1973 United States Grand Prix

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1973 United States Grand Prix
Watkins Glen International Track Map-1970-1980.svg
Race details
DateOctober 7, 1973
Official name XVI United States Grand Prix
Location Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course
Watkins Glen, New York
Course Permanent road course
Course length 5.435 km (3.377 miles)
Distance 59 laps, 320.67 km (199.24 miles)
Weather Cloudy with temperatures approaching 20 °C (68 °F);
Wind speeds up to 14.82 km/h (9.21 mph) [1]
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:39.657
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt March-Ford
Time 1:41.652 on lap 58
Podium
First Lotus-Ford
Second March-Ford
Third Brabham-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1973 United States Grand Prix

The 1973 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 7, 1973 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 15 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. [2]

Contents

The 59-lap race was won from pole position by Ronnie Peterson, driving a Lotus-Ford. Peterson held off James Hunt in the Hesketh-entered March-Ford to take his fourth victory of the season, with Carlos Reutemann third in a Brabham-Ford.

The race was overshadowed by the death of François Cevert during qualifying, the day before, in what was to have been the 100th and final Grand Prix for Tyrrell team-mate and triple World Champion Jackie Stewart. The Tyrrell team withdrew from the event as a consequence, handing the Manufacturers' Cup to Lotus.

Summary

Ronnie Peterson ended his first year with Lotus by taking his fourth win of the season, as a thrilling two-man battle ended with Peterson beating James Hunt to the flag by the smallest winning margin in USGP history at that time. The Englishman finished less than a second behind in his Hesketh Racing entered March, but the normal celebrations were tempered by the death of François Cevert during qualifying and the premature end of the career of three-time World Champion Jackie Stewart.

Death of François Cevert

Stewart had already clinched his third World Driver's Championship when the teams came to Watkins Glen, and he intended the final Grand Prix of 1973 to be his swan song. "I had decided in April that I would retire at the end of the season, win or lose," Stewart recalled. "Watkins Glen was going to be my last race in a Formula One car. François Cevert was going to be number one in the team for 1974, although he never knew it. Ken Tyrrell and I had kept it a secret that I was going to retire after that race. In fact, not even my wife, Helen, who was with me that weekend, knew."

With just a few minutes left in the Saturday morning qualifying session, however, the track suddenly fell quiet. Cevert had crashed violently in the uphill Esses heading onto the back of the circuit, between Turns Three and Four. Fighting the car as he went up the hill, Cevert ran too high on the kerbs and slid into the right-hand guardrail. The car then lashed sideways across the track and struck the Armco on the left side of the track at 150 mph at an almost 90-degree angle. The nose of the car submarined into the ground, causing the car to flip upwards on over the barrier, which ripped off the front of the car, which landed in the middle of the track while the rear of the car came to rest upside down on top of the Armco.

Jody Scheckter's McLaren was close behind, and he stopped and rushed over to help Cevert out of the car, but when the front of the car had been ripped off, Cevert had been exposed to making direct physical contact with the barrier and had died instantly. Ken Tyrrell had lost a great driver and Jackie Stewart an outstanding teammate at the circuit where Cevert had taken his only Grand Prix win. "It was a horrendous accident which took the life of a wonderfully charming, personable, handsome young man, who was a tremendous friend to both Helen and me," Stewart said.

When qualifying resumed, Peterson's time from the morning session stood up for his ninth pole of the year. The Tyrrells of Stewart and Chris Amon had earned the fifth and twelfth spots on the grid, but the team decided to withdraw in tribute to Cevert, and Stewart's driving career was over after 99 races and what was then a record 27 Grand Prix wins.

Race

On Sunday, a huge crowd turned out on a cool, overcast day for the race. On the grid, in seventh spot, home favorite Peter Revson felt his car creeping forward as the flag was raised. Rather than hold it with the brakes, he took it out of gear just as the flag dropped. He waved his arms in the air and waited for the field to roar past, then set off in last place.

The front runners got away well, and at the end of the first lap, Peterson led Carlos Reutemann, Hunt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mike Hailwood and Scheckter. On lap 4, Hunt passed Reutemann for second, and began his chase of Peterson's Lotus. To the surprise of everyone as the race progressed, Hunt was able to stay around one second behind Peterson. Occasionally the gap would widen slightly, but again and again, the extreme straightline speed of the Hesketh March would close it again.

Reutemann kept pace as well, two to three seconds behind Hunt, until he lost nine seconds attempting to lap Graham Hill. From then on, he ran a lonely race to a third-place finish.

Revson, meanwhile, was rocketing through the field from his last place start, and at the midway point, he had gone from twenty-third to seventh. He took sixth from Emerson on lap 40 when the Brazilian pitted to replace his front tyres that were flat-spotted when he had to avoid a spinning Scheckter.

