1973 Swedish Grand Prix

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1973 Swedish Grand Prix
Scandinavian Raceway 1968-1974.svg
Race details
Date17 June 1973
Official name IV Hitachi Grand Prix of Sweden
Location Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp, Sweden
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.018 [1] km (2.497 miles)
Distance 80 laps, 321.440 [1] km (199.734 miles)
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:23.810
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of New Zealand.svg Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford
Time 1:26.146 on lap 7
Podium
First McLaren-Ford
Second Lotus-Ford
Third Tyrrell-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1973 Swedish Grand Prix

The 1973 Grand Prix of Sweden was a Formula One motor race held at the Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp on 17 June 1973. It was race 7 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. [2] The 80-lap race was won by McLaren driver Denny Hulme after he started from sixth position. Ronnie Peterson finished second for the Lotus team and Tyrrell driver François Cevert came in third.

Contents

Ronnie Peterson's success with John Player Team Lotus was the catalyst for a Swedish Grand Prix and the race was held for the first time, at World Championship level, at the grandly-named Scandinavian Raceway in 1973. [3] [4]

Background

Entry

A total of 29 F1 cars were entered for this event, however only 22 arrived for the race. The field was smaller than usual as there was no time for teams to repair damaged cars after the Monaco, as they had to be transported 1,200 miles from Monaco to Anderstorp. [3] [5]

A number of drivers were missing from action; Arturo Merzario (Scuderia Ferrari), Chris Amon (Martini Racing Team Tecno), Andrea de Adamich (Ceramica Pagnossin Brabham)., David Purley (LEC Refrigeration Racing March) and James Hunt (Hesketh Racing March). Meanwhile, Nanni Galli had decided to retire, so Frank Williams Racing Cars entered Danish driver, Tom Belsø, however it became clear that there was no funding available from his sponsors for the race. Swedish driver, Reine Wisell had rented LEC's March 731. [3] [6] [7]

Qualifying

Ronnie Peterson did not disappoint his fans in qualifying, taking pole in his Lotus 72E from Tyrrell's François Cevert. Cevert came close to taking pole, but Peterson took it by just 0.089 of a second. The World Championship contenders shared the second row, with Jackie Stewart ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi, while Carlos Reutemann and Denny Hulme made the third row. [3] [8] [9]

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverTeamTime
12 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:23.810
26 Flag of France.svg François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 1:23.899
35 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 1:23.912
41 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 1:24.084
510 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 1:24.489
67 Flag of New Zealand.svg Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 1:24.625
78 Flag of the United States.svg Peter Revson McLaren-Ford 1:24.937
83 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Ferrari 1:25.604
920 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 1:25.738
1023 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 1:25.776
1125 Flag of New Zealand.svg Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 1:25.800
1219 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni BRM 1:25.995
1311 Flag of Brazil.svg Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 1:26.127
1427 Flag of Sweden.svg Reine Wisell March-Ford 1:26.187
1521 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda BRM 1:26.211
1624 Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 1:26.255
1717 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 1:26.305
1812 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 1:26.382
1916 Flag of the United States.svg George Follmer Shadow-Ford 1:26.632
2014 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier March-Ford 1:26.874
2115 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Beuttler March-Ford 1:28.580
2226 Flag of Denmark.svg Tom Belsø Iso-Marlboro-Ford 1:28.972
Source: [10]

Race

The race was held over 80 laps of the Scandinavian Raceway circuit, in front of a crowd of over 50,000 spectators. There was a delayed start caused by the Grand Prix Drivers' Association complaining about photographers in dangerous places around the circuit. [5] [3] [9]

Emerson Fittipaldi made the best start and grabbed second behind local hero, Ronnie Peterson. The Tyrrell 006 of François Cevert was third with teammate Jackie Stewart behind him. Carlos Reutemann and Denny Hulme completed the top six, although by lap four, the McLaren of Hulme had moved ahead of the Brabham. The order remained stable until Stewart passed Cevert and began to chase the two JPS Lotuses. By this time, Cevert was having trouble with his tyres and dropped back and was overtaken by Hulme on lap 62. Hulme then started close in on Stewart. [3]

For 70 laps it looked like this was going to be a one-two for John Player Team Lotus with Peterson first and reigning World Champion, Fittipaldi second. However disaster struck when Fittipaldi retired with gearbox failure. With just three laps to go, Hulme overtook Stewart, when the Scot suffered a rear brake failure. Hulme quickly closed the gap on the leader, Peterson having major trouble with tyre wear and fighting to stay on the track. [3] [4]

On the 79th and penultimate lap Hulme was able to pass the local hero to snatch victory, the New Zealander's decision to run harder tyres on his McLaren-Cosworth M23 having paid off. Peterson was powerless to defend and eventually finished four seconds adrift in second place, that was as close as any Swede came to winning on home soil. Hulme expressed sadness to "have taken that away from Ronnie." Cevert was a further 10.6 seconds behind Peterson. [3] [4]

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
17 Flag of New Zealand.svg Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 801:56:46.04969
22 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 80+ 4.03916
36 Flag of France.svg François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 80+ 14.66724
410 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 80+ 18.06853
55 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 80+ 25.99832
63 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Ferrari 79+ 1 Lap81
78 Flag of the United States.svg Peter Revson McLaren-Ford 79+ 1 Lap7 
815 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Beuttler March-Ford 78+ 2 Laps21 
919 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni BRM 77+ 3 Laps12 
1024 Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 77+ 3 Laps16 
1125 Flag of New Zealand.svg Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 77+ 3 Laps11 
121 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 76Gearbox4 
1321 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda BRM 75+ 5 Laps15 
1416 Flag of the United States.svg George Follmer Shadow-Ford 74+ 6 Laps19 
Ret20 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 57Engine9 
Ret17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 50Suspension17 
Ret23 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 41Tyre10 
Ret14 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier March-Ford 38Throttle20 
Ret12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 16Ignition18 
Ret11 Flag of Brazil.svg Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 0Accident12 
DNS27 Flag of Sweden.svg Reine Wisell March-Ford Suspension14 
DNS26 Flag of Denmark.svg Tom Belsø Iso-Marlboro-Ford Car Raced by Ganley22 
Sources: [11] [3] [12]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. 1 2 "The Swedish Grand Prix". Motorsport: 735–737. July 1973. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  2. "1973 Swedish Grand Prix Entry list".
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Grand Prix Results: Swedish GP, 1973". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "Swedish Grand Prix – WOI Encyclopedia Italia". Wheelsofitaly.com. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  5. 1 2 "GP Sweden 1973". Racing Sports Cars. 17 June 1973. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  6. "Tom Belsø – Biography". f1rejects.com. 31 October 2004. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  7. "GP Sweden 1973 – Entry List". Racing Sports Cars. 17 June 1973. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  8. "GP Sweden 1973 – Qualifying Results". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  9. 1 2 "1973 Swedish GP: Last-lap heartbreak for Peterson at home". F1 Fanatic. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  10. "Sweden 1973 - Qualifications". statsf1.com. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  11. "1973 Swedish Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  12. "GP Sweden 1973 – Race Results". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  13. 1 2 "Sweden 1973 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
Previous race:
1973 Monaco Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1973 season
Next race:
1973 French Grand Prix
Previous race:
1967 Swedish Grand Prix
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1974 Swedish Grand Prix