The 1972 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jarama on May 1, 1972. It was race 3 of 12 in both the 1972 World Championship of Drivers and the 1972 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race marked the first time two brothers raced together in F1 simultaneously, Emerson and Wilson Fittipaldi. The elder Fittipaldi was a last-minute substitute for Brabham's Carlos Reutemann, who had injured his ankle in a Formula 2 race the previous weekend at Thruxton, England. The 90-lap race was won by Lotus driver Emerson Fittipaldi after he started from third position. Jacky Ickx finished second for the Ferrari team and his teammate Clay Regazzoni came in third. After the race the World Drivers' Championship was tied at 15 points between Emerson Fittipaldi and Denny Hulme.
Qualifying classification Pos.No.DriverConstructorTimeGap14 Jacky IckxFerrari1:18.43211 Denny HulmeMcLaren-Ford1:19.18 +0.7535 Emerson FittipaldiLotus-Ford1:19.26 +0.8341 Jackie StewartTyrrell-Ford1:19.33 +0.9057 Mario AndrettiFerrari1:19.39 +0.9669 Chris AmonMatra1:19.52 +1.09719 Jean-Pierre BeltoiseBRM1:19.57 +1.1486 Clay RegazzoniFerrari1:19.71 +1.2892 Ronnie PetersonMarch-Ford1:19.86 +1.431010 Reine WisellBRM1:19.89 +1.461120 Peter RevsonMcLaren-Ford1:20.11 +1.68123 François CevertTyrrell-Ford1:20.50 +2.071326 Andrea de AdamichSurtees-Ford1:20.79 +2.361422 Wilson FittipaldiBrabham-Ford1:20.83 +2.401515 Mike HailwoodSurtees-Ford1:20.97 +2.541629 Carlos PaceMarch-Ford1:21.00 +2.571716 Rolf StommelenEifelland-Ford1:21.04 +2.611812 Tim SchenkenSurtees-Ford1:21.06 +2.631914 Henri PescaroloMarch-Ford1:21.24 +2.812025 Howden GanleyBRM1:21.43 +3.00218 Peter GethinBRM1:22.43 +4.002228 Alex Soler-RoigBRM1:22.57 +4.142318 Graham HillBrabham-Ford1:22.59 +4.162421 David WalkerLotus-Ford1:22.74 +4.312524 Niki LaudaMarch-Ford1:24.96 +6.5323 Mike BeuttlerMarch-Ford1:25.48 +7.05
Classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 90 2:03:41.2 3 9 2 4 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 90 + 18.92 1 6 3 6 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 89 + 1 Lap 8 4 4 26 Andrea de Adamich Surtees-Ford 89 + 1 Lap 13 3 5 20 Peter Revson McLaren-Ford 89 + 1 Lap 11 2 6 29 Carlos Pace March-Ford 89 + 1 Lap 16 1 7 22 Wilson Fittipaldi, jr. Brabham-Ford 88 + 2 Laps 14 8 12 Tim Schenken Surtees-Ford 88 + 2 Laps 18 9 21 Dave Walker Lotus-Ford 87 Out of Fuel 24 10 18 Graham Hill Brabham-Ford 86 + 4 Laps 23 11 14 Henri Pescarolo March-Ford 86 + 4 Laps 19 1 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 69 Accident 4 9 Chris Amon Matra 66 Gearbox 6 3 François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 65 Ignition 12 8 Peter Gethin BRM 65 Engine 21 11 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 48 Gearbox 2 25 Howden Ganley BRM 38 Engine 20 10 Reine Wisell BRM 24 Accident 10 7 Mario Andretti Ferrari 23 Oil Pressure 5 15 Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 20 Electrical 15 2 Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 16 Fuel Leak 9 16 Rolf Stommelen Eifelland-Ford 15 Accident 17 19 Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 9 Gearbox 7 24 Niki Lauda March-Ford 7 Differential 25 28 Alex Soler-Roig BRM 6 Accident 22 23 Mike Beuttler March-Ford
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Brazilian driver Wilson Fittipaldi, jr. This was the 10th pole position for a Belgian driver. This was the 2nd win of a Spanish Grand Prix by Lotus. It broke the old record set by Alfa Romeo at the 1951 Spanish Grand Prix. This race was the 200th Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, excluding the eleven Indianapolis 500 races that were held between 1950 and 1960. In those 200 races: Graham Hill was the most experienced, having raced 138 of them, but also having the most retirements at 63. Jim Clark had achieved 33 pole positions, 28 fastest laps, and 25 Grands Prix wins. Graham Hill held the record of the highest amount of podium finishes at 36, and Juan Manuel Fangio held a record 5 World Championships. Ferrari was the most constant constructor and engine supplier, having raced 190 of them (188 as a constructor), BRM had had a record 31 retirements as a constructor. A Ferrari-powered car had retired the race a record 28 times. Ferrari also achieved 57 pole positions, 55 fastest laps, 48 Grands Prix wins, 180 podium places and 6 Drivers' World Titles in this timespan (as a constructor and engine supplier) . Lotus held the record for most Constructor's World Championships at 5. British engine supplier Cosworth (funded by Ford) had achieved 5 Constructors' World Titles. , this is the latest Formula 1 race to have been held on a Monday.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Denny Hulme 15 1 2 Emerson Fittipaldi 15 1 3 Jacky Ickx 10 2 4 Jackie Stewart 9 1 5 Clay Regazzoni 7Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Ford 17 2 2 Lotus-Ford 15 3 Ferrari 13 2 4 Tyrrell-Ford 9 1 5 Surtees-Ford 5Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References