1973 British Grand Prix

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1973 British Grand Prix
Silverstone Circuit 1952 to 1974.png
Race details
Date14 July 1973
Official name John Player Grand Prix [1]
Location Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, Great Britain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.711 km (2.944 miles)
Distance 67 laps, 315.597 km (197.248 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:16.3
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt March-Ford
Time 1:18.6 on lap 50
Podium
First McLaren-Ford
Second Lotus-Ford
Third McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1973 British Grand Prix

The 1973 British Grand Prix (formally the John Player Grand Prix) was a Formula One (F1) motor race held at Silverstone on 14 July 1973. It was race 9 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race is known for the first lap pile-up, which ultimately caused eleven cars to retire. The accident happened when Jody Scheckter, running fourth in his McLaren, spun across the track at Woodcote Corner at the end of the first lap, causing many other cars to collide and crash. The incident eliminated nine cars, including all three works Surtees cars, while Brabham driver Andrea de Adamich suffered a broken ankle that ended his F1 career. The race was stopped at the end of the second lap, before being restarted over the original 67-lap distance with 18 of the original 29 cars. David Purley and Graham McRae had retired in separate incidents.

Contents

On the first start, a swift start by Jackie Stewart brought him from fourth to first in less than half a lap. At Becketts Corner, Stewart out-braked race leader Ronnie Peterson and took the lead. As the massive pile-up at the end of the first lap caused the race to be restarted, Stewart had to start from fourth again. This time it was Niki Lauda who had an excellent start and moved up behind Peterson into second, with Stewart third. Stewart passed Lauda on lap 2, and charged after Peterson. On lap 6, Stewart again tried to pass Peterson for the lead but the Swedish driver shut the door; Stewart lost control of his Tyrrell and spun off into the thick grass. Although he was able to continue, Stewart ended up finishing 10th, one lap down.

Another notable drive came from James Hunt in his Hesketh Racing March, who ran fourth for most of the race and was part of a four-way battle for the lead between himself, Peterson, Denny Hulme, and Peter Revson. American driver Revson took his first Grand Prix victory by 2.8 seconds from Peterson. The pile-up was to be a factor in this being the last World Championship F1 race held on the original Silverstone layout; a chicane would be added at Woodcote shortly before the 1975 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Moto GP, which would come to Silverstone from the Isle of Man TT in 1977, would use the original layout until 1986.

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo
1Ronnie PetersonLotus-Ford1:16.31
2Denny HulmeMcLaren-Ford1:16.52
3Peter RevsonMcLaren-Ford1:16.53
4Jackie StewartTyrrell-Ford1:16.74
5Emerson FittipaldiLotus-Ford1:16.75
6Jody ScheckterMcLaren-Ford1:16.96
7François CevertTyrrell-Ford1:17.37
8Carlos ReutemannBrabham-Ford1:17.48
9Niki LaudaBRM1:17.49
10Clay RegazzoniBRM1:17.510
11James HuntMarch-Ford1:17.611
12Mike HailwoodSurtees-Ford1:18.012
13Wilson FittipaldiBrabham-Ford1:18.113
14Jochen MassSurtees-Ford1:18.314
15Carlos PaceSurtees-Ford1:18.315
16David PurleyMarch-Ford1:18.416
17Jean-Pierre BeltoiseBRM1:18.417
18Howden GanleyIso-Ford1:18.618
19Jacky IckxFerrari1:18.919
20Andrea de AdamichBrabham-Ford1:19.120
21Rikky von OpelEnsign-Ford1:19.221
22Roger WilliamsonMarch-Ford1:19.522
23John WatsonBrabham-Ford1:20.123
24Mike BeuttlerMarch-Ford1:20.124
25George FollmerShadow-Ford1:20.325
26Jackie OliverShadow-Ford1:20.326
27Graham HillShadow-Ford1:20.527
28Graham McRaeIso-Ford1:20.828
29Chris AmonTecno1:21.029

Race

First start and multi-car pileup

The race started at 2:00pm local time. It featured the most cars to start a Grand Prix as it featured 28 cars in rows of three by two. [2]

Ronnie Peterson led away but a very quick start by Jackie Stewart brought him from fourth to second, as Stewart passed Peterson to take the lead at Beckets. Carlos Reutemann was in third with Denny Hulme and Jody Scheckter behind him. As the exited Woodcote corner to complete the first lap, Stewart led Peterson and Reutemann but carnage was happening behind them. Scheckter tried to pass Hulme on the outside Scheckter's car went wide and spun right across the track and it hit the retaining wall of the pits and bounced back into the middle of the track. Hulme escaped undamaged, as Francois Cevert, James Hunt, Peter Revson, and Clay Regazzoni also went by. The big one then happened as Scheckter's car ricocheted back from the pit wall, Revson struck Scheckter's rear wing, and then all hell broke loose as the rest of the field crashed into the wrecks or dodged about to miss the wreckage. Nine cars were involved in the resulting carnage, Andrea de Adamich had crashed headlong into the barriers on the outside of the track and he was trapped in the cockpit of his Brabham with a broken ankle. Apart from minor bruises and shakings, no one else was hurt but the Surtees cars of Mike Hailwood, Carlos Pace, and Jochen Mass were smashed up. The Shadow's were also involved: Jackie Oliver's car was wrecked, while George Follmer's car was ripped open. The Embassy Hill-entered Shadow of Graham Hill was struck in the rear and a wishbone broken; Hill drove it round back to the pits under its own power. The BRM of Jean-Pierre Beltoise and the works March of Roger Williamson were wrecked, as was the McLaren of Scheckter. [3] [4] [5] It would be F1's biggest race start crash until the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix took out thirteen cars; no one was injured. [6]

