On
10th September the tenth round of the 1972 season was staged at the Autodromo
Nazionale di Monza. At the Italian GP Emerson Fittipaldi was one step away from
winning his first Formula One world title. The Brazilian driver led the
standings with 27 points ahead of Stewart and Hulme thanks to four victories in
the Grands Prix of Spain, Belgium, England and Austria. From a technical point
of view, the Lotus 72D used by "El rato" had a very low centre of
gravity and was very similar to the car that enabled Jochen Rindt to win the
world title posthumously in 1970. To make up for the many criticisms after the
death of the Austrian driver, Colin Chapman increased the weight of the car
from 530 to 550 kg by using stronger materials. Lotus, however, still feared it
would end up in the clutches of the Italian judiciary after the black weekend
two years earlier and so entered Emerson Fittipaldi in the race under the World
Wide Racing team banner. Half an hour before the start, Lotus technicians
noticed a petrol leak inside the cockpit of Fittipaldi's car. This cast doubt
on the Brazilian driver's participation; but the mechanics performed a miracle
and within twenty minutes dried everything out and changed the fuel tank. For
Emerson Fittipaldi thus came his sixth career victory in front of the Monza
crowd but also the drivers' title with two races to spare. The driver from Sao Paulo was also
the first Brazilian champion, and at 25 years of age, the youngest world
champion in Formula 1 history.....