How good was Emo?

[zealot]

The career of Emerson Fittipaldi is one of lost opportunity. Rarely is he spoken of when it comes to all time greats (in Paulzhino's recent poll, he received the same number of votes I did, ZERO!), yet, when you look at his first six years in F1, he was truly extraordinary.

He won in only his fifth try as a replacement for the great Jochen Rindt in 1970, and after a winless 1971, took the title in 72 by winning 5 of 12 races. Remember, at that time he was 26 and in only his third year in F1.

In 73, his final year at Lotus, he barely lost the WDC to Lauda, only to reclaim it for McLaren in 74. After a somewhat disapointing 75, Emo made the fateful decision to leave McLaren and join his brother's Copersucar team to try an all-Brazilian campaign.

Only two podiums in the next five years followed, and then Emo was out of F1. Of course, James Hunt went on to win the title in the McLaren in 76, and I have no doubt Emo would have done the same if he stayed. That would have given him three titles in his first seven years. Imagine what he could have done if he stayed with a top flight team instead of going the patriotic/family way in the Copersucar.

Of course, he went on to tremoundous success in Indy cars (2 Indy 500 wins and a CART championship), but how good and what does everybody think he could have accomplished if he stayed with McLaren or another elite F1 team.

[Neil C]

I think a good argument can be made that Emo was better than history gives him credit for.

His former team boss, Teddy Mayer (McLaren) thought Hunt was faster, but Emo made fewer mistakes and drove like he was on a rail.

He yielded to pressure from his family and his country when he gave his talent to Copersucar. Still it was his choice and we will never know if he could have won more WDC's.

[BootsOntheSide]

Yeah this is true, I'd certainly put him in my alltime top 10, but he may well have been the best driver of the 70s after Jackie Stewart's retirement. I also think Niki Lauda is a touch underrated by the majority of fans- but for his Nurburgring crash he would've had 3 successive titles

[f1manoz]

Sad thing is, many remember Emo only as an IndyCar driver.

On his day, Emo was brilliant, particularly during his earlier days in the sport.

But his F1 glories are overshadowed by the five lacklustre years at Copersucar/Fittipaldi, where although he drove with all his heart, the car was never up to the job.

[racer69]

Emmo was great, and deserved more than he got out of F1.

His career has a striking parallel to Jacques Villeneuve. Both were World Champions at the prime in their carreers, and both went to join new and struggling teams, and both found themselves wasting their time.

[Rimrider]

Zealot, in 1973 Fittipaldi lost the WDC to Jackie Stewart. The moral victor that year was Ronnie Peterson who had a terrible run of bad reliabilty in the first 8 races (most of which he was leading) and then went on to win 4 of the last 7 races of the season.

[zealot]

You're right Rimrider, Lauda won in '75 and '77, Stewart won his third and final title in '73.