For the last 15 laps, Hunt continued to follow Peterson, between .7 and 1.4 seconds behind. He pulled alongside at one point, but could not finish the pass. "I looked over at Ronnie, and he looked fiercer than me," he explained after the race.

Hunt had decided to bide his time until the final 10 laps, then make a bid to pass Peterson, but his car developed oversteer with a lightening fuel load. This kept him from taking the final corner before the back straight flat out, and effectively took away his speed advantage. He maintained the challenge to the flag, however, setting the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap. Peterson's winning margin of 0.688 seconds was the smallest in United States Grand Prix history until 2002.

Reutemann had to weave to the line, virtually out of fuel, but held on to third; Denny Hulme ran a steady race to fourth; Revson made it up to fifth with his splendid drive from last place; and Emerson Fittipaldi took sixth after having to stop for tyres. Having already secured the Manufacturers' Cup following Tyrrell's withdrawal, Lotus finished ten points ahead, despite Stewart taking the Drivers' Championship for Tyrrell.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGapGrid
12 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:39.6571
210 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 1:40.013+0.3562
31 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 1:40.393+0.7363
46 Flag of France.svg François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 1:40.444+0.787DNS
527 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt March-Ford 1:40.520+0.8634
65 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 1:40.635+0.9785
723 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 1:40.844+1.1876
88 Flag of the United States.svg Peter Revson McLaren-Ford 1:40.895+1.2387
97 Flag of New Zealand.svg Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 1:40.907+1.2508
1024 Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 1:41.125+1.4689
110 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter McLaren-Ford 1:41.321+1.66410
124 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario Ferrari 1:41.455+1.79811
1329 Flag of New Zealand.svg Chris Amon Tyrrell-Ford 1:41.679+2.02212
1431 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brian Redman Shadow-Ford 1:42.247+2.59013
1520 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 1:42.417+2.76014
1619 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni BRM 1:42.468+2.81115
1730 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass Surtees-Ford 1:42.517+2.86016
1818 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier March-Ford 1:42.752+3.09517
1912 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 1:42.848+3.19118
2025 Flag of New Zealand.svg Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 1:43.166+3.50919
2116 Flag of the United States.svg George Follmer Shadow-Ford 1:43.387+3.73020
2221 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda BRM 1:43.543+3.88621
2317 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 1:43.650+3.99322
2426 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Iso-Marlboro-Ford 1:43.885+4.22823
259 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Brabham-Ford 1:43.887+4.23024
2611 Flag of Brazil.svg Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 1:44.478+4.82125
2715 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Beuttler March-Ford 1:45.032+5.37526
2828 Flag of Liechtenstein.svg Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford 1:45.441+5.78427

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
12 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 591:41:15.77919
227 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt March-Ford 59+ 0.66846
310 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 59+ 22.93024
47 Flag of New Zealand.svg Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 59+ 50.22683
58 Flag of the United States.svg Peter Revson McLaren-Ford 59+ 1:20.36772
61 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 59+ 1:47.94531
726 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Iso-Marlboro-Ford 58+ 1 Lap23 
819 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni BRM 58+ 1 Lap15 
920 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 58+ 1 Lap14 
1015 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Beuttler March-Ford 58+ 1 Lap26 
1118 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier March-Ford 57Accident17 
1225 Flag of New Zealand.svg Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 57+ 2 Laps19 
1312 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 57+ 2 Laps18 
1416 Flag of the United States.svg George Follmer Shadow-Ford 57+ 2 Laps20 
1517 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 55+ 4 Laps22 
164 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario Ferrari 55+ 4 Laps11 
NC11 Flag of Brazil.svg Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 52+ 7 Laps25 
Ret0 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter McLaren-Ford 39Suspension10 
Ret30 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass Surtees-Ford 35Engine16 
Ret21 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda BRM 35Fuel Pump21 
Ret23 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 34Suspension6 
Ret24 Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 32Suspension9 
Ret9 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Brabham-Ford 7Engine24 
DSQ31 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brian Redman Shadow-Ford 5Received Outside Assistance13 
Ret28 Flag of Liechtenstein.svg Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford 0Throttle27 
WD5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 0Withdrew (Fatal Accident in team)5 
WD29 Flag of New Zealand.svg Chris Amon Tyrrell-Ford 0Withdrew (Fatal Accident in team)12 
DNS6 Flag of France.svg François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford  Fatal Accident in Qualifying  
Source: [3]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. "Weather information for the "1973 United States Grand Prix"". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  2. "1973 United States Grand Prix Entry list".
  3. "1973 United States Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "United States 1973 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved March 21, 2019.

Further reading

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1973 Canadian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1973 season
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1974 Argentine Grand Prix
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1972 United States Grand Prix
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1974 United States Grand Prix