Emerson Fittipaldi, sensational breakthrough

After track successes, a possible new career at the doorstep.

Emerson Fittipaldi from engines to politics. The 75-year-old Formula 1 world champion in 1972 (at the wheel of Lotus) and 1974 (in McLaren) will run in the next elections in Italy. He has in fact said yes to the proposal of Giorgia Meloni, who, according to ‘Il Giornale,’ convinced him after a long phone call. He will therefore run for Fratelli d’Italia for a Senate seat.

Fittipaldi, whose father has Lucanian ancestry (he was originally from Trecchina, a small town in the province of Potenza, Basilicata), will run in the South American constituency and according to ‘Il Giornale’ will aim to introduce the immediate eligibility of oriundi athletes, without any barrier limit, in all sports leagues.

The hugely popular ‘Emmo’ is hardly the first driver in Formula 1 history to turn to politics. In 2011 former Minardi and Benetton driver Alessandro Nannini ran for mayor of Siena, later entering the city council. Similar fate, moreover, to that of Gian Carlo Minardi himself, who in 2010 instead ran for office in Faenza. The best known case, however, is that of Carlos Reutemann: for years Fittipaldi’s rival on the track, the Argentine former Ferrari driver was a senator and even governor of the province of Santa Fe.