Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 12th December 1946, Emerson’s father was a football and motorsport commentator after World War II who started to dip his toes into the racing world when Emerson was a young boy. Emerson’s mum, too, took up racing as a weekend hobby. It didn’t take long for Emerson to be bitten my the motorsport bug, but as he couldn’t race cars in Brazil until he was 17 he found himself racing motorcycles at the age of 14. From there he raced bikes and even hydrofoils, became a mechanic, and even started selling car accessories at the age of 15, building exhausts, steering wheels and even magnesium wheels.
When he turned 17 he took up karting and just a year later he was racing cars, starting with a Renault Gordini in 1965. His first race didn’t go to plan, as brake failure caused him to spear off the track upside down, but with successes in other cars in other series over the following years, by 1970 he was on the Formula 1 grid with Lotus. A speedy ascension to F1? You could say that, but as his 14 wins and two Drivers’ Championships prove, he was a talent that deserved time at the top.
So here’s a brief look back at his 14 Grand Prix wins with Lotus and McLaren.