Emerson Fittipaldi: “If you put Alonso in a Red Bull he would be as fast as Verstappen”

Emerson Fittipaldi (December 12, 1946, Sao Paulo), two-time F1 world champion (1972 and 1974), he continued to live his passion for motorsports from very close with his son Emmo Fittipaldi Jr, 16 years old. Supporting his son’s career towards Formula 1 has always been his priority, the center of his life, and at 76 years old he accompanies Emmo to every track he takes, following in his footsteps. An example of this is what MD saw a month ago at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. There, Emmo Jr was tested in Eurocup3 in the team of Alex Palou (Palou Motorsport), after competing in the Danish F4 in 2021, the Italian F4 in 2022 at the age of 15 and the European Regional Formula in 2023, always learning as one of the youngest on the grid.

Behind the box, standing, remained the legendary Emerson Fittipaldi. Sometimes, there is coffee in hand. Others, talking to Alex Palou, listening to the engineers or looking at the time table. There is always a basic rule that not all parents understand: never interfere with your child’s work. I just want to hear, see and let it fly. There, behind the scenes, Emerson wants to attend Mundo Deportivo to talk about his son’s future, about F1. and how pilots have changed since their time. And also from Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso. Emerson retired at the age of 49 competing in American CART, at the highest level, and is one of the most powerful voices to talk about how far the Oviedo rider will go in the coming years.

What advice does Emmo Fittipaldi give his son to improve?

The advice my father gave me: it’s a very difficult sport and you have to have a lot of passion, a lot of dedication and work hard, because it’s a sport with different circumstances. It is not like tennis players with a racket or in soccer where there is a ball. It is a very complicated sport that you have to devote 24 hours a day.

Whole day?

sleep dream Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. All, thinking about motorsports.

How do you do that?

With love and dedication.

How do you rate Emmo’s progression?

Very good. I’m so happy. This is the second time he is competing in the Eurocup3 category with Alex Palou’s team. He is the fastest on the team in his laps and I am very happy with his progress. I am very happy with the work of the team, Alex and the mechanics and engineers. This is a very hard working group.

Will there be another Fittipaldi in F1 in the future?

I hope God will help us a lot to get there (laughs).

Ride until you are 49 years old in CART. How do you explain that Fernando Alonso is still at his peak at 42 years old and continues to be one of the best on the grid?

Fernando is very good physically, and mentally too, he has a lot of drive to win and he has motivation. Like a lion. He was a lion in the circuits. It is there to attack. Always finish the races very well. In America we say that drivers like Fernando Alonso are “carreristas” (a racer), a type of driver who when he starts on the grid is always first. He is very fast and I love watching him compete. This is important. The competitive level of F1 is at the level of important global sports such as football, tennis, basketball… if an older athlete is physically fit, it shows that they still have the autonomy to achieve results in an older age I really like it because this is what I tried to do (laughs). I admire Fernando so much.

Do you think you can keep going until you’re 49 like you did?

Of course you can. Calm, as long as he wants. He is well prepared for physical competition. When I was 40 years old I remember that I started a special diet from a trainer. You have to compensate for the lack of age in other things. You need more effort, more physical preparation, a high energy diet to compensate for the age of your physique.

Alonso also eats breakfast, lunch and dinner while thinking about F1, as you say. Do you tell your son to take an example from Alonso and pay attention to the things Fernando does on the track?

The four or five best in F1 are always examples for the youngsters. Fernando is an example of resistance, of peak performance at an older age. And of course we will look into it. The same way we look at Alex Palou. Emmo wants to compete in the Indianapolis 500 one day. Alex is doing a great job in IndyCar. Two great champions. This year he was looking at the Indy500, which touched him at the pit exit. Otherwise, science points to Alex Palou winning that 500 Miles at 99%. He deserved to win the Indy500.

You are one of the drivers who achieved F1 success at a young age, at the age of 23 years, 9 months and 22 days. Only 11 drivers have overtaken him, including Schumacher, Alonso, Leclerc, Vettel and the youngest of all, Max Verstappen. What do you see in Max Verstappen?

He is experiencing a top phase of his career, with a very good team and a very good car. He is performing like when Hamilton dominated with Mercedes for several years. He takes advantage of it. He as a driver, the team and the car form a very competitive combination and are at their best.

Is Verstappen better than Alonso or Hamilton?

He is very fast, but surely, if you put Alonso in a Red Bull, he is fast as well.

What do you think of today’s drivers? Jacques Villeneuve once told me that in his time drivers were idolized when they achieved victories, but today’s drivers are idolized even if no one wins races.

I believe that in the history of F1, the 4 or 5 best in the championship have always been very special drivers. If you put the 4 or 5 best so far in a car from my time, in the 70s, they would give me a lot of headaches, for sure (laughs). They will go very fast. They are phenomena with a very special talent, for sure. The main difference now is that with all the telemetry they have… there’s one word that says it all: analytics. Now all the details.

For example, Emmo (his son) is doing the F4 test at Mugello. And I always say that a father can never act as a ‘coach’. Here, the ‘coach’ is Alex Palou and not me. And at Mugello I was listening to the engineer talking to Emmo, who is 15 years old and the youngest in the category, because he always competes in karting with the lowest age categories. Like a tennis player: If you play against someone who is better than you, you will learn more. You may not get the result you want, but you will learn a lot at a young age. That’s why we always try to make sure it’s in the lowest age categories. Going back to Mugello… We were there doing an F4 test and the engineer told him: “Emmo, in turn 1 you can brake 4 meters ahead.” Which… reaches 230 km/h! Unbelievable.

How things have changed…

In my day, if you had told me that, I would have told you that you were crazy. Today, the track is measured in centimeters. Retail. The drivers chip is different now. It is an analytical chip. It’s not like it was in my time. But this is something very difficult for current pilots. It’s a big challenge because they go down to the smallest detail: they know the pressure on the brake pedal, where to brake, the position of the steering wheel, when to accelerate… it’s all numbers. And you have to study everything. Today’s drivers have grown to a different chip.

I remember when I tested a Lotus Formula 1 car 4 or 5 years ago, Kimi Raikkonen’s, at Paul Ricard, and an engineer spent 30 minutes explaining to me what I could do with the steering wheel . I told the engineer: ‘Put the best setting and I won’t touch it, I just want to drive.’ This is something very difficult for pilots because they have many possibilities for adjustments, changing this and that… position 3, balance, etc.

And before it was just piloting.

It’s different. Now it’s a different challenge.

Today’s pilots play video games and their predecessors were rock stars. They are different.

The conditions of the sport are what are different. For example, when drivers talk to the press, now they have a team public relations officer who monitors what they say so they don’t talk too much. In my time, the pilot who wanted to speak spoke. So, now, they cannot show their true selves. That’s what’s missing.

What I like about you, every time we interview you, you show your true personality. Thanks a lot.

Thank you (laughs).