Pace

José Carlos Pace was born on October 6, 1944, in São Paulo, Brazil, to Angelo Raphael Pace, a textiles businessman, and Amélia Pace. Both sides of his family were of Italian descent; his mother hailed from Brazil. The family moved back to Italy for part of Pace’s childhood, and upon returning to Brazil he was given the nickname “Moco” because he could only speak Italian. He was encouraged by friends Wilson and Emerson Fittipaldi to start karting. Pace studied accounting while his elder brothers helped their father. He first raced a kart in 1960 and moved to cars in 1963.

Pace’s path to Formula 1 began in a kart, not a classroom. Encouraged by childhood friends Wilson and Emerson Fittipaldi, he first raced a kart in 1960 at age 15. He moved to cars three years later, in 1963, while studying accounting. His father, a textiles businessman, supported the early career. Pace climbed the European junior ladder through the late 1960s, competing in Formula Three and Formula Two. In 1971, he won the prestigious Formula Two race at Hockenheim, a result that caught the attention of team owners. That victory, combined with consistent performances in the European F2 championship, earned him a debut in Formula 1 with the March team in 1972. He scored his first championship point at the Spanish Grand Prix that same year, finishing sixth. The F2 success and that maiden point opened the door to a full-time F1 career, first with March, then Surtees, and finally Brabham, where he would achieve his only Grand Prix victory.

Carlos Pace’s Formula 1 career spanned just six seasons, from 1972 to 1977, a period in which he started 72 grands prix and scored one victory, six podiums, and a single pole position. He drove for four teams—March, Surtees, Brabham, and Brabham-Alfa Romeo—but his defining moment came at Interlagos in 1975. Driving for Brabham, Pace won the Brazilian Grand Prix in front of a home crowd, a victory that would become the signature achievement of his career. That season he also finished fourth in the drivers’ championship, the highest placing of his career.

Pace’s trajectory was one of steady ascent. After a promising rookie year with March, he moved to Surtees for 1973 and 1974, where he scored his first two podiums. The switch to Brabham in 1975 elevated him to genuine contender status. He followed his Brazilian win with another podium in Argentina, and in 1976 he added two more podiums with the Brabham-Alfa Romeo. Yet he never won again. His final season, 1977, yielded no podiums and only two points finishes before his life was cut short in a plane crash that March.

Carlos Pace’s peak arrived in a concentrated burst across the 1974 and 1975 seasons, the only years in which he drove for Brabham. In 1974, he scored three podium finishes—including second at the Austrian Grand Prix—and placed ninth in the drivers’ championship with 11 points. The following year, he delivered the defining performance of his career: a victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, driving the Brabham BT44B in front of his home crowd. That win, the only one of his 72 Grands Prix, was complemented by two further podiums and a pole position at South Africa. He finished the 1975 season sixth in the standings with 24 points, his best championship result. Across those two peak seasons, Pace accumulated 35 of his career total of 58 points, taking all six of his podium finishes and his sole pole. After 1975, Brabham’s form declined, and Pace never again stood on the podium.

Pace married Elda d’Andrea in 1968, ending a courtship that had lasted ten years. His father, Angelo, a textiles businessman, took his own life in 1972 due to business troubles, a blow from which Pace was shielded until after he scored his first championship points at the Spanish Grand Prix. “He loved his father more than anything,” his friend Carlo Gancia later said. Pace was known in the paddock as an unusually emotional figure. After the death of Tom Pryce at the 1977 South African Grand Prix, he returned to Brazil heartbroken. “Most drivers were cool, they needed to be cool, but I saw him crying after accidents four or five times,” his wife recalled. Gancia added that Pace “made friends around the pitlane” and was deeply affected by the tragedies that touched the sport. Following Pace’s own death later that year, Bernie Ecclestone, a long-time friend, helped Elda settle the family’s finances and ensured they were provided for.

Pace never experienced a traditional retirement from Formula One. His career ended abruptly on 18 March 1977, when the single-engine aircraft he was travelling in struck a tree in the Serra da Cantareira, Mairiporã, shortly after takeoff from Campo de Marte Airport during a violent storm. Pace and the four other occupants, including pilot Marivaldo Fernandes, died instantly. He was 32 years old.

His legacy, however, took physical form eight years later. In 1985, the Autódromo de Interlagos in São Paulo was renamed Autódromo José Carlos Pace in his honour, cementing his name on the circuit where he had delivered Brazil’s home Grand Prix victory a decade earlier. For 47 years, his remains rested in the Cemitério do Araçá. On 28 August 2024, in a ceremony attended by family and veteran Brazilian racing drivers, his remains were transferred to the circuit that now bears his name.

On March 18, 1977, a small single-engine aircraft crashed into a tree on the Serra da Cantareira, in the municipality of Mairiporã, Brazil. The plane, owned by fellow driver Marivaldo Fernandes, had just taken off from Campo de Marte Airport at the onset of a violent storm. Pace, Fernandes, and the three other occupants were killed instantly. He was 32 years old.

For 47 years, his remains rested in the Araçá Cemetery. On August 28, 2024, they were transferred to the Autódromo de Interlagos in a ceremony attended by family and veteran Brazilian racing drivers. The circuit itself had already been renamed the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in his honor in 1985, ensuring the name of the man who won the 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix on its asphalt remains permanently tied to the track.

The Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos, São Paulo, has carried his name since 1985, a permanent memorial to the driver who gave Brazil its first home Grand Prix victory in 1975. His only win in 72 starts came at that circuit, a triumph that cemented his place in national motorsport history. In August 2024, his remains were transferred from Cemitério do Araçá to the Autódromo de Interlagos in a ceremony attended by family and veteran Brazilian drivers, ensuring his final resting place is the track where he made his most indelible mark. Beyond the single victory, Pace’s six podiums and one pole position across six seasons with March, Surtees, and Brabham demonstrated a consistent competitiveness that, cut short by his death at 32, left the sport wondering what more he might have achieved. His close friendship with Bernie Ecclestone, who helped his widow settle affairs after his death, and the affection he earned from rivals—described as a driver who “made friends around the pitlane”—underscore a legacy as much about the man as the racer.