1974 French Grand Prix

The 1974 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Dijon-Prenois near Dijon, France on 7 July 1974. It was race 9 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.

1974 French Grand Prix
Dijon-Prenois Circuit
Dijon-Prenois Circuit
Race details
Date 7 July 1974
Location Dijon-Prenois, Dijon, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 3.289 km (2.044 miles)
Distance 80 laps, 263.12 km (163.495 miles)
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 0:58.79[1]
Fastest lap
Driver South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford
Time 1:00.00[2] on lap 10
Podium
First Lotus-Ford
Second Ferrari
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 80-lap race was won by Ronnie Peterson, driving a Lotus-Ford. Niki Lauda finished second in a Ferrari, having started from pole position, with teammate Clay Regazzoni third. Until the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix,[failed verification] this was the only[failed verification] World Championship Grand Prix in which lap times of less than one minute were set, by 12 drivers during qualifying, including pole position starter Lauda.[3]

Qualifying edit

Qualifying classification edit

Pos. Driver Constructor Time Grid
1   Niki Lauda Ferrari 0:58.79 1
2   Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 0:59.08 2
3   Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 0:59.11 3
4   Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 0:59.13 4
5   Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 0:59.20 5
6   Mike Hailwood McLaren-Ford 0:59.22 6
7   Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 0:59.32 7
8   Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 0:59.36 8
9   Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 0:59.43 9
10   James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 0:59.51 10
11   Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 0:59.54 11
12   Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 0:59.59 12
13   Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 1:00.00 13
14   John Watson Brabham-Ford 1:00.02 14
15   Arturo Merzario Iso-Marlboro-Ford 1:00.16 15
16   Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1:00.26 16
17   Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 1:00.36 17
18   Jochen Mass Surtees-Ford 1:00.48 18
19   Henri Pescarolo BRM 1:00.67 19
20   Guy Edwards Lola-Ford 1:00.68 20
21   Graham Hill Lola-Ford 1:00.73 21
22   François Migault BRM 1:00.86 22
23   Vern Schuppan Ensign-Ford 1:01.24
24   Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 1:01.35
25   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Iso-Marlboro-Ford 1:01.52
26   Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 1:01.60
27   José Dolhem Surtees-Ford 1:01.70
28   Rikky von Opel Brabham-Ford 1:01.79
29   Leo Kinnunen Surtees-Ford 1:03.15
30   Gérard Larrousse Brabham-Ford 1:03.27

*Positions with a pink background indicate drivers that failed to qualify

Race edit

Race summary edit

To honor the 80th birthday of the ACF, a parade of vintage cars was organized with a selection of great drivers from the 20s and 30s up to the present day. The race itself was largely uneventful. Tom Pryce put in a superb performance to be 3rd on the grid behind Ronnie Peterson and Niki Lauda. However, he was slow off the start and was hit by Carlos Reutemann, ending his race. James Hunt and Henri Pescarolo were also taken out in the ensuing accident. Lauda led convincingly from Peterson and Clay Regazzoni with Emerson Fittipaldi up to 4th by lap 15. Lauda dropped back with handling problems on lap 16, and was passed by Peterson, who led to the flag. He was followed by Lauda and Regazzoni, who came home 3rd despite vibration problems. Regazzoni had been challenged strongly by Fittipaldi, but just as the McLaren driver was preparing to pass, Fittipaldi's engine exploded, ending his race. Jody Scheckter was fourth, less than a second behind Regazzoni.

Classification edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1   Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 80 1:21:55.02 2 9
2 12   Niki Lauda Ferrari 80 + 20.36 1 6
3 11   Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 80 + 27.84 4 4
4 3   Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 80 + 28.11 7 3
5 2   Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 80 + 37.54 13 2
6 6   Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 80 + 38.14 11 1
7 33   Mike Hailwood McLaren-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 6  
8 4   Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 9  
9 20   Arturo Merzario Iso-Marlboro-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 15  
10 14   Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 79 + 1 Lap 17  
11 10   Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 16  
12 17   Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 12  
13 26   Graham Hill Lola-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 21  
14 37   François Migault BRM 78 + 2 Laps 22  
15 27   Guy Edwards Lola-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 20  
16 28   John Watson Brabham-Ford 76 + 4 Laps 14  
Ret 5   Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 27 Engine 5  
Ret 7   Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 24 Handling 8  
Ret 19   Jochen Mass Surtees-Ford 4 Clutch 18  
Ret 16   Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 1 Collision 3  
Ret 15   Henri Pescarolo BRM 1 Clutch 19  
Ret 24   James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 0 Collision 10  
DNQ 22   Vern Schuppan Ensign-Ford        
DNQ 8   Rikky von Opel Brabham-Ford        
DNQ 34   Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford        
DNQ 21   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Iso-Marlboro-Ford        
DNQ 9   Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford        
DNQ 18   José Dolhem Surtees-Ford        
DNQ 23   Leo Kinnunen Surtees-Ford        
DNQ 43   Gérard Larrousse Brabham-Ford        
Source:[4]

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. ^ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 39. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  2. ^ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 41. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  3. ^ "Dijon 1974 - classification". F1 Facts. Archived from the original on 23 October 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  4. ^ "1974 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b "France 1974 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.


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