Profile of Vittorio Brambilla on Famous Like Me

Vittorio Brambilla (born in Monza, November 11, 1937 - dead in Lesmo, Milan, May 26, 2001) was Formula One driver from Italy who raced for the March, Surtees and Alfa Romeo teams. His nickname was "The Monza Gorilla"; he 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 Osterreichring 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 recieved 4.5 points instead of 9 for the win. 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 sportscar team in 1977, achieving the World Championship for the team. In a multiple pileup at Monza in 1978, in which Ronnie Peterson died, he 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 in his home.

Complete Formula One results

(Note: grands prix in bold denote race victories.)

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