1975 Belgian Grand Prix

1975 Belgian Grand Prix
Race details
Date	May 25, 1975
Location	Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
Course length	4.262 km (2.648 miles)
Distance	70 laps, 298.340 km (185.380 miles)
Weather	Dry and sunny
Pole position
Driver	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
Time	1:25.43 [1]
Fastest lap
Driver	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
Time	1:26.76 [2] on lap 11
Podium
First	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
Second	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford
Third	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford
Lap leaders [3]

The 1975 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder on 25 May 1975. It was race 6 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. ^[4] It was the 33rd Belgian Grand Prix and the second to be held at the Circuit Zolder. The race was held over 70 laps of the four kilometre venue for a race distance of 280 kilometres.

The race was won by Austrian driver Niki Lauda driving a Ferrari 312T, his second victory for the year after winning Monaco two weeks earlier. Lauda led 65 of the 70 laps, taking a 19-second victory over South African driver Jody Scheckter in a Tyrrell 007. Argentinian driver Carlos Reutemann drove his Brabham BT44B to third place. The win put Lauda into the lead of the championship for the first time in 1975, passing previous leader Emerson Fittipaldi.

Qualifying summary

Ferrari arrived at Circuit Zolder eager for the fray and buoyed up by their Monaco victory. Niki Lauda dutifully gained pole after a technical gremlin held up early leader Carlos Pace and Saturday's qualifying was rained out. Vittorio Brambilla was third on the grid and Tony Brise stunned on his debut race for Graham Hill, gaining a fourth-row start ahead of Championship leader Emerson Fittipaldi. Ronnie Peterson suffered the unfortunate experience of being given a parking ticket during the practice session – after having parked his car in a dangerous position at the edge of the track, rather than risk a puncture by pulling into the gravel trap. Mario Andretti was missing from the field because he was competing at the Indianapolis 500.

Qualifying classification

Pos.	Driver	Constructor	Time	No
1	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	1:25,43	1
2	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Ford	1:25,47	2
3	Vittorio Brambilla	March-Ford	1:25,66	3
4	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	1:25,85	4
5	Tom Pryce	Shadow-Ford	1:25,94	5
6	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	1:26,09	6
7	Tony Brise	Hill-Ford	1:26,22	7
8	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Ford	1:26,26	8
9	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford	1:26,36	9
10	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow-Ford	1:26,38	10
11	James Hunt	Hesketh-Ford	1:26,51	11
12	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	1:26,74	12
13	Alan Jones	Hesketh-Ford	1:27,05	13
14	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	1:27,17	14
15	Jochen Mass	McLaren-Ford	1:27,38	15
16	Jacky Ickx	Lotus-Ford	1:27,40	16
17	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Ford	1:27,70	17
18	John Watson	Surtees-Ford	1:28,01	18
19	Arturo Merzario	Williams-Ford	1:28,18	19
20	Bob Evans	BRM	1:28,57	20
21	Mark Donohue	Penske-Ford	1:28,65	21
22	François Migault	Hill-Ford	1:29,57	22
23	Lella Lombardi	March-Ford	1:29,71	23
24	Wilson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	1:30,27	24

Race summary

Pace took the lead whilst Brambilla and Regazzoni duelled. Jochen Mass and John Watson collided – the German retired whilst Watson returned to the pits with a damaged nosecone. Alan Jones also had to retire after a collision with Jacques Laffite. Arturo Merzario was out with a burnt out clutch. Pace's fiery start was now causing problems with brakes and cold tyres and he was having to drop back.

Brambilla took the lead until lap six when he was passed by Lauda. Tony Brise spun at the chicane and retired shortly after with piston failure. Jody Scheckter was storming through the field to be in second place by lap nine. Brambilla's brakes were fading and he dropped down the order. Jean-Pierre Jarier spun into the catch-fencing, James Hunt retired with a broken gear-linkage. Clay Regazzoni had risen to third, but then dived into the pits to change a blistered tyre. Lauda led Scheckter comfortably and the race settled down into a procession.

Carlos Pace had handling problems and dropped down the order when he lost third gear. By lap 49, Ronnie Peterson crashed into the catch fencing, whilst Brambilla surrendered third place to change a blistered tyre, resuming but retiring with brake problems.

Fittipaldi was also having brake problems, leaving him helpless against the assault of Regazzoni and Tom Pryce as he dropped from fifth to seventh in the last six laps.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	12	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	70	1:43:53.98	1	9
2	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford	70	+ 19.22	9	6
3	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	70	+ 41.82	6	4
4	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	70	+ 1:00.08	12	3
5	11	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	70	+ 1:03.84	4	2
6	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow-Ford	70	+ 1:28.45	5	1
7	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Ford	69	+ 1 Lap	8
8	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Ford	69	+ 1 Lap	2
9	14	Bob Evans	BRM	68	+ 2 Laps	20
10	18	John Watson	Surtees-Ford	68	+ 2 Laps	18
11	28	Mark Donohue	Penske-Ford	67	+ 3 Laps	21
12	30	Wilson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	67	+ 3 Laps	24
Ret	22	François Migault	Hill-Ford	57	Suspension	22
Ret	9	Vittorio Brambilla	March-Ford	54	Brakes	3
Ret	6	Jacky Ickx	Lotus-Ford	52	Brakes	16
Ret	5	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	36	Brakes	14
Ret	21	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Ford	18	Gearbox	23
Ret	10	Lella Lombardi	March-Ford	18	Engine	17
Ret	23	Tony Brise	Hill-Ford	17	Engine	7
Ret	24	James Hunt	Hesketh-Ford	15	Transmission	11
Ret	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow-Ford	13	Spun Off	10
Ret	20	Arturo Merzario	Williams-Ford	2	Clutch	19
Ret	26	Alan Jones	Hesketh-Ford	1	Accident	13
Ret	2	Jochen Mass	McLaren-Ford	0	Accident	15
WD	31	Roelof Wunderink	Ensign-Ford
WD	35	Dave Walker	Maki-Ford
Source: [5]

Notes

• This was the 200th race in which an American driver participated. In those 200 races, American drivers won 22 Grands Prix, achieved 99 podium finishes, 22 pole positions, 28 fastest laps, 4 Grand Slams and won 1 World Championship.
• This was also the 100th race in which an Argentinian driver participated. In those 100 races, Argentinian drivers won 29 Grands Prix, achieved 65 podium finishes, 34 pole positions, 28 fastest laps, 9 Grand Slams and 5 World Championships.
• This race also marked the 10th Grand Prix win for an Austrian driver.
• This race was the 6th win of the Belgian Grand Prix for Ferrari, breaking the previous record set by Lotus at the 1972 Belgian Grand Prix.
• It was also the 6th win of the Belgian Grand Prix for a Ferrari-powered car, equally breaking the previous record set by Coventry Climax at the 1965 Belgian Grand Prix.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda 23 2 Emerson Fittipaldi 21 3 Carlos Pace 16 4 Carlos Reutemann 16 5 Jody Scheckter 15 Source: [6]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Brabham-Ford 29 2 McLaren-Ford 26.5 3 Ferrari 26 4 Tyrrell-Ford 19 5 Hesketh-Ford 7 Source: [6]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 78. ISBN   0-85429-380-9.
2. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 80. ISBN   0-85429-380-9.
3. "Belgian Grand Prix 1975". motorsport-stats.com. Archived from the original on 2007-01-12. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
4. "1975 Belgian Grand Prix Entry list".
5. "1975 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
6. "Belgium 1975 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.

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