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How Chapman's wonder wedge won Fittipaldi's heart

Emerson Fittipaldi has driven many successful cars - in Formula 1 and Indycars - but his all-time favourite remains the machine in which he took his first world championship in 1972, which celebrates its 50th birthday this year

Charles Bradley Oct 7, 2020, 3:47 PM

Double world champion Emerson Fittipaldi is a man inextricably linked with the Lotus 72. He took his first world championship grand prix win in a 72, on just his fourth start, scored his first title in the car in 1972, and won nine of his 14 victories in Colin Chapman's wedge-shaped wonder.

Fifty years on from the first time he drove a 72, Fittipaldi doesn't hold back when it comes to lavishing praise on both the car's poise and Chapman's ingenuity. Remember too that he won his second title in McLaren's iconic M23.

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Author Charles Bradley

Charles Bradley is Motorsport.com’s Global Editor in Chief. After spending five years in the aerospace industry in his native North Wales, while working weekends as a freelance writer at racetracks around the UK, Charles joined the staff of Motoring News in the heart of London. He transferred to the nascent Autosport.com team in 2000 before transitioning to the magazine, becoming its Editor between 2011 and 2014. Charles then upped sticks to work in America, as Motorsport.com’s Editor in Chief, where he created the multi-national and multi-lingual editorial team that quickly became the world’s most-read motorsport website. He was instrumental in delivering three of the biggest Global F1 Fan Surveys in sports history and is also a multiple award-winning scriptwriter. Charles is an overseas member of the Guild of Motoring Writers. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife Helen – and a cat that’s named after Serbia’s top football club.