The Lotus 72 was "an extension of my body," Emerson Fittipaldi reveals

The question of which car defined a driver's career tends to produce diplomatic answers. Two-time Formula 1 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi doesn't need to be diplomatic. Speaking on the F1 Beyond The Grid podcast, the Brazilian got straight to it: the Lotus 72 was the finest machine he ever sat in.

"The Lotus 72, to me, was the best car I ever drove in my career," he confirmed. "From the cars I drove, the Lotus 72, all this year with Colin [Chapman], we developed the car, changing suspension geometry, downforce, wings.

"But it was always an incredible car to drive. I would come to the paddock, look to him, he looked to me, and we got together; it was an extension of my body.

"It was a fantastic car. Colin was a genius, and he had the intuition to set up a car. And I remember Colin used to put his two fingers here when I talked about the car, and it came as the right solution. It was amazing because there was no telemetry there, it was just what I was feeling, telling Colin, and then Colin getting to the point and improving the car. It was a fantastic car."

There was limited data at this point, no simulations or telemetry, just a driver describing what he felt in the seat to Chapman, and Chapman translating that into a mechanical change the next morning.

"After the first year, we had a very good relationship," he said when asked if he developed similar relationships at McLaren to his relationship with Chapman. "Gordon Coppuck was the chief engineer. He was extremely good, very dedicated. He did a fantastic car. I mean, the M23 was an incredible car. It was a simpler car, a more conventional car than the Lotus.

"Lotus had the torsion bars that were difficult to work with at the proper angle. We were all the time working, and McLaren was a more conventional car, but we had three wheelbases. We had a long wheelbase, we had a mid-wheelbase, and the short wheelbase for Monaco, for the short circuits.

Emerson Fittipaldi

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

"And there was another good work for McLaren for logistics. We changed the weight distribution, a higher percentage of weight on the front for the short circuits. I mean, we had a lot of pre-race study from each track - more than Lotus would do - to adapt the M23 to different tracks, different characteristics for the whole year, and that was Alastair Caldwell and Gordon Coppuck."

The Lotus 72 made its racing debut at the 1970 Spanish Grand Prix and was seen as an incredible piece of engineering. Inspired by the Lotus 56, it boasted better aerodynamics and a higher top speed despite using the same Cosworth engine. 

Jochen Rindt was on course to win the 1970 championship when he was killed in a qualifying crash at Monza. His replacement, Fittipaldi, won the US Grand Prix, helping Rindt become F1's only posthumous world champion.