“Champion Lole 1981”: the network campaign to review the Formula 1 title denied to Reutemann

42 years passed but the fire was still alive: Carlos Reuteman should have been champion Formula 1 in 1981. At least this was the feeling that one always had after that definition, as controversial as it was painful, which ended up consecrating the Brazilian Nelson Piquet in front of Argentine pride.

Era Bernie Ecclestoneone of F1’s most influential men, who reinstated the discussion, after a brief comment in his biopic (Lucky!, by Star+). The then boss of Brabham (Piquet’s team), insinuated that he had bribed a masseur to harm Lole (Williams) and favor his driver.

“The track had a lot of g-force due to the way the corners were laid out. And after the first day of testing, it was clear that the riders were going to have neck pain. Carlos managed to talk to a masseur in the pits, I went from this person and after an economic discussion they decided to favor Nelson, I don’t know if I told Carlos”, admitted Ecclestone, now 92 years old and retired from the greatest motor circus.

That Las Vegas GP, the last race of the year, had Reutemann one point ahead of Piquet in the championship but the Brazilian finished ahead of the Argentine and took the title.

Ecclestone’s statement made a lot of noise, especially in Argentina. And it was his daughter, Cora, who summed up the feeling that the iron people were experiencing, who always considered what happened to Lole an injustice: “He left with that pain in his heart”, she wrote Network.

Reutemann missed his chance to be a champion in F1 and retired from motorsports for many years after turning to politics, something that saw him serve two terms as governor of Santa Fe and 18 years representing his province as senator. Finally, he died in July 2021, at the age of 79, consecrated as one of the best athletes in Argentine history.

His daughter Cora regretted Ecclestone’s sayings on the networks but there she also started a campaign for F1 to review what happened with Lole in that 1981 season, the year in which there were not one but several non-sporting situations that tried against the fate of the Argentine

With the hashtag #LoleCampeon1981 or its variant in English, #CarlosReutemannF1WorldChampion1981, the request for sporting justice began to go viral and among the various messages of encouragement to Cora and the Reutemanns there was one that stood out.

Journalist Ferdinand Tornellivoice specialized in Formula 1 for decades and valid to this day, raised its voice and expressed its solidarity with the initiative.

“There were worse things than the masseuse argument Ecclestone told in 1981. Worse was that they gave no points at the South African GP won by Reutemann. Worse was that Piquet won with a prohibited suspension in Argentina. Worse was the tire change halfway through the championship,” wrote Tornello.

And he added a revelation about the mid-season tire change: “Tema tire change in 1981. Up to the Spanish GP (race 7) Reutemann added 37 points with Michelin and Piquet 22 with Good Year. From France to Las Vegas (8 GP plus) Lole only added 12 with Good Year and Piquet 28. They said Williams got $1 million for putting up the GY.”

It is not clear what could happen with this claim launched on the networks, even if it is known that this new era of Formula 1 has the founding premise of looking to the future rather than reviewing the past. For example, a year ago the controversy between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton was canceled with a stroke of a pen after the last race of 2021 which consecrated the Dutch champion for the first time.

It does not matter. Regardless of what they say in F1, with their billions of dollars and political commitments on their backs, all this serves to make Lole’s legacy even greater in our country.