CARLOS REUTEMANN

The enigmatic Argentinian took pole position on his world championship debut in front of his home crowd in a BT34, before his soft tyres faded in the race. But Reutemann became a mainstay of the team for five seasons and was highly rated by Bernie Ecclestone, who took over Brabham for 1972.

Reutemann’s breakthrough campaign came in 1974. Armed with Gordon Murray’s first great F1 design, the BT44, Reutemann flew to three wins. That matched the tally of champion Emerson Fittipaldi at Mclaren, but Reutemann simply didn’t finish enough races to be in the title fight and ended up sixth in the points.

Brilliant on his day, Reutemann scored another fine victory from 10th on the grid in the 1975 German GP at the Nurburgring, winning by more than a minute and a half after the rapid Ferrari

challenge wilted. That was Reutemann’s only success of the year but better consistency – he scored five other podiums – meant he finished third in the table, behind only the dominant Niki Lauda and Fittipaldi. Combined with the efforts of Pace, it was enough for Brabham to narrowly beat Mclaren to second in the constructors’ contest.

Brabham’s switch from Cosworth DFV to

Alfa Romeo flat-12 power for 1976 was fraught. Reutemann lost interest and had only taken one points-paying finish – fourth in Spain – when he moved to Ferrari in the wake of Lauda’s terrible German GP crash.

Brabham wouldn’t win for another two years, while Reutemann’s score of four victories (and a success in the non-championship 1972 Brazilian GP) puts him third on the team’s winners list.