The 1973 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Paul Ricard Circuit on 1 July 1973. It was race 8 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the first victory for two-time World Championship runner-up Ronnie Peterson.
Qualifying
Qualifying classification Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo1Jackie StewartTyrrell-Ford1:48.3712Jody ScheckterMcLaren-Ford1:49.1823Emerson FittipaldiLotus-Ford1:49.3634François CevertTyrrell-Ford1:49.3945Ronnie PetersonLotus-Ford1:49.4556Denis HulmeMcLaren-Ford1:49.6867Jean-Pierre JarierMarch-Ford1:50.6978Carlos ReutemannBrabham-Ford1:50.7589Clay RegazzoniBRM1:50.99910Arturo MerzarioFerrari1:51.171011Mike HailwoodSurtees-Ford1:51.171112Jacky IckxFerrari1:51.441213Andrea de AdamichBrabham-Ford1:51.531314James HuntMarch-Ford1:51.631415Jean-Pierre BeltoiseBRM1:51.671516Graham HillShadow-Ford1:51.701617Niki LaudaBRM1:51.781718Carlos PaceSurtees-Ford1:51.881819Wilson FittipaldiBrabham-Ford1:52.071920George FollmerShadow-Ford1:52.302021Jackie OliverShadow-Ford1:52.942122Reine WisellMarch-Ford1:53.202223Henri PescaroloIso-Ford1:53.562324Howden GanleyIso-Ford1:53.872425Rikky von OpelEnsign-Ford1:55.5525
Race
Controversy This race was notable for a collision involving Jody Scheckter and Emerson Fittipaldi. Scheckter, who was given an opportunity to drive a factory McLaren for this event was leading from the start in just his third Formula One race. On lap 41, Fittipaldi had closed and attempted to pass the South African, but Scheckter closed the door and they made heavy contact, forcing Emerson into retirement. Scheckter continued but retired shortly afterwards with suspension damage. Fittipaldi ran to the McLaren pits, eventually resulting in fierce words between the two drivers. Scheckter claimed years later that Fittipaldi had called him a 'young hooligan' for his role in the incident. At the following race, the 1973 British Grand Prix, Scheckter triggered a multiple collision at the end of the first lap, causing many cars to retire. Many drivers wanted him banned from the sport after the race, but McLaren instead decided to put him on the sidelines for a number of races.
Results Meanwhile, after so many promising races turned to nothing, Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson finally celebrated victory for the first time in his career, driving a Lotus. Tyrrell driver François Cevert finished in second place, whilst Carlos Reutemann achieved the first podium of his career, finishing third in a Brabham. He was followed by Jackie Stewart's Tyrrell in fourth, Jacky Ickx's Ferrari in fifth, and James Hunt scoring the first point of his F1 career driving a Hesketh-owned March.
Classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 54 1:41:36.52 5 9 2 6 François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 40.92 4 6 3 10 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 54 + 46.48 8 4 4 5 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 46.93 1 3 5 3 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 54 + 48.90 12 2 6 27 James Hunt March-Ford 54 + 1:22.54 14 1 7 4 Arturo Merzario Ferrari 54 + 1:29.19 10 8 7 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 54 + 1:29.53 6 9 21 Niki Lauda BRM 54 + 1:45.76 17 10 12 Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 16 11 20 Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 53 + 1 Lap 15 12 19 Clay Regazzoni BRM 53 + 1 Lap 9 13 24 Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 51 + 3 Laps 18 14 25 Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 51 + 3 Laps 24 15 29 Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford 51 + 3 Laps 25 16 11 Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 50 + 4 Laps 19 8 Jody Scheckter McLaren-Ford 43 Collision damage 2 1 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 41 Collision 3 23 Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 29 Oil Leak 11 9 Andrea de Adamich Brabham-Ford 28 Halfshaft 13 15 Reine Wisell March-Ford 20 Overheating 22 16 George Follmer Shadow-Ford 16 Fuel system 20 26 Henri Pescarolo Iso-Marlboro-Ford 16 Overheating 23 14 Jean-Pierre Jarier March-Ford 7 Halfshaft 7 17 Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 0 Clutch 21
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Liechtensteiner driver Rikky von Opel. He was the first driver to drive for the microstate. This was the 5th fastest lap set by McLaren.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Jackie Stewart 42 1 2 Emerson Fittipaldi 41 3 François Cevert 31 2 4 Ronnie Peterson 19 1 5 Denny Hulme 19Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 1 Lotus-Ford 52 (56) 1 2 Tyrrell-Ford 51 (55) 3 McLaren-Ford 26 4 Ferrari 12 5 Brabham-Ford 11Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 7 results from the first 8 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