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#237 1974 Brazilian Grand Prix

2022-08-30 01:00

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#1974, Fulvio Conti,

#237 1974 Brazilian Grand Prix

Two weeks after the Argentine Grand Prix, opening round of the 1974 World Championship series, the Formula One teams moved on to Brazil where the 4.9-

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Two weeks after the Argentine Grand Prix, opening round of the 1974 World Championship series, the Formula One teams moved on to Brazil where the 4.9-mile Interlagos circuit at Sao Paulo is the venue for the second Grand Prix of the season. Although all the teams stayed out in South America between the two races, there was much rushing backwards and forwards by certain team managers and owners between Argentina and England, then back to Brazil, Colin Chapman went straight back from Buenos Aires to have a brief look at his power boating interests at the Paris boat show before turning his attentions back to his racing team and returning to its Norfolk base. By the time Chapman left again for Sao Paulo, his excess baggage contained some fresh uprights for his pair of Lotus 72s, actually being components used on the car last season, the intention being to provide different pick-up points which would cater for the 28 inch diameter Goodyears which the teams now run on their rear wheel rims. Chapman also brought along a strengthened battery carrier to ensure that there was no repetition of Peterson’s unnecessary problem at Buenos Aires, while March designer Robin Herd took a crate of spares out for the new March 741s including wider rear wheel rims and revised brackets to reposition the side water radiators and prevent the rear tyres from fouling them. The Shadow Team were left in a dilemma following the opening lap collision at Buenos Aires, for the monocoque of Jarier’s DN1/6A was badly distorted and irreparable for the Brazilian race. Alan Rees therefore flew home after the Argentine Grand Prix to supervise the dispatch of another 1972 chassis, DN1/2A, complete except for the engine bay, rear wheels, rear suspension, engine and gearbox. These undamaged components from the crashed car are going to be mated to the new front half in time for Jarier to practice in the first session on the Friday. However, it was a close call, as the customs authorities as Sao Paulo’s Viracopos international airport put on a display of Latin American disinterest which resulted in the car sitting for three days on the tarmac before they permitted it to clear customs. The lack of co-operation was an unfortunate feature of the meeting, for not only was the Shadow delayed, but several cars arriving from Argentina were held up at the same airport. 

 

Eventually Max Mosley and Tim Parnell both put their foot down with the appropriate officials, and they finally came to their senses following a threat by John Surtees to withdraw his TS16 for Brazilian driver Carlos Pace unless the organisers intervened. Eventually everything was sorted out in time for the cars to appear at the first session, very early on Friday morning, and the atmosphere at the circuit was far more co-operative than that encountered at the airport. Both Ronnie Peterson and Jacky Ickx had spent a couple of days at Buenos Aires after the Argentine Grand Prix testing their Lotus 72s, both drivers feeling rather happier than they had at the previous race. The Ferraris of Regazzoni and Lauda, the Marches of Stuck and Ganley and the Lolas of Hill and Edwards were also amongst those who lingered at Buenos Aires, the latter two drivers swapping cars. Hill’s Lola had suffered engine failure at Buenos Aires, so he switched to Edwards’ chassis for testing and then decided to stay with it for the Brazilian Grand Prix. In the Tyrrell camp, it was decided that Scheckter’s 006/2 should run with torsion bars again on the rear, as tried in practice in Argentina, while Depailler should stick to coil springs on the rear of 005. Quietly confident is the Marlboro Team Texaco drivers, Emerson Fittipaldi knows Interlagos very well as his home is just a few miles down the road, and Denny Hulme earning a quiet confidence booster with his win two weeks ago in the Argentine Grand Prix. Mike Hailwood again driving the Yardley-sponsored McLaren M23, while Mass and Pace represented Surtees with the same cars as they’d driven in Buenos Aires. Reutemann and Robarts are racing in the Gordon Murray-designed Brabham BT44s, the B.R.M. team brought along its French trio Beltoise, Pescarlo and Migault, Merzario have the Frank Williams entry, Hunt handled the Hesketh March and Watson again driving the private ex-works Brabham owned by Hexagon of Highgate. Von Opel again, decided not to race his Ensign, having already withdrawn from the Argentine Grand Prix following a disappointing show in practice. The Interlagos circuit is a demanding, undulating 4.9-mile permanent circuit with an extremely bumpy surface. It combines just about every type of corner, gradient and camber to sort out the real Grand Prix drivers and has a couple of really long straights, one uphill and one down. 

