1975 British Grand Prix

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1975 British Grand Prix
Silverstone Circuit 1975 to 1986.png
Race details
Date19 July 1975
Official name John Player Grand Prix [1]
Location Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, Great Britain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.719 km (2.932 miles)
Distance 56 laps, 264.264 km (164.192 miles)
Weather Sunny, then overcast, then heavy rain
Pole position
Driver Shadow-Ford
Time 1:19.36 [2]
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Ferrari
Time 1:20.9 on lap 16 [3]
Podium
First McLaren-Ford
Second Brabham-Ford
Third Tyrrell-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1975 British Grand Prix (formally the John Player Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 19 July 1975. It was race 10 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 30th British Grand Prix to be held since the race was first held in 1926 and the 17th time the race had been held at Silverstone. The race was held over 56 of the scheduled 67 laps of the four kilometre venue for a race distance of 264 kilometres. This was the first race that used the traffic light system with coloured lights (red and green) at the start (system used until the 1995 Australian Grand Prix).

Contents

The results were overshadowed by a heavy hail storm from Lap 53, which caused three out of the top four cars (Jody Scheckter, James Hunt, and Mark Donohue), to aquaplane and crash in the same corner, bringing an early finish to the race, and a significant absence on the podium. A number of other cars crashed at the same corner as well, including Wilson Fittipaldi, Jochen Mass, and John Watson. The race results were finalised the lap after the lap most cars crashed, giving Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, who had been the race leader prior to the storm, a one lap win in his McLaren M23. Carlos Pace, who was one of the crashers in his Brabham BT44B was classified in second position with another of the crashers, Tyrrell 007 driver Jody Scheckter classified third.

Race summary

A new chicane had been installed at Woodcote Corner, bringing complaints from the purists but also arguments that it was necessary in the interests of safety. Tom Pryce gained his only career pole position in his home race, whilst the Ferraris were on the second row, with James Hunt languishing on the fifth row.

Graham Hill, who had already announced his retirement as a driver after 17 seasons and 176 races after failing in his attempt to qualify in Monaco, made a farewell lap one hour before the start of the race (without overalls and helmet), and concentrated on the leadership of his Embassy Hill team.

From the start – in which a lights system was being used for the first time in any Grand Prix, replacing the traditional national flag – Carlos Pace led from Pryce.

Following the hail storm, only six cars were running at the end. The RAC declared the race finished officially on the lap after the lap when most cars were running – lap 56. Ferrari, with both of their cars stuck on lap 54 in the classification protested, but the RAC threw these protests out and three days later, the provisional results were confirmed.

The win was the 14th and final win of Fittipaldi's career which had included two world championships. He would continue racing in Formula One until 1980. The win also vaulted Fittipaldi past Carlos Reutemann into second place in the championship, 14 points behind Lauda.

Classification

Qualifying classification

Pos.NoDriverConstructorTimeGap
116 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 1:19.36
28 Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 1:19.50+0.14
312 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:19.54+0.18
411 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:19.55+0.19
59 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1:19.63+0.27
63 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 1:19.81+0.45
71 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 1:19.91+0.55
87 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 1:20.04+0.68
924 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 1:20.14+0.78
102 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:20.18+0.82
1117 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 1:20.33+0.97
1227 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 1:20.36+1.00
1323 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Brise Hill-Ford 1:20.41+1.05
1410 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 1:20.46+1.10
1528 Flag of the United States.svg Mark Donohue March-Ford 1:20.50+1.14
165 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:20.58+1.22
174 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:20.60+1.24
1818 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Surtees-Ford 1:20.83+1.47
1921 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 1:21.01+1.65
2022 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Hill-Ford 1:21.19+1.83
2115 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brian Henton Lotus-Ford 1:21.36+2.00
2229 Flag of Italy.svg Lella Lombardi March-Ford 1:21.60+2.24
2319 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dave Morgan Surtees-Ford 1:21.65+2.29
2430 Flag of Brazil.svg Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:21.67+2.31
256 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jim Crawford Lotus-Ford 1:21.86+2.50
2632 Flag of New Zealand.svg John Nicholson Lyncar-Ford 1:22.86+3.50
2731 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Roelof Wunderink Ensign-Ford 1:25.02+5.66
2835 Flag of Japan.svg Hiroshi Fushida Maki-Ford 1:26.61+7.25

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
11 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 561:22:05.079
28 Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 55Accident26
33 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 55Accident64
424 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 55Accident93
528 Flag of the United States.svg Mark Donohue March-Ford 55Accident152
69 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 55+ 1 Lap51
72 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 55Accident10 
812 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Ferrari 54+ 2 Laps3 
94 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 54Accident17 
1022 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Hill-Ford 54+ 2 Laps20 
1118 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Surtees-Ford 54Accident18 
1227 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 54+ 2 Laps12 
1311 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 54+ 2 Laps4 
1417 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 53Accident11 
1523 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Brise Hill-Ford 53Accident13 
1615 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brian Henton Lotus-Ford 53Accident21 
1732 Flag of New Zealand.svg John Nicholson Lyncar-Ford 51Accident26 
1819 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dave Morgan Surtees-Ford 50Accident23 
1930 Flag of Brazil.svg Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 50Accident24 
Ret10 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 45Accident14 
Ret6 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jim Crawford Lotus-Ford 28Accident25 
Ret16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 20Accident1 
Ret29 Flag of Italy.svg Lella Lombardi March-Ford 18Engine22 
Ret5 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 7Engine16 
Ret21 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 5Gearbox19 
Ret7 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 4Engine8 
DNQ31 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Roelof Wunderink Ensign-Ford     
DNQ35 Flag of Japan.svg Hiroshi Fushida Maki-Ford     
Source: [5]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1975". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  2. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 88. ISBN   0-85429-380-9.
  3. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 90. ISBN   0-85429-380-9.
  4. "British Grand Prix 1975". motorsport-stats.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  5. "1975 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Britain 1975 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.