The confession of
Bernie Ecclestone
, who acknowledged that on the last date of the 1981
Formula 1 championship
he had a "financial discussion" to harm
Carlos Reutemann
and prevent him from winning the title, shook the world of the premier class.
And it caused anger and indignation among Argentine fans and
Lole
's family , who always considered the man from Santa Fe as the "uncrowned champion" of that season.
Cora Reutemann
, daughter of the legendary pilot, echoed the statements of the British, who owned the rights to F1 between 1981 and 2017, and vindicated his request to recognize his father's triumph.
"Ecclestone acknowledged that he bribed Reutemann to harm Reutemann in 1981," he wrote on
, citing the publication of the
Notas de Actualidad
portal .
"Is it clear that he is the true World Champion? Not to mention that they took all 9 points from him in the South African race."
"It's not just dad. They also stole the championship from an Argentine," he added.
"He left with that pain in his heart. I know it," he said, responding to a user who regretted that the pilot was never able to celebrate his "deserved championship."
Another person pointed out that Reutemann always knew what had happened, but kept it to himself because of his "greatness and humility."
"Too much for my liking... but I'll claim it," Cora replied.
And he promised: "I'm going to claim to be consecrated World Champion 1981, I told BE (NdR: Bernie Ecclestone) before dad left. I'm glad he listened to me. A pity he couldn't tell it to he".
Reutemann had arrived at
the Las Vegas Grand Prix
, the last date of the 1981 championship, as the leader of the championship, with a point advantage over
Nelson Piquet
, driver of the
Brahbam
team , of which Ecclestone was a duel.
In the circuit built in the parking lot of the
Caesars Park
hotel in that city for the definition, the Argentine was the fastest in qualifying and took pole position.
Thus, he made it clear that his chances to make history were unbeatable.
However, issues outside the track ended up weighing heavily.
And the Argentine finished eighth in the race and the title was left in the hands of the Brazilian, who surpassed him by one unit.
It was always believed that Lole did not have the full support of
Williams
, her team at that time.
The suspicion was that his team had not been happy with his "act of rebellion" in Brazil, in the second round of the championship, when he ignored the order to let his teammate
Alan Jones
pass and ended up climbing to the top of the podium.
And that, for that reason, from then on he prioritized the Australian.
But now, 41 years after that definition, Ecclestone's words shed light on the controversy.
"We noticed that there was a lot of G-force because of the way the angles had been built. And after the first day of practice it was obvious that the drivers were going to have problems with all the pain in their necks. Carlos went to talk to the masseur who "He was in the pits. I went to see that person and after a financial discussion, they decided to favor Nelson. I don't know if I ever told Carlos," said the British in the documentary
"Lucky!"
, which looks back on his decades as premier class CEO and can be seen on Star+.
And he closed: "We won the 1981 championship and it was the end for Carlos, who stopped running that year."
look also
Carlos Reutemann, deprived of being champion in 1981: the scandalous revelation of Bernie Ecclestone that shakes Formula 1
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