1973 French Grand Prix

The 1973 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Paul Ricard Circuit on July 1, 1973. It was race 8 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the first victory for two-time World Championship runner-up Ronnie Peterson.

1973 French Grand Prix
Race details
Date July 1, 1973
Location Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.809 km (3.610 miles)
Distance 54 laps, 313.686 km (194.915 miles)
Weather Sunny and warm
Pole position
Driver Tyrrell-Ford
Time 1:48.37
Fastest lap
Driver New Zealand Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford
Time 1:50.99 on lap 52
Podium
First Lotus-Ford
Second Tyrrell-Ford
Third Brabham-Ford
Lap leaders

Qualifying edit

Qualifying classification edit

Pos. Driver Constructor Time No
1 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 1:48.37 1
2 Jody Scheckter McLaren-Ford 1:49.18 2
3 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 1:49.36 3
4 François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 1:49.39 4
5 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:49.45 5
6 Denis Hulme McLaren-Ford 1:49.68 6
7 Jean-Pierre Jarier March-Ford 1:50.69 7
8 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 1:50.75 8
9 Clay Regazzoni BRM 1:50.99 9
10 Arturo Merzario Ferrari 1:51.17 10
11 Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 1:51.17 11
12 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 1:51.44 12
13 Andrea de Adamich Brabham-Ford 1:51.53 13
14 James Hunt March-Ford 1:51.63 14
15 Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 1:51.67 15
16 Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 1:51.70 16
17 Niki Lauda BRM 1:51.78 17
18 Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 1:51.88 18
19 Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 1:52.07 19
20 George Follmer Shadow-Ford 1:52.30 20
21 Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 1:52.94 21
22 Reine Wisell March-Ford 1:53.20 22
23 Henri Pescarolo Iso-Ford 1:53.56 23
24 Howden Ganley Iso-Ford 1:53.87 24
25 Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford 1:55.55 25

Race edit

Controversy edit

This race was notable for a collision involving Jody Scheckter and Emerson Fittipaldi. Scheckter, who was given an opportunity to drive a factory McLaren for this event was leading from the start in just his third Formula One race. On lap 41, Fittipaldi had closed and attempted to pass the South African, but Scheckter closed the door and they made heavy contact, forcing Emerson into retirement. Scheckter continued but retired shortly afterwards with suspension damage. Fittipaldi ran to the McLaren pits, eventually resulting in fierce words between the two drivers. Scheckter claimed years later that Fittipaldi had called him a 'young hooligan' for his role in the incident. Many drivers wanted him banned from the sport, but McLaren instead decided to put him on the sidelines for a number of races.

Results edit

Meanwhile, after so many promising races turned to nothing, Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson finally celebrated victory for the first time in his career, driving a Lotus. Tyrrell driver François Cevert finished in second place, whilst Carlos Reutemann finished in third place, driving a Brabham, followed by Jackie Stewart's Tyrrell in fourth, Jacky Ickx fifth for Ferrari, and James Hunt scoring his first point of his F1 career driving a Hesketh-owned March.

Classification edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 2   Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 54 1:41:36.52 5 9
2 6   François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 40.92 4 6
3 10   Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 54 + 46.48 8 4
4 5   Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 46.93 1 3
5 3   Jacky Ickx Ferrari 54 + 48.90 12 2
6 27   James Hunt March-Ford 54 + 1:22.54 14 1
7 4   Arturo Merzario Ferrari 54 + 1:29.19 10  
8 7   Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 54 + 1:29.53 6  
9 21   Niki Lauda BRM 54 + 1:45.76 17  
10 12   Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 16  
11 20   Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 53 + 1 Lap 15  
12 19   Clay Regazzoni BRM 53 + 1 Lap 9  
13 24   Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 51 + 3 Laps 18  
14 25   Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 51 + 3 Laps 24  
15 29   Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford 51 + 3 Laps 25  
16 11   Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 50 + 4 Laps 19  
Ret 8   Jody Scheckter McLaren-Ford 43 Collision damage 2  
Ret 1   Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 41 Collision 3  
Ret 23   Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 29 Oil Leak 11  
Ret 9   Andrea de Adamich Brabham-Ford 28 Halfshaft 13  
Ret 15   Reine Wisell March-Ford 20 Overheating 22  
Ret 16   George Follmer Shadow-Ford 16 Fuel system 20  
Ret 26   Henri Pescarolo Iso-Marlboro-Ford 16 Overheating 23  
Ret 14   Jean-Pierre Jarier March-Ford 7 Halfshaft 7  
Ret 17   Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 0 Clutch 21  
Source:[1]

Championship standings after the race edit

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 7 results from the first 8 races and the best 6 results from the last 7 races counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.


References edit

  1. ^ "1973 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  2. ^ a b "France 1973 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.


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1973 Swedish Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1973 season
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1973 British Grand Prix
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1972 French Grand Prix
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1974 French Grand Prix