Emerson Fittipaldi vs Denny Hulme
Champion of Champions
Emerson Fittipaldi and Denny Hulme were team mates at McLaren in 1974 – though the comparison does not flatter Hulme.
That was his final year in the sport, while Fittipaldi was at the peak of his powers, winning his second championship that year.
Hulme got his break in F1 through Jack Brabham, who he worked for as a mechanic before starting his first championship races in 1965. The following season was a breakthrough year for Brabham as he won the championship in his own car.
Hulme went into the 1967 season having never previously won a race. But while Brabham frequently hit trouble running new parts on his car, Hulme’s Brabham saw the chequered flag in nine out of 11 races, and it was in the top four every time. He won at Monte-Carlo and the Nurburgring, and took the title from his team mate.
With that he joined another driver running his own team – fellow Kiwi Bruce McLaren. Hulme went into the final two races of 1968 level on points with championship leader Graham Hill, but he missed out on a second title after crashing out at Watkins Glen and in Mexico – the latter an enormous shunt caused by a suspension breakage.
McLaren was killed in 1970 – the same year Jochen Rindt lost his life, which prompted Fittipaldi’s promotion at Lotus. He quickly delivered on his potential, winning his fourth career race at Watkins Glen.
But 1971 was a difficult season as the team struggled to get to grips with its new car, the 72, and Fittipaldi was briefly sidelined after being injured in a road accident. After getting a handle on the new car, he clinched the championship in 1972, becoming the youngest driver ever to do so.
Fittipaldi started 1973 with a pair of wins but came under increased pressure from new team mate Ronnie Peterson as the season wore on. Jackie Stewart claimed his title back from Fittipaldi.
That led him to cut his ties with Lotus and join McLaren. He paired up with Hulme, who had won once with the competitive new M23 in 1973. Hulme won the season-opener at Buenos Aires, but come the end of the season it was Fittipaldi who won the title in the final round.
While Hulme headed into retirement, Fittipaldi spent a second season with McLaren before making the surprise decision to drive for his brother Wilson’s team. In five years the team tasted little success, second place for Fittipaldi in Brazil in 1978 being the notable exception.
Which of these drivers should go through to the next round of the Champion of Champions? Vote for which you think was best below and explain who you voted for and why in the comments.
| Emerson Fittipaldi | Denny Hulme | |
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| Titles | 1972, 1974 | 1967 |
| Second in title year/s | Jackie Stewart, Clay Regazzoni | Jack Brabham |
| Teams | Lotus, McLaren, Copersucar, Fittipaldi | Brabham, McLaren |
| Notable team mates | Ronnie Peterson, Denny Hulme, Jochen Mass | Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Emerson Fittipaldi |
| Starts | 144 | 112 |
| Wins | 14 (9.72%) | 8 (7.14%) |
| Poles | 6 (4.17%) | 1 (0.89%) |
| Modern points per start1 | 6.90 | 8.39 |
| % car failures2 | 25.69 | 25.89 |
| Modern points per finish3 | 9.29 | 11.33 |
| Notes | Won in his fourth F1 start | Took title off team mate Brabham in 1967 |
| Spent five seasons with Fittipaldi team after winning second title | Moved to McLaren the following year and came close to retaining his crown | |
| Formerly the youngest ever world champion | Won the first race of 1974 but retired at the end of the year | |
| Bio | Emerson Fittipaldi | Denny Hulme |
1 How many points they scored in their career, adjusted to the 2010 points system, divided by the number of races they started
2 The percentage of races in which they were not classified due to a mechanical failure
3 How many points they scored in their career, adjusted to the 2010 points system, divided by the number of starts in which they did not suffer a race-ending mechanical failure
Which was the better world champion driver?
