Castroneves' split with Fittipaldi ultimately led to acrimonious court case
IndyCar
It’s rare enough that anyone gets to meet their racing heroes, never mind actually work with them.
This is the situation which presented itself to four-time Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves though, when his hero Emerson Fittitpaldi offered to manage him on his journey up the IndyCar ladder.
However, as Castroneves describes in Motor Sport’s My Big Break podcast series, the dream quickly turned to a nightmare, as their relationship collapsed and culminated in a bitter court case.
“It was a sad moment,” he says. “Because there was so much we could have done together – so much.”
Castroneves, whose career has had more up and downs than many of his colleagues combined, first met Fittipaldi in 1997 when the former was a young hot shot on the Indy junior ladder – at first the combination seemed like a match made in heaven.
Castroneves met Fittipaldi when racing in Indy Lights
David Taylor /Allsport
“The potential was so big,’ Castroneves says. “I was battling for the championship in [American junior series] Indy Lights. He was in Miami, I was living in Miami too, we had mutual friends.
“Finally he’s like: ‘Hey, look, I would love to help you in your career and be your manager.’
“I’m like, ‘Wow, this is great. That’s what I need, for the next level.”
Castroneves missed out on his goal of making it into CART by virtue of winning the Indy Lights title, but the well-connected Fittipaldi managed to get his young charge into the series anyway with the Bettenhausen squad.
Castroneves would qualify in the top ten on his debut and finish second at Milwaukee en route to 17th in his rookie year.
Unfortunately, it was at this point that cracks began to form in his relationship with his world champion manager.
Helio Castroneves says that destiny guided his glittering IndyCar career that’s crowned by a record-equalling four Indy 500 wins. But the path to glory was far from straightforward. He speaks…
“At to the end of the year, Tony Bettenhausen shut down the team,” says Castroneves. “And I’m like, ‘Emerson, come on, man. We can’t let this happen. I can’t keep packing my bag and start to go home again. I did this too many times!’
“Then JJ Lehto was actually driving for Hogan Racing, but decided to do IMSA with BMW [instead].
“I got a phone call [from Hogan] to say, ‘Hey, there is a possibility.’ ‘Well talk to my manager –he’s the one that that does that.’
“Emerson goes up there and thought he was so smooth going into it without finding sponsorship through his business, but he never follow[ed things] up!”
Castroneves would compete in ’99 for Hogan, but felt several crucial IndyCar openings for his future were missed due to his former manager’s decisions.
Relationship started well, with Fittipaldi getting Castroneves (left) into CART
Getty Images
‘I said ‘Emerson, we keep missing opportunities’. Toyota asked, saying there was a driver [shootout] opportunity, which Christiano Da Matta ended up getting. I said before that, ‘Why don’t we go to [the] test?
“I had a written offer from [the Ford-powered] Bobby Rahal [team] for five years in the middle of July [‘99]. And I said ‘Emerson, let’s do it!’
And he’s like ‘No, no, we have to stay with the Mercedes engine.’ But we didn’t even know if Mercedes were gonna be there next year!
“So all these things [were] happening, and it wasn’t moving up.”
Hogan, who Castroneves – under Fittipaldi’s advice – had signed a contract with for 2000, then shut down its operation, leaving the young driver adrift.
Castroneves decided the time was right to cut his losses from Fittipaldi, resulting in a less-than-harmonious split.
However, from here things improved for the young Brazilian, as he went on to take the 2000 Penske seat which had been earmarked for Greg Moore before his fatal crash – but Fittipaldi was far from happy for his former young charge.
“Emerson felt that [because] he was not here, I was stabbing him in the back,” says Castroneves.
“And I’m like, ‘How can I stab someone in the back? This is my destiny. It’s nothing to do with you or me.’
“Even before that [Penske deal] happened, I already said, ‘Sorry, we’re not going to work anymore. Because you’re not paying attention to me anymore.’”
Castroneves and Fittipaldi split, with former going on to have great success at Penske
FREDERIC LE FLOC H / DPPI
Fittipaldi would end up attempting to sue Castroneves, claiming a breach of contract when the latter terminated their agreement.
Castroneves would successfully defend himself, but even now can’t help thinking of what could have been.
“That was a sad moment,” he says. “Because there was so much we could have done together – so much.
“We could have actually [tried] to go back to Formula 1, I’m telling you. After three years, after my contract with Penske [had ended], we would probably would have gone to Formula 1 and done so well. There the political [situation] is a little different, you have to have connections.
“He is a hero in racing and, unfortunately, for that not to happen, it was a big disappointment.”
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