rich 1.0 Why would a double F1 World Champion at the height of his powers walk away from a winning car? For the 1976 season, Emerson Fittipaldi stunned the sport by leaving McLaren and setting up his own team. He wanted a challenge, and he certainly got one. 50 years later, Emerson tells Tom Clarkson why he and his brother Wilson launched Copersucar,  a team based in their home country of Brazil. He also remembers the dramatic events that led him to start his own team – winning the World Championship with Lotus and considering retirement before winning a second title with McLaren, and the conversations with Ferrari which could have changed the course of his career. Emerson’s passion for F1 still burns bright. He drove his championship-winning M23 in Miami at a McLaren showrun. He also keeps a close eye on every Grand Prix, and gives his views on Kimi Antonelli’s impressive start to the 2026 season. This episode is sponsored by: Vanta: get started at vanta.com/GRID. Shopify: sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com/beyondthegrid F1 Beyond The Grid https://audioboom.com/channels/4964339-f1-beyond-the-grid Audioboom https://audioboom.com 480 95 https://audioboom.com/i/43630621/600x600/c 600 600 <iframe width="100%" height="95" src="https://embeds.audioboom.com/posts/8899544/embed?v=202301" style="background-color: transparent; display: block; padding: 0; width: 100%" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="allowtransparency" scrolling="no" title="Audioboom player" allow="autoplay" sandbox="allow-downloads allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>