Vittorio Brambilla

Vittorio Brambilla
Nationality:	Italian
Years:	1974 - 1980
Team(s):	March, Surtees and Alfa Romeo
Races:	79
Championships:	0
Wins:	1
Podiums:	1
Poles:	1
Fastest laps:	1
First race:	1974 South African Grand Prix
First win:	1975 Austrian Grand Prix
Last win:	1975 Austrian Grand Prix
Last race:	1980 Italian Grand Prix

Vittorio Brambilla (born November 11 1937 in Monza, died May 26 2001 in Lesmo, Milan) was a Formula One driver from Italy who raced for the March, Surtees and Alfa Romeo teams. His nickname was "The Monza Gorilla".

Brambilla began racing motorcycles in 1957 and won the Italian national 175cc title in 1958. Before becoming a mechanic he also raced go-karts. He returned to racing in 1968, in Formula 3 and won the Italian championship in 1972; by the time he was already racing Formula 2, where he won several races and bought his way into Formula 1. His great day came at the Österreichring in 1975, when he got a victory in a wet Austrian Grand Prix. He is best remembered for spinning off and wrecking the nose of his car as he took the chequered flag and completing his slowing down lap with the front of the car destroyed and waving madly to the crowd. As the race was shortened, he only received 4.5 points instead of 9 for the win. In fact, the chequered flag was flown in error for the red. During the next two years he suffered several accidents and mechanical retirements, including while leading from the pole at Anderstorp, Sweden. At the same time he also drove for the Alfa Romeo sports car team in 1977, achieving the World Championship for the team.

He was known for his 'Punch and Crunch' routine, in which, he would greet the unfortunate victim with an extremely strong handshake. He enjoyed watching the recipient wince whilst they were shaking hands. He would then follow this up with a rabbit punch to the back of one's neck.

In a multiple pileup at Monza in the 1978 Italian Grand Prix, in which Ronnie Peterson died, Brambilla suffered serious head injuries, but recovered to drive briefly for the Alfa Romeo F1 team in 1979 and 1980, before retiring. He died of a heart attack at the age of 63 whilst gardening at his home.

Complete Formula One Results

(Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Team	WDC	Points
1974	March	ARG	BRA	RSA 10	ESP DNS	BEL 9	MON Ret	SWE 10	DUT 10	FRA 11	GBR Ret	GER 13	AUT 6	ITA Ret	CAN DNS	USA Ret			March	18th	1
1975	March	ARG 9	BRA Ret	RSA Ret	ESP 5*	MON Ret	BEL Ret	SWE Ret	DUT Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 6	GER Ret	AUT 1*	ITA Ret	USA 7				March	11th	6.5
1976	March	BRA Ret	RSA 8	USAW Ret	ESP Ret	BEL Ret	MON Ret	SWE 10	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	DUT 6	ITA 7	CAN 14	USA Ret	JPN Ret		March	19th	1
1977	Surtees	ARG 7	BRA Ret	SAF 7	USAW Ret	ESP Ret	MON 8	BEL 4	SWE Ret	FRA 13	GBR 8	GER 5	AUT 15	DUT 12	ITA Ret	USA 19	CAN 6	JPN 8	Surtees	16th	6
1978	Surtees	ARG 18	BRA DNQ	SAF 12	USAW Ret	MON DNQ	BEL 13	ESP 7	SWE Ret	FRA 17	GBR 9	GER Ret	AUT 6	DUT DSQ	ITA Ret	USA Inj	CAN Inj		Surtees	19th	1
1979	Alfa Romeo	ARG	BRA	SAF	USAW	ESP	BEL	MON	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	DUT	ITA 12	CAN Ret	USA DNQ			Alfa Romeo	-	0
1980	Alfa Romeo	ARG	BRA	SAF	USAW	BEL	MON	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	DUT Ret	ITA Ret	CAN	USA				Alfa Romeo	-	0

* Half points awarded for shortened race