Fittipaldi's prophetic title that justified his McLaren switch
Autosport magazine readers voted 1974-82 as the greatest era of Formula 1. Emerson Fittipaldi bagged two world titles during that period, but that could all have been different had he gone for a bigger team over the emerging McLaren outfit
It's the 1974 Dutch Grand Prix, and there's an odd sight at Zandvoort: Emerson Fittipaldi has a divining rod in his hands, given to him by Clive Hulme - a renowned mystic, Victoria Cross recipient and father to Emerson's McLaren team-mate Denny. As it twitches and turns to point towards him, Emmo laughs out loud, and Clive declares: "You're going to be world champion!"
With Fittipaldi beaten into third place that day in June by a Ferrari 1-2, it looked like Hulme Sr's prediction was wide of the mark. But Fittipaldi knew what he needed - Goodyear's stiffer and wider tyres were holding his McLaren M23 back - and designer Gordon Coppuck knew how to fix it.
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