For its third season in Formula 1, the Brazilian team Copersucar-Fittipaldi relied on the experience of Italian aerodynamicist Giacomo Caliri, tasked with refining the existing FD04. With this car, Brazilian drivers Emerson Fittipaldi and Ingo Hoffmann began the 1977 World Championship.
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| FITTIPALDI F5, Emerson Fittipaldi Dijon-Prenois, French GP 1977 |
Thanks to aerodynamic modifications, the FD04 showed improved performance: Fittipaldi, a former world champion, achieved two excellent fourth-place finishes in the first two races and a fifth place in Long Beach. However, Hoffmann struggled to find the right feeling with the car, and from the third race of the season in South Africa, the team decided to continue the championship with just one car, focusing efforts on developing the new Fittipaldi F5, designed by new Technical Director Dave Baldwin. From this season onward, the "D" designation disappeared from the names of Brazilian cars: the FD prefix, originally indicating the designers Fittipaldi-Davila, was abandoned, as Ricardo Divila had been replaced by Baldwin.
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| FITTIPALDI F5, Emerson Fittipaldi Dijon-Prenois, French GP 1977 |
The F5, while retaining the Copersucar sponsorship, introduced an entirely yellow livery and debuted in the spring of 1977 at the Belgian Grand Prix (Zolder), the seventh round of the championship. The car retained the Ford Cosworth DFV V8 engine, paired with a Hewland FGA400 six-speed gearbox. The wheelbase measured 2616 mm, while the weight stood at 601 kg. Aesthetically, the new car borrowed many solutions from the FD04, particularly in the nose and sidepods, with the only noticeable difference in the rear area: the sidepods were now wider and more squared off, with radiators mounted internally and inclined at 45° to the engine.
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| FITTIPALDI F5, Emerson Fittipaldi Long Beach, USA West GP 1977 |
Despite having a former world champion like Fittipaldi at the wheel, the F5 proved uncompetitive: reliability issues and low top speed, inherited from the previous FD models, continued to hinder the team. The only notable result for the F5 was a fifth-place finish in the Netherlands, earning 3 points. A meager haul, considering that the older FD04 had already secured 8 points in the first four races.
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| FITTIPALDI F5, Emerson Fittipaldi Dijon-Prenois, French GP 1977 |
At the end of the season, Copersucar-Fittipaldi finished ninth in the Constructors' Championship with 11 points, while Emerson Fittipaldi ranked twelfth in the Drivers' Championship.
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