- Emerson Fittipaldi (82%)
- Denny Hulme (18%)
Total Voters: 530
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Champion of Champions
- Ayrton Senna voted Champion of Champions by F1 Fanatic readers
- Champion of Champions in stats
- Champion of Champions Final: Senna vs Schumacher
- Ayrton Senna vs Juan Manuel Fangio
- Michael Schumacher vs Alain Prost
- Ayrton Senna vs Jack Brabham
- Juan Manuel Fangio vs Jackie Stewart
- Alain Prost vs Niki Lauda
- Jim Clark vs Michael Schumacher
- Jack Brabham vs Lewis Hamilton
Images © Gillfoto via Flickr (Fittipaldi), Gerry Swetsky (Hulme)
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders) said on 10th January 2011, 14:59
I actually forgot Denny Hulme even won the title…. he has to be the most obscure champion in F1 history, surely?
Chalky (@chalky) said on 10th January 2011, 15:24
It was for me, until I bought Grand Prix Legends for my PC over 10 years ago and looked up who won the 1967 title.
schooner (@schooner) said on 10th January 2011, 22:45
As a long time fan of his, I hate to say it, but you’re probably right.
Bleu (@bleu) said on 10th January 2011, 15:18
When thinking about champions and seeing first round is mostly multiple champion vs. one-time champion, I felt Fittipaldi is among those who could struggle from the multiple champions. But, as he was drawn among Hulme I still vote for Emmo. Anyway, this is the pair where I can’t see either getting past next round into top eight.
Ben Needham (@ben-n) said on 10th January 2011, 15:57
Who’s left then?
Off the top of my head I can think of:
1x:
Vettel
Button
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Hunt
D.Hill
P.Hill
Andretti
Rindt
Multiple x:
G.Hill
Stewart
Prost
Senna
Brabham!
Unless I’ve missed anyone, that means some 1x drivers will need to be paired up!
Who’s everyone’s favourite for the top 4?
BasCB (@bascb) said on 10th January 2011, 16:12
Hunt was up against Ascari http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/01/08/alberto-ascari-vs-james-hunt-cofc/
Ben Needham (@ben-n) said on 10th January 2011, 16:21
My apologies!
BasCB (@bascb) said on 10th January 2011, 16:18
You might put Senna or Prost up with Damon Hill, they were team mates for a couple of races after all / a season.
And I would put up the most recent champs against each other. Button and Hamilton as they are team mates, or Vettel vs. Button and Kimi vs. Lewis as they were up against each other in their WDC years.
Ben Needham (@ben-n) said on 10th January 2011, 16:23
Yep, that’d be good! That would be interesting results! I could see Button going out first round, but not sure about the other 3!
Ben Needham (@ben-n) said on 10th January 2011, 16:24
Made another mistake! Prost has been up against Rosberg already! Dear me, apologies!
BasCB (@bascb) said on 10th January 2011, 16:30
Right, i forgot about that as well. So that would be Senna vs. Damon Hill then?
Ben Needham (@ben-n) said on 10th January 2011, 16:32
Which, I think we all agree would be a rather one sided contest! Which is a shame as I like Damon Hill… he wouldn’t beat any of the remaining multiple champions on here though!
Ral (@ral) said on 10th January 2011, 23:11
As a Raikkonen fan, I am starting to fear a matchup with either Prost or Senna. :(
mrgrieves (@mrgrieves) said on 10th January 2011, 16:28
I Went for Fittipaldi. Two hard fought world title win including Beating Lauda in the Ferrari which went on to be the strongest combination of the era. Theres no doubt he ruined his carear joining Wilson’s team but this is about best driver so Emmo wins for me
0634 (@0634) said on 10th January 2011, 16:36
The both were probably equaly strong. I voted fot Emmo, pure because he won more. For the rest of it, they we’re both very good champs, but not top-ten-ever material.
Icthyes (@icthyes) said on 10th January 2011, 17:28
I voted for Hulme, pretty much because many people will probably be finding themselves in the same situation last year, i.e. discovering this guy even existed.
But it’s more than that. I’ve always tried to approach the votes by the criteria the series is based on, but I’ll allow myself this one indulgence. Becoming world champion is hard and after hearing a lot of rubbish how Webber would have been an undeserving champion (mainly from a few passionate individuals), I thought I would honour that in this vote.