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Last year’s outright circuit record was shared between Emerson Fittipaldi’s Lotus 72 and Denny Hulme’s McLaren M19-in 2'35"0 on their way to first and third places in the 1973 Brazilian Grand Prix. But the pole position time, 2'30"1, was established by Peterson’s Lotus 72 and will be the real marker to aim for in first practice. The circuit seems quite slower compared to last year. One of the main reasons for this appeared to be that another twelve months of hot and cold weather had made the circuit a lot more bumpy than it had been in the past. Certainly it is a very dusty circuit, and several cars suffered jammed throttle mechanisms during the course of practice. Peterson is the first driver to record a really fast lap with 2'34"10. Out on the circuit the Swede is sliding his Lotus around with great verve and he certainly seems to be working a lot harder than Ferrari driver Niki Lauda who clocked 2'34"20. Once again, Regazzoni is lapping fast, with 2'35"05 while both Fittipaldi and Reutemann broke the 2'35"0 barrier to slip in ahead of the second Ferrari. Ickx is quietly going on with the job of getting used to the circuit in a Cosworth-engined Grand Prix car, but the UOP Shadow Team is running into serious overheating difficulties with Revson’s Shadow DN3/1A. The American is complaining that the car ran slightly too hot at Buenos Aires, but it was clear that in the extreme heat of Brazil, he couldn’t manage more than two or three laps without the needle on the water temperature gauge soaring way up the dial. In addition, after the billiardsmooth surface of the Buenos Aires’ circuit, the new Shadow isn't getting on very well with the bumps of Interlagos and his resultant 2'36"82 is not very encouraging. Team mate Janet barely broke the 2'40"0 barrier in the older Shadow, so Alan Rees looks even more glum than usual. Scheckter is unable to decide whether he liked the torsion bar arrangement round Interlagos, but Ken Tyrrell and Derek Gardner thought it best to persevere with it for the time being, but the South African driver’s team mate Depailler was very mediocre, clocking a best time of 2'43"98 in the first session, only improving by 0.2 sec. in the second timed stint. The little Frenchman really didn’t seems to know what the matter is, just complaining that the car was undriveable. Up to that point the team has been altering his car away from Scheckter’s set up, but subsequently chose to revert to as near as his preference as possible. 

 

That seemed better for Depailler on the second day, but although he is appreciably quicker, neither Tyrrell driver is making much of an impression, while Hulme, the championship leader, managed 2'35"54. A promising practice time at Buenos Aires for Lord Hesketh’s March driven by Hunt, is not repeated at Interlagos. The March 731 was invariably a twitchy car to handle over bumpy circuits, and Hunt couldn’t get to grips with the Brazilian track at all. But the car is suffering from other problems as well. After lapping in 2'37"8 Hunt came into the pits to complain of severe overheating, and the March was pushed round to the back of the pits for further examination. At first glance it looked as though a head gasket had failed, but Harvey Postlethwaite decided that the overheating might well be combated by fitting some extra oil coolers. These were fitted before the second session and Hunt took the car out again only to return shortly afterwards to confirm the worst. The team mechanics then settled down to change to their only spare motor for the second day. Down in the March pit there is plenty of juggling with tyres an suspension settings going on, and it is young Stuck who recorded the quickest time of the first session. In the second timed session (just a half hour break was allowed between sessions) it is Fittipaldi who's setting the pace, managing a lap in 2'32"97, a time which is still well over a second off last year’s pace. Subsequently Team Lotus manager Peter Warr looked through the timing sheets for Friday and decided that Peterson had been incorrectly credited with 2'34"40 and got the organisers to alter it to 2'33"82, thus making him second fastest in that session. In fact, Peterson never improved on that time subsequently, as he was suffering quite badly from heat dehydration and had to be given a glucose injection in the pits to help him. Emerson Fittipaldi and his fans eagerly awaited the Brazilian Grand Prix: on Sunday 27 January 1974, at his home track of Interlagos, the circuit on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Emerson had to take revenge. The tenth place in Argentina disappointed the driver and his supporters, who wanted him to be heir to Stewart's title. And today, on the first day of training, Fittipaldi showed his commitment and anger by setting the fastest lap time in his McLaren: 2'32"97, at an average speed of 187.416 km/h. A very good time, even better than the record set by the Brazilian last year at the wheel of the Lotus (2'35"0). Two seconds less, testifying to the continuous technical progress of the Formula 1 single-seaters. 

