A new documentary being made about the Fittipaldi Formula 1 team is being worked on in Brazil, with the director making an appeal to help finish it.
“Icaru’s Wings” is a documentary in development by Itoby Filmes, all about the only Brazilian Formula 1 team to have ever entered the World Championship.
Fittipaldi Automotive was set up in 1974 by Wilson Fittipaldi and brother Emerson, with Copersucar as their sponsor.
Emerson Fittipaldi scheduled to appear at Ayrton Senna festival in Brazil.
Wilson was to drive the first car in 1975, before a late season replacement in the form of Arturo Merzario took over for the final two races. In 1976, there was a shock as 1974 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi left McLaren in order to join the family team. He raced there until his retirement in 1980, with just a solitary podium with the team coming in his final season.
The team’s near decade in Formula 1 was a colourful, if not particularly successful one. While the team were capable of scoring points sporadically, success eluded drivers like Ingo Hoffmann, Alex Ribeiro and Keke Rosberg over the years.
Former Ligier designer Ricardo Divila was the designer of Fittipaldi’s initial cars, while former Brabham, McLaren, Lotus & Ensign designer Ralph Bellamy designed the 1978 effort. Later cars were penned by the late Harvey Postlethwaite, while Adrian Newey’s first job in motorsport after college was as an aerodynamicist with the team.
The team folded in late 1982 but, despite their lack of success, remained popular through the Fittipaldi connections – racing royalty in Brazil.
“Icaru’s Wings” is now in the editing stages of completion, leading the director Fernando Dourado to call for some public assistance to finish it entirely. He’s asking for the public to submit any photos or videos of the cars that they may have at home.
Speaking to FormulaSpy, Ricardo Divila explained: “The problem is the lack of background images to flesh out the story, so not to be only race shots and interviews. Hence, reaching out to the general public who might have the paddock, pit or any other images of the period team was active. It has managed to get some interesting stuff in Brazil and now looking towards other countries to add. Considering the period was the start of home movie cameras, Super8 etc, there should be many people out there who have footage from the period.”
If you think you can help with photos or footage for use in the film, you can contact the director on +5511942484949 or on Itoby Film’s website.
