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1976: Reutemann takes over for Lauda, but he makes an early return
- Nicole Mulder
On the morning after the death of former Formula 1 driver Carlos Reutemann it is raining tributes. One of those is Ferrari, one of the teams the Argentinean raced for during his career.
Terrible accident for Lauda made Reutemann a Ferrari driver
After Niki Lauda's terrible accident at the Nürburgring in 1976, Reutemann was asked by Ferrari to replace him. Miraculously, however, Lauda returned much sooner than expected, just weeks after the crash in which he was almost burned alive. This left the Italian stable with three drivers, so the team decided to run with three cars.
Reutemann stayed with Ferrari, winning his first race for the team in Brazil. In 1977 he helped Ferrari to the constructors' title, and in 1978 he got Gilles Villeneuve as his teammate. In 1979 he joined the then all-powerful Lotus.
In their tribute, Ferrari calls Reutemann a very successful driver and a welcome visitor. "Over the years he returned to Maranello many times, in 1991 and four years later when he tried out the cockpit of Jean Alesi's 412 T1. In December 2004 he drove a Formula One car again, when he completed twenty laps at Fiorano in Rubens Barrichello's F2004," the team writes on their website.