1975 French Grand Prix

The 1975 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 6 July 1975. It was race 9 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 53rd French Grand Prix and the third to be held at Paul Ricard. The race was held over 54 laps of the 5.8-kilometre (3.6 mi) circuit for a race distance of 313 kilometres (194 mi).

1975 French Grand Prix
Race details
Date 6 July 1975
Official name 61ème Grand Prix de France[1]
Location Circuit Paul Ricard
Le Castellet, Var, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.809 km (3.610 miles)
Distance 54 laps, 313.686 km (194.915 miles)
Weather Dry and sunny
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:47.82[2]
Fastest lap
Driver West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford
Time 1:50.60[3] on lap 38
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Hesketh-Ford
Third McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders

The race was won from pole position by Austrian driver Niki Lauda, driving a Ferrari. Lauda led every lap and survived late charges from British driver James Hunt in the Hesketh-Ford and West German driver Jochen Mass in the McLaren-Ford, who finished 1.6 and 2.3 seconds behind respectively. It was Lauda's fourth win of the season, enabling him to extend his lead in the Drivers' Championship to 22 points over Brabham driver Carlos Reutemann.

Race summary edit

Despite suffering from flu, Niki Lauda still took pole position. Jean-Pierre Jarier brought a smile to French faces by setting Friday's quickest time. Jody Scheckter driving the new lightweight Tyrrell 007 set a record through the speed trap of 190 mph.

On the start line, Tom Pryce was left without a clutch and retired shortly afterwards. Lauda led from Scheckter, James Hunt and Jochen Mass. Clay Regazzoni had moved up to second before his engine exploded, Scheckter taking over the position before Hunt passed him on lap eight. Lauda and Hunt maintained first and second whilst Scheckter, struggling with handling issues, had to concede to Mass and Emerson Fittipaldi.

Jarier made a superb pass on him and made a brave bid to catch Fittipaldi, but rev-limiter problems caused him to fall back with erratic power. Mario Andretti and Patrick Depailler were performing brilliantly, advancing from eleventh to fifth and 19th to sixth respectively.

Alan Jones was duelling with Ronnie Peterson and Carlos Reutemann when he spun into the catch fencing. Reutemann suffered from tyre problems and lost a lap, whilst John Watson suffered excess power and took to the escape road. Vittorio Brambilla retired with a damper problem, Wilson Fittipaldi blew his engine, and Jacky Ickx, Mark Donohue and Carlos Pace all broke their driveshafts. Mass was in rapid pursuit of Hunt and Lauda – by the last lap he was only 2.4 seconds behind them. However, a superb lapping manoeuvre gave Hunt the space he needed. On the last corner, Lauda slid offline, but held on to win by 1.6 seconds.

Classification edit

Qualifying classification edit

Pos. No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 12   Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:47.82
2 3   Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 1:48.22 +0.40
3 24   James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 1:48.25 +0.43
4 17   Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 1:48.44 +0.62
5 8   Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 1:48.48 +0.66
6 16   Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 1:48.48 +0.66
7 2   Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:48.54 +0.72
8 9   Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1:48.56 +0.74
9 11   Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:48.68 +0.86
10 1   Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 1:48.75 +0.93
11 7   Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 1:48.85 +1.03
12 23   Tony Brise Hill-Ford 1:49.21 +1.39
13 4   Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:49.31 +1.49
14 18   John Watson Surtees-Ford 1:49.70 +1.88
15 27   Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 1:49.72 +1.90
16 21   Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 1:49.72 +1.90
17 5   Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:50.04 +2.22
18 28   Mark Donohue Penske-Ford 1:50.15 +2.33
19 6   Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 1:50.94 +3.12
20 22   Alan Jones Hill-Ford 1:51.02 +3.20
21 15   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Tyrrell-Ford 1:51.06 +3.24
22 31   Gijs van Lennep Ensign-Ford 1:51.21 +3.39
23 30   Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:51.64 +3.82
24 20   François Migault Williams-Ford 1:51.82 +4.00
25 14   Bob Evans BRM 1:51.85 +4.03
26 10   Lella Lombardi March-Ford 1:52.97 +5.15

Race classification edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 12   Niki Lauda Ferrari 54 1:40:18.84 1 9
2 24   James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 54 + 1.59 3 6
3 2   Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 54 + 2.31 7 4
4 1   Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 54 + 39.77 10 3
5 27   Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 54 + 1:02.08 15 2
6 4   Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:07.40 13 1
7 23   Tony Brise Hill-Ford 54 + 1:09.61 12  
8 17   Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 54 + 1:19.78 4  
9 3   Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:31.68 2  
10 5   Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 54 + 1:36.02 17  
11 21   Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 54 + 1:36.77 16  
12 15   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:37.13 21  
13 18   John Watson Surtees-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 14  
14 7   Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 11  
15 31   Gijs van Lennep Ensign-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 22  
16 22   Alan Jones Hill-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 20  
17 14   Bob Evans BRM 52 + 2 Laps 25  
18 10   Lella Lombardi March-Ford 50 + 4 Laps 26  
Ret 8   Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 26 Transmission 5  
Ret 6   Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 17 Brakes 19  
Ret 30   Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 14 Engine 23  
Ret 9   Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 6 Chassis 8  
Ret 11   Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 6 Engine 9  
Ret 28   Mark Donohue Penske-Ford 6 Transmission 18  
Ret 16   Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 2 Transmission 6  
DNS 20   François Migault Williams-Ford 0 Non Starter 24  
Source:[5]

Championship standings after the race edit

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 6 results from the first 7 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. ^ "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1975". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  2. ^ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 85. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  3. ^ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 87. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  4. ^ "French Grand Prix 1975". motorsport-stats.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  5. ^ "1975 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  6. ^ a b "France 1975 - Championship". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.


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1975 Dutch Grand Prix
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