he raced through his 60s! And there he was, at the
same Nurburgring that caused his Ferrari dismissal.
Trying to save a current teammate, as Arturo did in 1971,
when Ignazio Giunti perished in an accident in Buenos Aires, is one thing.
Risking life and limb to save the driver who helped sink his F1 career at
Ferrari, altogether another. And this is exactly what brave Arturo did. With the help of
Brett Lunger, Guy Edwards and Harald Ertl, Merzario plunged into the flames of Lauda's burning No. 1 Ferrari, which could explode at any moment, and helped take the
Austrian out of the car in time to save his life. Remember that Lauda was a
front runner when he crashed, and many people saw the accident AND DID NOT
STOP!
Lauda survived, and that same year, he reached out to Arturo to
give him a present, a gold Rolex watch. Arturo refused to accept, only received the gift
upon insistence of the engineer Carlo Chiti who was also present.
No hard feelings, Arturo and Niki built a beautiful
friendship that persists to this day. Recently, they were together in the Nordschleife,
cementing this friendship on the basis of the courage and kindness of a great
human being, despite his small frame. Niki would still win many other GPs and
two championships, while Merzario's F1 career only went downhill from there. It
was also the end of the Nordschleife in F1, much to Denis Jenkinson’s dislike.
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