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However, according to some timekeepers of the various teams, the organisers would have given Fittipaldi about half a second: with all that, O Rey would still be on top. Behind the unbridled Fittipaldi this first and provisional classification sees three drivers grouped within a hundredth of a second: the Argentine Reutemann, with the Brabham-Ford, the Austrian Lauda, with the Ferrari, and the Swede Peterson, with the Lotus-Ford. Three different cars together, a balance that only Sunday's battle will probably manage to break. Then, another McLaren, Hailwood's, followed by the second Ferrari with Regazzoni and Merzarlo's Iso. The Italian driver cleverly exploited the Swiss driver's slipstream, setting a time that did not reflect the real possibilities of his car. The times on this first day of practice reflected the situation that had emerged in Buenos Aires, with Peterson's Lotus coming into the mix, while Ickx, struggling with a car that was new to him, was still unable to bring himself with the Lotus up to the Swede's level. The former Ferrari driver set the eighth fastest time. At Ferrari everything went well for Lauda while Regazzoni was not very satisfied with the performance of his engine. The Austrian, who tried three different types of tyres, judging those already chosen for the Argentine Grand Prix to be preferable, confirmed his competitiveness, putting himself at the level of experienced drivers like Reutemann and Peterson. Regazzoni had to work hard to snatch the sixth fastest time of the day. Perhaps due to the stifling heat, which disturbed both man and machine, or perhaps for other reasons, the 12-cylinder engine of his car did not push hard enough. For Saturday, however, the engines would be changed on both Lauda's and Regazzoni's 312-B3. Needless to say, Lauda and Ferrari's performance has strengthened the Formula 1 specialists and Brazilian commentators in their belief that the Maranello team is preparing for a top season.

"On Sunday, we will witness a challenge between Fittipaldi, the two Lotuses and the two Ferraris".

 

