Reutemann and the controversial definition of Formula 1 in 1981: Ecclestone’s confession broadens the figure of Lole

It is one of the great traumas of Argentine sportsman. For the “proximity of glory”, for all that has been said, suspected and speculated about the 1981 Formula 1 season, as close as it is controversial.

And from time to time quantities of fuel are added to the fire of eternal discussions, which fuel the passions and rekindle the fiery conjectures of a definition wrapped in cloaks of conspiracies, dark maneuvers and the unfair resolution of an incredible championship.

And in these doses of sparkling controversy in that finale in which the Brazilian Nelson Piquet won the title from “Lole” by just one point, now Bernie Ecclestone, former boss of the top category, who claimed in a documentary that he had bribed masseurs to make bad Argentine.

As any good history teacher would say, facts should be presented in the best possible context. Formula 1 of 1981, with a Argentine as candidate for the crown: Carlos Alberto Reutemann.

Those were times when national sport shone in the world, by the hand of Lole in the maximum exhibition of international motorsport; Guillermo Vilas and another controversial situation for the unrewarded number 1 in the tennis universe; Argentina which boasted the world title under the arm of Mario Kempes and with the arrival of the young Diego Maradona, and national boxing which extended its dominance with Sergio Víctor Palma, Gustavo Ballas and Santos Laciar, among many other disciplines.

Reutemann’s popularity was unimaginable for those who did not experience those glorious times of national sport. Can anyone imagine that a Superclásico between River and Boca is modified because F1 is raced? This was achieved by Reutemann when Boca had Maradona in their ranks and River Matador Kempes. It happened on September 27, 1981. The great match of the National Tournament was played in the morning at La Bombonera, given that the Canadian Grand Prix was held in the afternoon, in which “Lole” was 9th and his advantage in the championship against the Brazilian Nelson Piquet (Brabham) was reduced to just one point.

Reutemann was on everyone’s lips. For its leading role in Formula 1, for being the cover of all Argentine magazines (sports, current affairs, gossip, for children…). And that strange definition, in every sense, it was a slap in the face of illusion. An entire country stopped by that Saturday, October 17, 1981 to see the contest resolution in the innovative Las Vegas layout, staged in the parking lot of the Caesar Palace Hotel.

Bernie and Reutemann knew each other very well. In 1972 the Santa Fe driver raced for the British team in F1. According to Ecclestone, maybe the most skilled leader in the history of sports to manage money, that weekend in the state of Nevada, recalled: “After the first day of practice it was obvious that the riders were going to have problems with all the pain in their necks. Carlos spoke to the masseuse who was in the pits. I went to this person and after a financial discussion, they decided to favor Nelson.”

The story is known. Both drivers had a collision in training, and this forced the Argentine to race the Williams muleto. Reutemann took pole position, but in the race he dropped to 8th place. Piquet finished fourth, in the competition he overtook Lole and with fifth place he was enough to win the world title.

What effect does what Ecclestone said in the documentary visible on Star+ have? It seems to be just part of his main habit always be center stage with your claims It seems ineffective for a bribery attempt to be made through a massage therapist.

Beyond all that the transcendent Bernie could have done to win the crown for Brabham, the controversy has another protagonist. The axis was always in the position of frank williamsowner of the homonymous team, and how much it has influenced the historical definition of Las Vegas.

The already famous poster omitted by the Argentine in the Brazilian GP at the beginning of the year, which ordered Reutemann to give way to his teammate, allan jones, may have been the cause of the “revenge” with a depleted performance of Lole’s car at the last appointment. At least that’s where all the conspiracy theories along these lines, among others, were pointing.

In the meantime, Ecclestone does his part to a story which, despite being more than 41 years old, is re-proposed with different contents. The truth is that all this magnifies the figure of Carlos Reutemann.

The “uncrowned champion” who he chose not to appeal a disqualification maneuver when Piquet overtook him on the intricate Las Vegas circuit (such actions were not sanctioned at the time) and demonstrated his excellent qualities at the highest international level. Despite so many mixed feelings, Lole has always remained in a place from which she did not make accusations or show explosive attitudes. In silence, she continued the following year at Williams, until before the Falklands War, in March 1982, he retired from the British team and from Formula 1.

What could be better than quoting Reutemann himself, in a note to Carburando, to explain what that episode meant for him, which to Argentine fans seems like an open wound: “You entered Formula 1 and at that time it was a labyrinth, that he had success, fame, money and death. Everything is in it. The league title, being a paraplegic. That’s where we all go. Some were killed, some were injured, some were left alive. I didn’t win the league. When I I crossed the finish line in Las Vegas and thought I was a lucky guy and if I came out as champion, it was already too much. This is it.” Words of a legend.