Fittipaldi FD04 car-by-car histories

Emerson Fittipaldi finished sixth at the 1976 British GP in the Copersucar-Fittipaldi FD03. Copyright Gillfoto 2017. Used with permission.

Emerson Fittipaldi joined his brother's F1 team for 1976 and drove Richard Divila's new Fittipaldi FD04 design. Despite early promise, the season was a huge disappointment.

The original 1975 FD series of cars had allowed Fittipaldi Automotive to learn about F1, but a significant step up was required for 1976. The more conventional Fittipaldi FD04 was designed again by Richard Divila, but its construction was arranged in England by team manager Jo Ramirez from the team’s new base in Slough Trading Estate. Although portrayed as being fabricated in Brazil, the first two monocoques were fabricated by Cyril Malem in Dorset. In November 1975, Emerson Fittipaldi shook the F1 world by announcing that he would be joining Fittipaldi Automotive for 1976.

The first GP of the 1976 season was in Brazil in January. Early tests went very well and Emerson was third in each of the opening two practice sessions, then fourth in the final session. He started from fifth on the grid and made a storming start to run third, but was almost immediately troubled by a misfire and dropped back. Numerous pit stops left him 13th at the finish. Sadly, that qualifying performance was never repeated, as Emerson insisted on design changes that did not work, and then his motivation disappeared. Only one of his grid positions was higher than 15th after that, at Monaco after he’d become very annoyed by his car running out of fuel. Championship points were scored only at Monaco and at Brands Hatch, the latter thanks to James Hunt’s disqualification. Ingo Hoffman was unable to qualify a second FD04 at any of his races. The team’s morale sank and Richard Divila requested that a new designer was brought in for 1977.

The FD04s were used again at the start of 1977 until Dave Baldwin's new Fittipaldi F5 was ready. Emerson's mojo had returned and he finished fourth in Argentina and Brazil, then fifth at Long Beach.

All four FD04s remained in Brazil, and one had been restored by Dana by 2017.

These histories last updated on 09 Dec 2020.