Little credit is given to the other racing teams, and in particular to Tyrrell, which seems to have disappeared from the scene: the debutants, or almost, Scheckter and Depailler really make Stewart and poor Cevert regret. Conditions are slightly hotter on saturday and Fittipaldi failed to improve his pole winning time, although he got down to 2'33"0, equalling the best he could achieve in unofficial testing a couple of week’s earlier. Shortly afterwards, the Brazilian spun his McLaren M23 at high speed on the fast corner after the pits, but managed to avoid hitting anything. Later in the day Mike Hailwood did the same with the Yardley car, although he had good reason to do so as the right lower wishbone had broken. Hulme is plagued with a water leak in his engine in addition to its apparent reluctance to run properly at low speeds. Reutemann make's some steps forward onto the front row alongside Fittipaldi’s McLaren, lapping his Brabham BT44 in 2'33"21, while Lauda’s Ferrari improved to 2'33"77 to secure a starting position on the inside of row two alongside Peterson. Regazzoni couldn’t join in the final spurt for grid positions, for he was complaining about a peculiar vibration at the rear end of his Ferrari. He's wheeled away behind the pits where it looks like ihe's transmission wil be stripped down to search if the fault lay with the differential. This is also the session in which Ickx put in his quickest time, 2'34"64, making him fifth fastest overall, while Revson was one of the few who managed to set his best time in the final official session with 2'34"66. Both the works Surtees TSI6s are suffering badly over the bumps, Mass changing to stiffer springs after the first day’s efforts and turning in a respectable 2'35"42 time, but Pace looks very despondent over his car’s showing and ended up 0.4 sec. slower than his German team mate. Hulme’s McLaren was between the two Surtees on the grid, while Stuck’s March 741 beat Scheckter’s Tyrrell by 0.1 sec. on during the morning session. Having changed an engine after it started to seize on the first day, John Watson managed to get the Hexagon Brabham BT42 round in 2'36"06 while Beltoise didn't even approach his Friday’s best time of 2'36"49. in the slow and uncompetitive B.R.M. P160. Both his team mates were unimpressive in the extreme. The two Embassy Lola T370s of Graham Hill and Edwards suffered extremely badly over the bumps, Hill only getting down to 2'38"62, a lowly starting position for the new Grand Prix Drivers’ Association President, while Edwards sustained a broken rear aerofoil mounting and suspension during the course of his practice and could never get near the 2'40"0 barrier, let alone beneath it. 

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The Lotus Team tried everything to alleviate his discomfort and he appeared on the race day with strings attached to either side of his helmet, one going to the side of the cockpit and one going down to the shoulders of his overalls. This arrangement stopped his head from jogging about on the fast corners and cut down his feeling of sickness. Sunday, January 27, 1974, the organisers allowed the teams an unofficial half hour session a few hours before the scheduled start of the race, this time it being Tyrrell’s turn not to bother to come out. Unfortunately there was considerable delay in starting the session, for the organisers decided to sweep the track and then douse the pit straight with water to damp down the dust. As the past two days had seen mid-afternoon thunderstorms of considerable ferocity, it seemed to be tempting fate a little to delay the proceedings. The Lotus Team tried everything to alleviate Peterson discomfort and he's appeared on race day with strings attached to either side of his helmet, one going to the side of the cockpit and one going down to the shoulders of his overalls. This arrangement stopped his head from jogging about on the fast corners and cut down his feeling of sickness. Lauda’s Ferrari started to run very roughly during the unofficial session, and there is much attention to the electrical and fuel system in the pits, while Merzario’s Williams rolled to a halt out on the circuit with engine failure and had to be retrieved on the end of a rope. The start was due to take place at 11:30 a m., but the teams were circulated with a release from the organisers stating that the start had been deferred until 12:25 p.m. in order that Merzario’s car may be allowed to start. In fact, the Frank Williams’ mechanics performed one of those feats which only racing mechanics can achieve under intense pressure and actually installed a fresh Cosworth DFV into the Italian’s car in an impressive one hour and twenty minutes’ hard graft. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite quick enough, for the grid is already forming prior to the start as Merzario rushed out onto his five-mile warming-up lap. By this time the grandstands justed before chasing on after the rest of the field which is already half way round the opening lap. 

 

