The 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos on 26 January 1975. It was race 2 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the fourth Brazilian Grand Prix since its introduction in 1972. The race was won by São Paulo native Carlos Pace driving a Brabham BT44B. It was the only win of Pace's career; he was killed in an aircraft accident two years later. Fellow Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi finished second in his McLaren M23 with his German teammate Jochen Mass finishing third.
Qualifying
Qualifying classification Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 2:29.88 — 2 1 Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 2:30.68 +0.80 3 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 2:31.00 +1.12 4 12 Niki Lauda Ferrari 2:31.12 +1.24 5 11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 2:31.22 +1.34 6 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 2:31.58 +1.70 7 24 James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 2:31.70 +1.82 8 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 2:31.74 +1.86 9 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 2:32.94 +3.06 10 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 2:33.06 +3.18 11 20 Arturo Merzario Williams-Ford 2:33.16 +3.28 12 6 Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 2:33.20 +3.32 13 18 John Watson Surtees-Ford 2:33.23 +3.35 14 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 2:33.24 +3.36 15 28 Mark Donohue Penske-Ford 2:33.33 +3.45 16 5 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 2:33.90 +4.02 17 9 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 2:34.44 +4.56 18 27 Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 2:34.56 +4.68 19 21 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 2:34.76 +4.88 20 22 Graham Hill Lola-Ford 2:35.49 +5.61 21 30 Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 2:36.47 +6.59 22 14 Mike Wilds BRM 2:37.15 +7.27 23 23 Rolf Stommelen Lola-Ford 2:38.05 +8.17
Race summary
Jean-Pierre Jarier took pole position, after beating the 1973 pole record. He lined up ahead of local driver Emerson Fittipaldi. The race was delayed whilst the track was washed down to remove debris – punctures had played a critical part in the 1974 race and race organisers wanted to avoid a repeat of these problems.
This was the 176th and last championship race start of Graham Hill's Formula One career.
Brazilian drivers finished 1–2 in the race (for first time in the history of the category), with Carlos Pace taking the only win of his career and Emerson Fittipaldi finishing second. A local 1–2 also occurred in the 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix with Nelson Piquet winning from Ayrton Senna.
Race classification
Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 40 1:44:41.17 6 9 2 1 Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 40 + 5.79 2 6 3 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 40 + 26.66 10 4 4 11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 40 + 43.28 5 3 5 12 Niki Lauda Ferrari 40 + 1:01.88 4 2 6 24 James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 40 + 1:05.12 7 1 7 27 Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 40 + 1:06.81 18 8 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 40 + 1:39.62 3 9 6 Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 40 + 1:51.84 12 10 18 John Watson Surtees-Ford 40 + 2:29.60 13 11 21 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 39 + 1 Lap 19 12 22 Graham Hill Lola-Ford 39 + 1 Lap 20 13 30 Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 39 + 1 Lap 21 14 23 Rolf Stommelen Lola-Ford 39 + 1 Lap 23 15 5 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 38 + 2 laps 16 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 32 Fuel System 1 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 31 Suspension 9 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 31 Accident 14 20 Arturo Merzario Williams-Ford 24 Fuel System 11 28 Mark Donohue Penske-Ford 22 Handling 15 14 Mike Wilds BRM 22 Electrical 22 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 18 Oil leak 8 9 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1 Engine 17 29 Nestor García-Veiga Berta-Ford Withdrew
Notes
This was the first fastest lap set by a Shadow.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Emerson Fittipaldi 15 13 2 Carlos Pace 9 1 3 James Hunt 7 4 Clay Regazzoni 6 2 5 Carlos Reutemann 4Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Ford 15 1 2 Brabham-Ford 13 1 3 Hesketh-Ford 7 4 Ferrari 6 5 Tyrrell-Ford 2Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References