F1Weekly podcast # 529

Lole “Lucky to be alive.”

 

Carlos Alberto Reutemann

Feature interview Podcast 529

Little “Lole” rode a horse to school as a kid growing up on a farm in Santa Fe, Argentina. Then rode a prancing horse to Grand Prix glory, giving Michelin their first success in Formula 1 and scoring a memorable win over Niki Lauda at Brands Hatch in the 1978 British Grand Prix.

Reutemann, in a reflection of the times he raced, started his first F1 event, the non-championship 1971 Race of Champions, also at Brands Hatch which claimed the life of Swiss driver Jo Siffert.

Reutemann, who now is a Senator, grabbed pole position for his first F1 championship race in Buenos Aires, and led the 1972 Argentine Grand Prix before losing traction on his super-soft tires.

First victory came two years later at Kyalami. He would go on to win races for Ferrari – winning both the 1978 Long Beach and Watkins Glen races -and Williams before returning to his native land.

He was kind enough to visit me at my hotel in Buenos Aires to record this interview; we cover his time racing for Bernie, Ferrari, his relationship with Gilles Villeneuve, the near-miss with Williams and many other racing topics.

My ‘muchas gracias’ to Carlos Reutemann, and special thanks to his wife Veronica, Javier Naselli, the Argentine investment banker from New York who put me in touch with Reutemann familia, and Argentine F1 journalist, Juliana Anich, for making this meeting possible.

 

— Nasir Hameed

[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/mp3.f1weekly.com/podcasts/10-01-11f1weekly529.mp3]