The race organisation acted instantly and the race was red flagged indicating without argument or discussion that the race was stopped and would be started again later. Meanwhile, those ahead of the accident were still racing until they ended the lap, when they all came to a rapid stop at the scene of the crash. It took 30 minutes to release de Adamich from the wreckage of the Brabham, plus an hour to clear away the wrecked cars and the debris. The cars that escaped were wheeled back to the starting grid and Hill's Shadow was repaired in the pits, and Niki Lauda's BRM that had been in the pits all the time had a new drive-shaft fitted. Hunt's March needed a new airbox as his original one was damaged in the wreck and borrowed Mike Beuttler's airbox from his car. [3] [4] [5]

Second start

Drivers were allowed to use spare cars but none were used, Lauda's BRM and Hill's Shadow having been repaired during the red flag period. Non-starters included de Adamich who had been taken to hospital, Scheckter who was barred by McLaren as several team bosses including John Surtees wanted to throw him out for causing the crash, Graham McRae's Iso-Marlboro which had a throttle issue and could not restart, and David Purley's March which had spun off before the big one and did not restart. Other drivers who did not take the restart included Oliver, Follmer, Beltoise, Williamson, Purley, Pace, Hailwood, and Mass. It was 3.30 p.m. before the track was clear and there were nineteen starters ready for the restart over the original distance on 67 laps. At 3:35 pm, the depleted field moved up on to the starting grid. Everyone took up their original positions, leaving gaps for those who had been eliminated. This time it was Lauda who had an excellent start and moved up behind Peterson into second, with Stewart third. Stewart passed Lauda on lap 2 and charged after Peterson. On lap 6, Stewart again tried to pass Peterson for the lead but the Swedish driver shut the door; Stewart lost control of his Tyrrell and spun off into the thick grass. Although he was able to continue, Stewart ended up finishing 10th, one lap down. [3] [4] [5]

Classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
18 Flag of the United States.svg Peter Revson McLaren-Ford 671:29:18.539
22 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 67+ 2.816
37 Flag of New Zealand.svg Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 67+ 3.024
427 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt March-Ford 67+ 3.4113
56 Flag of France.svg François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 67+ 36.672
610 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 67+ 44.781
719 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni BRM 67+ 1:11.710 
83 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Ferrari 67+ 1:17.419 
925 Flag of New Zealand.svg Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 66+1 lap18 
105 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 66+1 lap4 
1115 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Beuttler March-Ford 65+2 Laps24 
1221 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda BRM 63+4 laps9 
1328 Flag of Liechtenstein.svg Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford 61+6 laps21 
Ret11 Flag of Brazil.svg Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 44Oil leak13 
Ret1 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 36Transmission5 
Ret29 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Brabham-Ford 36Fuel system23 
Ret12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 24Chassis27 
Ret22 Flag of New Zealand.svg Chris Amon Tecno 6Fuel system29 
Ret30 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter McLaren-Ford 0Collision6 
Ret23 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 0Collision12 
Ret31 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass Surtees-Ford 0Collision14 
Ret24 Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 0Collision15 
Ret20 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 0Collision17 
Ret9 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Adamich Brabham-Ford 0Collision20 
Ret14 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roger Williamson March-Ford 0Collision22 
Ret16 Flag of the United States.svg George Follmer Shadow-Ford 0Collision25 
Ret17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 0Collision26 
Ret26 Flag of New Zealand.svg Graham McRae Iso-Marlboro-Ford 0Throttle28 
DNS18 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Purley March-Ford 0Spun Off16 
Source: [7]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

See also

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References

  1. "1973 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes". The Programme Covers Project.
  2. "The John Player Grand Prix". Racing Sports Car. 1973. pp. 16–17. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Magazine, Motosport (August 1973). "1973 British GP Race Report". Motorsport Magazine. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Fearnley, Paul (27 June 2013). "1973 British GP – I attended". Motorsport Magazine. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Henry, Alan (27 June 2013). "1973 British GP – A look back". McLaren. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  6. "1998 F1 World Championship | Motorsport Database". Motor Sport. 1998. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  7. "1973 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Britain 1973 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
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