15 replies to this topic

[Glengavel]

Did Emerson Fittipaldi start this race or not? According to Motor Sport he went home on Sunday morning and did not take part, but I have read somewhere else that J-M Ballestre threatened to suspend him from the Monaco GP so he took place and retired at the end of the first lap. According to MS his brother Wilson did this, so is someone confusing the Fittipaldi siblings?

 

Apologies if this has been discussed before but I can't find mention of it.

[bigears]

According to F1.com, he was not classified as he didn’t complete a lap.

https://www.formula1...ain/race-result

Now I am starting to doubt if he did actually start in the race, I will check.

[MCS]

He didn't start.  He flew home before the race.

[Tim Murray]

Pete Lyons in Autosport also reported that Emerson did not start the race, but brother Wilson and Arturo Merzario both did one slow lap in the race before withdrawing.

[PeterElleray]

Did Emerson Fittipaldi start this race or not? According to Motor Sport he went home on Sunday morning and did not take part, but I have read somewhere else that J-M Ballestre threatened to suspend him from the Monaco GP so he took place and retired at the end of the first lap. According to MS his brother Wilson did this, so is someone confusing the Fittipaldi siblings?

 

Apologies if this has been discussed before but I can't find mention of it.

The red light should have come on when Balestre's name was mentioned, he wasn't the President until 1978, and wasn't involved in this fiasco. Emerson did not start the race. He made sure he didn't by not driving a lap fast enough to qualify.

[chr1s]

Yes, he did one slow lap with his arm in the air.

[PeterElleray]

Yes, he did one slow lap with his arm in the air.

as recorded on film at the time, but i can't post it.

[Nigel Beresford]

Pete Lyons’ Autocourse report says Emerson “had the courage of his convictions and did the bare legal minimum of practice, and refused to start the race at all.”

[funformula]

Montjuïc, Barcelona, 1975 F1 Grand Prix

 

As can be seen on the youtube video footage Fittipaldi wasn´t among the cars starting from the grid. He might´ve been starting from the pit lane but I doubt.

Edited by funformula, Yesterday, 18:25.

[Nick Planas]

as recorded on film at the time, but i can't post it.

I believe that was in practice.

[Nigel Beresford]

I can’t remember where this came from

[LittleChris]

Not sure I'd be risking sitting on that Armco 😳

[jtremlett]

Not sure I'd be risking sitting on that Armco

I'm rather more concerned about starting the race while there were still people wondering about between the cars on the grid (in the video linked above).  Terrible safety.  Great circuit though.  

[B Squared]

Not sure I'd be risking sitting on that Armco 😳

When I was working for CART in the '80s and '90s, someone downstream from my station at Road America had their foot resting on the guardrail and when a car impacted fairly close to my area, the resonance through the guardrail snapped the guy's leg.

[B Squared]

Terrible safety.

And 50 years ago. My acquaintance Mark Donohue got killed later that season, it pained me deeply, but I blamed no one. He was a race driver at the top level and it was the accepted risk for that era.

Automobile Year 23 has Emerson flying home to Switzerland race day morning of the '75 Spanish GP.

[BRG]

Not sure I'd be risking sitting on that Armco

Not to worry, the teams had been round and tightened up all the bolts, so no danger of a sudden collapse.