Reutemann lead down the long straight after the pits and up into the twisty section on the infield, but Peterson, ill or not, is challenging him as hard as he knew, the nose of the Lotus almost touching the gearbox of the Brabham. Fittipaldi hung back just a few lengths, but as they burst out onto the home straight, Peterson tried to swing the nose of his Lotus inside the Brabham. But Reutemann is holding a tight line on the inside of the fast right kink before the pits, so the Swede had to allow him the line and they blasted past in one huge crash of sound with Fittipaldi just behind. Then there is a slight gap before Regazzoni, Ickx and Revson, a gap to Mass and then Scheckter, Pace, Lauda’s misfiring Ferrari, Hunt, Hailwood who got boxed in on the first corner, Depailler, Hulme, Pescarolo, Beltoise, Stuck, Robarts, Ganley, Edwards and Migault. Watson tis trailing in a good way back to have his jammed up throttle slides cleared, with Merzario’s Williams was in lonely chase almost half a lap behind. Up into the infield loop on the second lap, Peterson again pulling his Lotus alongside the leading Brabham, but once more Reutemann hung onto his line and forced his rival to drop back. On the second lap the order amongst the leaders remain the same, although further back Pace passed Scheckter and Lauda started to fall away even further down the field. At the tail of the field Edwards is bringing his Lola into the pits with the rear aerofoil hanging at a drunken angle. It is not possible to secure it, so it's removed completely, but the car is too difficult to drive in this unpredictable state, and he bring it in at the end of the following lap to retire. Lauda’s Ferrari dropped four places on the third lap and and he's forced to stop at the pits for good with an incurable misfire. Peterson is putting considerable pressure on Reutemann and the Argentinian is finding it progressively more difficult to resist his challenge. The Brabham has been fitted with a rather softer compound front tyre which is proving to wear much too quickly and lose most of its adhesion after a few laps. On lap four Peterson is again moving alongside the Brabham and this time managed to scramble into first place. Fittipaldi quickly followed Peterson passing the understeering Brabham, and the pair of them starts to pull away from the rest of the field at just over a second a lap. Reutemann is falling slowly back into the clutches of Regazzoni’s Ferrari, while Ickx is having a great go with his Lotus 72, holding the gap to the powerful Ferrari constant for many laps. 

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Revson’s Shadow is a couple of seconds further back and hanging on grimly, none of his mechanics in the pits realising that their car’s water temperature had risen to over 100 °C by the end of the second lap and that it was only a matter of time before the American would have to bring it in and retire. On lap seven Pace pass Mass and a lap later Hulme’s McLaren went through, the young German driver feeling that his car’s handling isn't quite right but not being quite sure as to just why. Ganley’s March 741 is in and out of the pits with a misfiring engine, but the New Zealander stopped for good after nine laps, while the enthusiastic young Stuck is up to eleventh by lap seven and moved ahead of the unhappy Hunt who's  having a disappointing run in the older car, maybe hoping that the new Hesketh, waiting on a lorry in the paddock, will provide the answer to the bumps during the testing that his team planned for the days after the Grand Prix. One by one the leading runners are pushing Reutemann further back as his tyres lost more and more adhesion. Meanwhile Fittipaldi is chasing Peterson as hard as he can, aided only by enthusiastic cheers from thousands of race fans. The torsion bar sprung Lotus is accelerating away from the corners quicker than the McLaren, but Fittipaldi is able to make up ground under braking, although the result seemed to be stalemate.As they rushed down the long hill after the pits at the start of their 16th lap, Fittipaldi execute a neat dive out of his former team mate’s slipstream and rushed into the lead accompanied by vociferous encouragement from the grandstands. Immediately the Brazilian is starting to pull away from Peterson at nearly two seconds a lap. It's becoming obvious what is causing Peterson’s trouble. The right rear tyre on the Lotus is starting to deflate, so Peterson had to forsake second place on lap 19 as he came into the pits to have the offending wheel changed. The Lotus lads carried out their task in speedy style and Peterson resumed the race in tenth place, driving flat out to make up time. With Peterson now down in 10th the pressure is now off for Fittipaldi and the McLaren is just circulating steadily and smoothly, for there is no real chance of Regazzoni making much of a challenge because he was too far back. Ickx’ efforts to get on terms with the Ferrari seemed to be fading as the determined Swiss started to pull away, so the Belgianis now facing a threat from Carlos Pace’s Surtees. 

