Roman interviews Bruno Giacomelli  Words and pictures by Roman Klemm

Desenzano del Garda, 9 March 2024 - Festina lente!

In the late 1970s, he was the future champion, experts considered him the ‘new Clark’, in the junior classes he went from title to title. At the end of the 1980 season, he and his Alfa Romeo were one of the fastest combinations in Grand Prix. Formula 1 dismissed him after only four complete seasons without a single victory. Then he returned to the F1 circus after a seven-year break as driver of the most embarrassing team in history. Bruno Giacomelli, or ‘Jack O'Maley’ as they called him in England, is nevertheless one of my childhood heroes, whose poster hung above my bed. The 10 hours we spent together on a rainy day in March 2024, asking questions and telling stories in a restaurant at Lago di Garda, were a return to youth - for both of us.

You come from around Brescia, which is the neighbourhood to Monza. Is that why you became a racer?
Not exactly. I was crazy about cars, yes. With my friends, we spent long hours on the autostrada bridges guessing which car was approaching. But as a child I mainly dreamed of becoming a Ferrari car designer. Before debuting in Formula Italia, I had no karting experience. I raced motocross-bikes.

Your ‘flight to the top of the world’ began quite atypically, for an Italian, in British Formula 3...
As a boy I read all the motorsport literature and knew that England had the most manufacturers, of teams and the best competition. So, with the title of Italian champion in my pocket, I got into my little Citroen in 1975 and drove 24 hours to see the manager of the March team, just to tell him that I wanted to drive for them.

You have really established yourself in the team from Bicester. Your successful collaboration with the brilliant designer Robin Herd, with whom you allegedly solved problems in Latin, began…
In 1976, I won the Shell F3 Championship and was beaten in the BP series only by Rupert Keegan, who was able to do so by using dirty tricks. After moving to F2, I became champion by a large margin in 1978. To this day, I still think that I had a lot of bad luck that year - otherwise I would have won all the races. I had a great relationship with Herd, and he made no secret of the fact that he considered me the best developer of all time, along with Niki Lauda. At the turn of the 1980s and ‘90s he even called me back to the Leyton House-March F1 team as a test man for their active suspension. About Latin: I didn't know English at first, but he knew Latin. So, I spoke Italian (am I supposed to know Latin?) and he spoke Latin. It was so much fun and when I was coming out of the pits he would always call out "Festina lente" (Hurry slowly).

Thanks to the support of the sponsor Marlboro, you made your debut in Formula 1 in 1977…

Like Villeneuve before me, Marlboro's John Hogan put me in the third factory McLaren, an older M23 type. It was at home in Monza and I didn't feel any special pressure from the audience or the sponsor there. Such things did not bother me, I took care of my own problems. I performed well there. After 30 minutes of the first training session, I was sixth. Then they called me to the pits for new tyres. Back on the track I slipped in the chicane and bent the steering. The car was not the same since then. I was entered in the same car in which Gilles Villeneuve made his Silverstone debut before me. I still have his nose cone in my collection today - with the number 14 pasted over Hunt's number one.

In 1978, you run in selected Grand Prix for Marlboro-McLaren in the newer M26...

The McLaren M26 was much more complex than the M23. The older model was good-natured, like my F2 March. I found the M26 especially hard to drive. For this I used a completely different set-up than Hunt and Tambay. Of course, the whole drama about better or worse tyres, which was a big deal back then, didn't help me either.

You were the absolute shooting-star back then, yet, was your situation after the dominant championship season of 1978 similar to that of today's F2 champions like Drugovich or Pourchaire?
My employers March and BMW did not plan a programme in Formula 1 at the time. John Watson and Patrick Tambay were signed by McLaren after Peterson's death. I was suddenly without perspective. When Carlo Chiti offered me a position at Alfa Romeo, there was really no alternative.

How was the collaboration with the great ingegnere Carlo Chiti?
He was an excellent person to get along with in times of success. But when things didn't go well, he could be cruel. His main motivation has always been to beat Enzo Ferrari's cars. A few years ago, his son said on TV that I was Chiti's favourite driver and something like another son. It surprised me quite a bit, because many world aces like Phil Hill, Jacky Ickx or Mario Andretti also drove for him during the decades. I think he liked me because we made fun of Ferrari a few times together in 1980. Chiti's biggest problem, however, was the fact that he couldn't solely take care of the team's sporting performance. Much of his time was taken up by politics. Not everyone at Alfa Romeo (mainly the unions) was enthusiastic about the financially expensive F1 programme. They considered it a waste of money and Chiti had to defend the sport.

At Watkins Glen in 1980, you had your first win close at hand…
I had a clear lead and was in control when the distributor cable broke and my 12-cylinder died. I took it easy back then. I knew that we had succeeded in developing a top car that sooner or later I would dominate. But they banned wing-cars over the winter and our tyre supplier left, so we started from scratch again. But the 1980 Glen wasn't the only Grand Prix I would have easily won under normal circumstances. Think back to Las Vegas a year later. Initially, I spun, after which I could not re-start again for a long time. When I got back on track, the leader Alan Jones was in my mirrors trying to lap me. But I managed to run away from him and finished third, only 20 seconds behind the winner. If it hadn't been for that mistake, I would have finished far ahead of him.

In Formula 1 and later in IndyCars, you had famous teammates like Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi. Who was the closest to you out of all the drivers?
The arrival of Andretti in 1981 was celebrated at Alfa Romeo as an appearance of the Messiah. They were ready to fulfill his every wish. If he wanted a tricycle, Chiti would build one for him. We got along well - but he couldn't teach me anything, I was already an accomplished driver with my own experience. My relationship with Emerson was also very good. Nowadays, we both live at Lago di Garda and meet each other from time-to-time. But it is never easy to be in the same team with a double world champion. The closest person to me was Andrea de Cesaris, with whom we formed the Alfa Romeo F1 team in 1982. We understood each other privately, perhaps because we had a similar ‘British background’ from the junior classes. We even shared a flat in England.

After the end of your career in Formula 1, you were looking for a new career in IndyCars. But after only one season it was over...
I formed Pat Patrick's team together with Emerson Fittipaldi and my results improved. But I considered racing on ovals to be an irresponsible gamble. That's why I returned to Europe, and I'm still convinced that it was the right decision.

In the 1990 season, you made a surprising return to the F1 paddock - driving for the ill-fated Life Rocchi project...
I had no illusions. But it fascinated me from a technical point of view. I fell in love with the challenge of helping this project get off its feet. In time, of course, I noticed that the designer of that utopian W12 engine, Franco Rocchi, never showed up in the paddock, and that team owner Ernesto Vita was a nut. Of the USD30,000 that Vita promised me, I got nothing. I should have taken one of the Judd V8 engines I got them from Leyton House at the end of the season, or the whole car. His chassis wasn't too bad either...

What about today’s Formula 1?
Yes, I am still much interested - but only in the technical side. I do not think that driving the modern cars is as difficult as 40 years ago.

And what about the temptation to step into a monoposto again?
Well, I own a 1982 F1 Alfa. But to run it at a historic meeting would cost too great amount of money. Additionally, I would be scared of crash the car. So, I rather watch others run those beauties.