IrishF1 (@anto) said on 10th January 2011, 17:30
Emmo, definitely. He won in his 1st season. How many drivers have achieved that? Hulme didn’t start winning until the year he won the title, but then again it was only his 3rd season. I’d still say Fittipaldi, he was a lot more successful despite spending the last 5 years of his career at a backmarker team.
Rocky (@rocky) said on 10th January 2011, 17:37
This is a tougher one then I thought it would be but then looking at the stats and reading some great comments it became quite close.
I have good memories of Denny from CanAm at Mosport, but better memories of Emerson in the JPS.
So being undecided at that point I went back to my first impression and voted Emerson Fittipaldi
skodarap (@skodarap) said on 10th January 2011, 18:00
No brainer really, Hulme.
To take a title in front of Brabham, Stewart, Clark, Hill, Surtees – you just don’t do that if you’re not “great”.
Icthyes (@icthyes) said on 10th January 2011, 19:22
To be fair, Stewart was driving in a BRM team heavily into its decline,q
Icthyes (@icthyes) said on 10th January 2011, 19:28
To be fair, Stewart was driving in a BRM team heavily into its decline, Surtees was aging in a rubbish Honda and Lotus (Hill and Clark) were in transition to the 49. But credit to Hulme, he also beat Brabham in his own team.
Antranik (@antranik) said on 10th January 2011, 18:36
I know very little of these two drivers, but after reading the comments and looking at the stats I chose Emerson, but not by much.
Marco said on 10th January 2011, 19:17
Personally I consider Fittipaldi as a bit better driver then Hulme, but both are not in my top 30 of Formula One drivers…
kowalsky (@kowalsky) said on 10th January 2011, 22:19
not top ten someone said. I can cope with that, but not top 30!!!! come on. That’s nonesense.
I think emerson is a top ten. In the mold of mika, nelson piquet, mansell or andretti. And a little behind lauda, stewart, fangio, prost, schumacher, clark and senna.
Anybody outthere is with me, or am i crazy?
Hamish said on 11th January 2011, 2:11
My ten would go something like this:
Senna
Clark
Prost
Fangio
G Villeneuve
G Hill
Stewart
Piquet (Snr)
K Rosberg
Montoya (yes, Montoya)
Each to their own though.
Marco said on 11th January 2011, 12:15
Yes, for me clearly NO TOP 30 for Fittipaldi and Hulme, because I am looking at the way HOW their top results were achieved, if only because of other retirements or because of their pace and strength…
In terms of laps led is
Fittipaldi 39th and Hulme 40th in official statistics, which is quite poor, especially for the Brazilian who is 2x World champion… Using the percentage
laps led/race attended, he will be even the worst of all champions… So, overated as hell…
schooner (@schooner) said on 10th January 2011, 22:37
Back in the early 70′s, I was as big a fan of the Can-Am series as I was F1. Getting to watch the likes of Denny Hulme, Revson, Stewart, Cevert, Donohue, et al, have at it in what was essentially an unrestricted formula was a sight to behold. The McLaren M8D and M20 were absolute brutes, and Hulme seemed to be particularly suited to manhandling those incredible machines. I’ve always liked him for that. But we’re talking F1 here, and it was a tough choice. On the strength of almost double the amount of wins, and 2 titles over 1, I had to (somewhat reluctantly) vote for Fittipaldi. Close call.
Olivier said on 11th January 2011, 0:48
Fittipaldi makes my top 20 and Hulme doesn’t, so this one goes to the Brazilian.
slowhand (@slowhand) said on 11th January 2011, 2:11
schooner – Thanks for remembering Hulme in the CanAm series. Yes this is an F1 poll but wasn’t it grand when F1 drivers were allowed to be all around racers.
kcrossle (@kcrossle) said on 11th January 2011, 3:23
Tough one. Each worked mighty hard, uphill it seemed. Saw Emmo’s first win – to brighten the despondency over Rindt. Met him on the Queen Mary in Long Beach in ’77 or ’78. His wins in Indycar were huge.
On the other hand Hulme was a partner in the “Bruce & Denny Show” (CanAm late ’60′s). Dominant is an insufficient word. Plus he went and won the WC in the year that Our Jim should have taken it in the Lotus 49.
Nod to Bear.