Ingo Ott Hoffmann (born 28 February 1953) is a retired Brazilian racing driver from São Paulo. Although he made six Formula One appearances, his lasting reputation was built at home, where he became the dominant figure in Stock Car Brasil and won the championship a record 12 times.
Driver Bio
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Birthplace | Sao Paulo, Brazil |
| Born | 28 February 1953 |
| First Grand Prix | 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 1977 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Current/Last Team | Fittipaldi |
His titles came in 1980, 1985, every season from 1989 through 1994, three more times from 1996 to 1998, and finally in 2002.
Racing career
Early years
Hoffmann began competing in Brazil through Formula Vee and saloon-car racing. In 1975, he moved to England and entered Formula Three with a March.
Only one year later, he stepped into Formula One with the Brazilian Fittipaldi team.
Formula One
Hoffmann’s Grand Prix career was shaped less by a lack of ability than by the team’s severe financial limitations. Fittipaldi could realistically afford to operate only one car, leaving Hoffmann with an intermittently entered and poorly supported second machine.
He entered four Grands Prix in 1976 but qualified for only one. That successful appearance came at Interlagos, where he finished 11th in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Two more opportunities followed in 1977. Engine failure ended his Argentine Grand Prix in Buenos Aires, but he produced his strongest Formula One result at Interlagos by finishing seventh, two laps behind the winner.
Under the points system of the period, seventh place earned nothing. It also proved to be Hoffmann’s final Grand Prix, as Fittipaldi withdrew its second entry altogether.
Formula Two and touring cars
After Formula One, Hoffmann joined Project Four in European Formula Two. He raced Ralt and March machinery during 1977 and 1978, with the latter becoming his final season based in Europe.
He also competed in sports cars and saloon cars on both sides of the Atlantic, but Brazil ultimately provided his true racing home.
Stock Car Brasil
Hoffmann’s record in Stock Car Brasil transformed him from a former Formula One driver into a national motorsport legend.
He won his first championship in 1980 and added another in 1985. Beginning in 1989, he then claimed six consecutive titles—an extraordinary run lasting through the 1994 season.
Three further championships followed in 1996, 1997 and 1998. Hoffmann secured his 12th and final crown in 2002, more than two decades after winning his first.
His longevity was underlined in December 2006 at Brasília’s Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet. In the season finale, Hoffmann recorded his 100th race victory on Brazilian circuits—a fitting milestone for a driver whose greatest success came only after Formula One had closed its door.
Grand Prix Stats
| Race Entries | 6 |
| Race Starts | 3 |
| Did Not Start | 0 |
| Best Race Start | 19th |
| Best Race Finish | 7th |
| Retirements | 1 |
| First-Lap Retirements | 0 |
| Not Classified | 0 |
| Disqualified | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 3 |
Qualifying
| Qualifying Sessions | 6 |
| Reached Q3 | 0 |
| Q2 Eliminations | 0 |
| Q1 Eliminations | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 3 |
Stats by Season
| Year | Constructor | Entries | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Front Rows | DNF | Best Start | Best Result | Pts Finishes | Points | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Fittipaldi | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 11 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1977 | Fittipaldi | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 0 | NC |
