The chassis achieved a best finish of fourth place at both the 1977 Argentine and Brazilian Grands Prix driven on each occasion by former World Champion and joint team-owner Emerson Fittipaldi.

[5][6] National aerospace company Embraer was also involved, supplying materials to the fledgling team and providing wind-tunnel time.

[7] The team was based in Brazil, almost 6,000 miles (10,000 km) away from the United Kingdom, a bold move given the overwhelmingly British nature of Formula One technology from the 1960s onwards.

The long and low FD01, with bulbous bodywork enclosing the engine and unusual rear-mounted radiators, painted in silver with rainbow markings on the flanks, was unveiled in October 1974 at the Federal Senate in Brasília in the presence of President Ernesto Geisel.

[10] Fittipaldi withdrew from the Spanish Grand Prix protesting that the barriers at the Montjuich circuit were not bolted together properly.

[16] Fittipaldi finished 19th at the British Grand Prix, after he, Dave Morgan (Surtees), John Nicholson, (Lyncar), Brian Henton, (Lotus), Tony Brise (Hill), Carlos Pace (Brabham), Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell) and James Hunt (Hesketh) went off at Club Corner and the race was red flagged.

[21] After an unsuccessful 1975 season, Wilson Fittipaldi stepped down from driving to look after the management of the team and was replaced by his brother Emerson.

Emerson used the Fittipaldi FD04 all season but the FD03 was also entered on one occasion, in the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix driven by Ingo Hoffmann.

[23] Hoffmann returned for the United States Grand Prix West but failed to qualify and Fittipaldi finished sixth.

[25] Fittipaldi failed to qualify for Belgian, finished sixth in Monaco and retired in Sweden due to handling issues on the FD04.

[26] [27][28] Hoffmann returned for the French Grand Prix but failed to qualify and Fittipaldi retired with oil pressure problems.

[35] Fittipaldi finished ninth in the United States Grand Prix East and withdrew from Japan after he, Niki Lauda (Ferrari), and the Brabham drivers, Larry Perkins and Carlos Pace, considered the weather conditions made the track too dangerous.