 

Mass finally realised that a tyre was deflating on his Surtees and came into the pits for a change on lap 21, while Hulme, who was suffering a similar affliction with his front tyre as had Reutemann, dropped nine places with acute understeer and eventually stopped on lap 19 to change both front wheels. Immediately his McLaren is now lapping a full 4 sec. a lap quicker than it had been prior to the stop, although he resumed the race way down in 17th position and with little hope of adding to his Argentinian points score. By lap 23 Stuck is up into seventh position and gaining on Reutemann, so it looks like he will have a chance to end up in the World Championship points if he could keep, clear of the hard-charging Peterson. But a constant velocity joint in the March’s transmission broke on the 24th lap and the Grand Prix novice was left to freewheel to a standstill out on the circuit, Peterson flashing pass a few seconds later to take over seventh place. It was a great disappointment to the March Team. Another driver in trouble is Jody Scheckter. His Tyrrell is bucking around all over the track, so the young South African is feeling very despondent about his Formula One Prospects and finally those to call into the pits on lap 28 to discuss the matter with Ken Tyrrell. On the same lap Peterson went past the disappointed Reutemann into sixth place with little trouble, while Tyrrell gave his young protégé very little sympathy and sent him out with instructions to keep going to the end. Unfortunately Graham Hill’s Lola, Beltoise’ B.R.M. and Hulme’s McLaren had gone past again before he could resume the race. With 12 laps to go, ominous black clouds started to scud across the skies above the circuit and there are specks of water in the air. 11 laps to go and there's a fine mist of rain.Suddenly the circuit is drenched in a torrential summer downpour. Fittipaldi hangin on his advantage, delicately controlling the McLaren as it slid and sideslipped across the puddles which are forming all round the circuit , as he cross the start/finish line to set out on his thirty-second lap, Fittipaldi anxiously pointed upwards in an indication to officials that the race should be stopped. Regazzoni slithered through as the race officials quickly decided that, as more than two-thirds distance had been completed, the race should be stopped. The chequered flag is waved just before Ickx came through to complete his 31st lap, leaving Fittipaldi and Regazzoni to finish their 32nd lap still racing strongly. Motor racing, if there are any, certainly did not favour this Brazilian Grand Prix, which took place on the difficult Interlagos circuit near Sao Paulo and ended with the victory of Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, in the McLaren, ahead of Clay Ragazzoni in his Ferrari.

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The race started almost an hour late and ended about twenty minutes early. The delay in the start was caused by the fact that many spectators, who had spent the night in the stands of the racetrack eating and drinking with their usual carelessness, had thrown bottles of soda, beer and other drinks on the track, especially in front of the pits, from which the cars had to come out for the morning's unofficial practice. So the drivers were forced to start their practice an hour and a half later and the start was delayed. Then, when by then this second episode of the Formula One World Championship was three-quarters of the way through with Fittipaldi leading by 14s over Regazzoni, a heavy rain fell on the racetrack. An emergency meeting of the organising committee was improvised and it was decided to consider the race over, with each of the competitors classified in the position they occupied on lap 31. The spectators, deprived of part of the spectacle, did not protest, however, as the anticipation of the end of the race also marked the anticipation of their idol's victory. In fact, there were nine laps to go before the end of the race, and all it would have taken was the slightest mishap for Fittipaldi to cede first place to Regazzoni. In motor racing you don't know mal. The decision to suspend the race did not find everyone in agreement. A few drivers and many technicians declared that the race could have continued. Regazzoni, however, declared that even if the race had not been suspended, his chances of winning the Brazilian Grand Prix were practically nil. Says the Swiss driver, who with this second place and the third obtained in Argentina leads the Formula One World Championship:

 

"It was a good race, but Fittipaldi was going very fast and I would not have been able to catch him. My car wasn't quite right, also because I couldn't do the tests on Friday and Saturday. For me it was much more important to take the championship lead than to force it today, at the risk of having to stop".
 

