1975 British Grand Prix

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).

1975 British Grand Prix
Race details
Date 19 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 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari
Time 1:20.9 on lap 16[3]
Podium
First McLaren-Ford
Second Brabham-Ford
Third Tyrrell-Ford
Lap leaders

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

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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

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Qualifying classification

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Pos. No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 16   Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 1:19.36
2 8   Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 1:19.50 +0.14
3 12   Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:19.54 +0.18
4 11   Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:19.55 +0.19
5 9   Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1:19.63 +0.27
6 3   Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 1:19.81 +0.45
7 1   Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 1:19.91 +0.55
8 7   Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 1:20.04 +0.68
9 24   James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 1:20.14 +0.78
10 2   Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:20.18 +0.82
11 17   Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 1:20.33 +0.97
12 27   Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 1:20.36 +1.00
13 23   Tony Brise Hill-Ford 1:20.41 +1.05
14 10   Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 1:20.46 +1.10
15 28   Mark Donohue March-Ford 1:20.50 +1.14
16 5   Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:20.58 +1.22
17 4   Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:20.60 +1.24
18 18   John Watson Surtees-Ford 1:20.83 +1.47
19 21   Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 1:21.01 +1.65
20 22   Alan Jones Hill-Ford 1:21.19 +1.83
21 15   Brian Henton Lotus-Ford 1:21.36 +2.00
22 29   Lella Lombardi March-Ford 1:21.60 +2.24
23 19   Dave Morgan Surtees-Ford 1:21.65 +2.29
24 30   Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:21.67 +2.31
25 6   Jim Crawford Lotus-Ford 1:21.86 +2.50
26 32   John Nicholson Lyncar-Ford 1:22.86 +3.50
27 31   Roelof Wunderink Ensign-Ford 1:25.02 +5.66
28 35   Hiroshi Fushida Maki-Ford 1:26.61 +7.25

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1   Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 56 1:22:05.0 7 9
2 8   Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 55 Accident 2 6
3 3   Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 55 Accident 6 4
4 24   James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 55 Accident 9 3
5 28   Mark Donohue March-Ford 55 Accident 15 2
6 9   Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 55 + 1 Lap 5 1
7 2   Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 55 Accident 10  
8 12   Niki Lauda Ferrari 54 + 2 Laps 3  
9 4   Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 54 Accident 17  
10 22   Alan Jones Hill-Ford 54 + 2 Laps 20  
11 18   John Watson Surtees-Ford 54 Accident 18  
12 27   Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 54 + 2 Laps 12  
13 11   Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 54 + 2 Laps 4  
14 17   Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 53 Accident 11  
15 23   Tony Brise Hill-Ford 53 Accident 13  
16 15   Brian Henton Lotus-Ford 53 Accident 21  
17 32   John Nicholson Lyncar-Ford 51 Accident 26  
18 19   Dave Morgan Surtees-Ford 50 Accident 23  
19 30   Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 50 Accident 24  
Ret 10   Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 45 Accident 14  
Ret 6   Jim Crawford Lotus-Ford 28 Accident 25  
Ret 16   Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 20 Accident 1  
Ret 29   Lella Lombardi March-Ford 18 Engine 22  
Ret 5   Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 7 Engine 16  
Ret 21   Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 5 Gearbox 19  
Ret 7   Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 4 Engine 8  
DNQ 31   Roelof Wunderink Ensign-Ford        
DNQ 35   Hiroshi Fushida Maki-Ford        
Source:[5]

Notes

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Championship standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 6 results from the first 7 races and the best 6 results from the last 7 races counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

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  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. ^ a b "Britain 1975 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.


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1975 French Grand Prix
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