Regazzoni is very happy: among other things, he also set the fastest lap. Ferrari, however, confirmed its progress on this day of revenge for Fittipaldi. The World Championship is wide open and this year the men of the Maranello team can play their cards right. The cars, thanks in particular to Lauda, are well prepared and the team, with Luca Montezemolo, has achieved harmony. Says the lawyer, as sports director:

 

"Regazzoni's leading position makes me happy above all for the Ferrari engineer, who over the winter was able to operate perfectly, and today we see the results. In this very delicate moment for Ferrari, we have also offered yet another proof of prestige for Italian sport and work in the world".

 

The Argentine and Brazilian Grand Prix have brought Mannello's team and its die-hard fans a security that is worth more than a victory (which may be a contingent episode): one can have confidence in this renewed 312-B3 and in its men, one can finally count on a valid and highly competitive car. And more progress is imminent: a new version of the 12-cylinder boxer engine is ready and work is being done on another type of suspension. In Buenos Aires Lauda took second place behind Hulme and Regazzoni third; in Sao Paolo the Austrian had to retire, but the Swiss was only beaten by Emerson Flttlpaldl, unleashed on his track and in front of his public. The four points taken in Argentina and the six in Brazil allowed Regazzoni to move to the top of the Formula One World Championship. A precarious position, if you like, given that we are just at the start of the tournament and that Fittlpaldl and Hulme are on nine, nevertheless a prestigious one. It has been a long time since a driver from the Maranello team led this contest of aces. First place in the World Championship rewards the generosity and intelligence of Regazzoni, who exploited his Ferrari with his usual talent. In Buenos Aires Clay was delayed in the early stages by a collision of other drivers and then, despite a spin, he was able to make a formidable comeback; in Sao Paolo he started from the fourth row (the problems he had in practice had prevented him from getting a better qualifying time), but he managed to line up with the group of the firsts and then with Flttlpaldi. Probably, if Clay could have lined up on the first or second row and if his single-seater could have been perfectly adapted to the difficult undulations of the Interlagos circuit, Flttlpaldi would have had to work harder to win and let's not consider the early conclusion of the Grand Prix due to the rain. 

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These facts and Regazzoni's having set the fastest lap in both Argentina and Brazil are the best proof of Ferrari's rediscovered competitiveness. And here it is necessary to address a warm appreciation to Niki Lauda. The Austrian has shown in recent months to be a quiet, reserved man, almost shy of easy publicity and, on the other hand, to possess a natural mechanical sensitivity. He is a driver à la Stewart or Flttlpaldi, not Ickx: he does not disdain long hours of training and fine-tunes with rare skill that delicate device called a Formula 1 single-seater. What's more, Lauda knows how to push on the accelerator: this was confirmed by his second place in Buenos Aires and the third best time in practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix. In Sao Paulo only Flttlpaldi and Reutemann did better than him, that is, the two South Americans, for whom the difficult track of Interlagos really has no secrets. It is enough to see what happens in the other teams where there is no skilled test driver to understand the importance of Lauda; Lotus is panting and Tyrrell has even disappeared from the scene. Add to this the serenity that unites the Maranello clan, the commitment of every element, in the workshop or on the track, the rediscovered balance of a team and an organisation that needed a rudder stroke on the human and technical levels. Enzo Ferrari knew how to impart it at the right time and was lucky enough to find in Luca Montezemolo an intelligent and very fine helper. Now, the other Formula 1 teams are beginning to look at Ferrari with awe again. It once again shines on the scene of an event that is not only technical-sporting, but also reflects commercial and advertising interests, which end up extending to the automotive industry and the countries that each team represents. Ferrari holds high, as always, the prestige of our work in the world. It is a pity that not everyone realises this and that the Maranello team is right now in a delicate commercial situation, especially determined by the speed limits imposed in Italy. Apart from any other consideration, it would be unfortunate if Maranello could not continue peacefully in its sporting endeavours. Nor, so far, have they devised a Grand Prix for tractors or buses.


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