The 1975 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder on 25 May 1975. It was race 6 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 33rd Belgian Grand Prix and the second to be held at the Circuit Zolder. The race was held over 70 laps of the four kilometre venue for a race distance of 280 kilometres.
The race was won by Austrian driver Niki Lauda driving a Ferrari 312T, his second victory for the year after winning Monaco two weeks earlier. Lauda led 65 of the 70 laps, taking a 19-second victory over South African driver Jody Scheckter in a Tyrrell 007. Argentinian driver Carlos Reutemann drove his Brabham BT44B to third place. The win put Lauda into the lead of the championship for the first time in 1975, passing previous leader Emerson Fittipaldi.
Qualifying summary Ferrari arrived at Circuit Zolder eager for the fray and buoyed up by their Monaco victory. Niki Lauda dutifully gained pole after a technical gremlin held up early leader Carlos Pace and Saturday's qualifying was rained out. Vittorio Brambilla was third on the grid and Tony Brise stunned on his debut race for Graham Hill, gaining a fourth-row start ahead of Championship leader Emerson Fittipaldi. Ronnie Peterson suffered the unfortunate experience of being given a parking ticket during the practice session – after having parked his car in a dangerous position at the edge of the track, rather than risk a puncture by pulling into the gravel trap. Mario Andretti was missing from the field because he was competing at the Indianapolis 500.
Qualifying classification Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo1Niki LaudaFerrari1:25,4312Carlos PaceBrabham-Ford1:25,4723Vittorio BrambillaMarch-Ford1:25,6634Clay RegazzoniFerrari1:25,8545Tom PryceShadow-Ford1:25,9456Carlos ReutemannBrabham-Ford1:26,0967Tony BriseHill-Ford1:26,2278Emerson FittipaldiMcLaren-Ford1:26,2689Jody ScheckterTyrrell-Ford1:26,36910Jean-Pierre JarierShadow-Ford1:26,381011James HuntHesketh-Ford1:26,511112Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford1:26,741213Alan JonesHesketh-Ford1:27,051314Ronnie PetersonLotus-Ford1:27,171415Jochen MassMcLaren-Ford1:27,381516Jacky IckxLotus-Ford1:27,401617Jacques LaffiteWilliams-Ford1:27,701718John WatsonSurtees-Ford1:28,011819Arturo MerzarioWilliams-Ford1:28,181920Bob EvansBRM1:28,572021Mark DonohuePenske-Ford1:28,652122François MigaultHill-Ford1:29,572223Lella LombardiMarch-Ford1:29,712324Wilson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:30,2724
Race summary Pace took the lead whilst Brambilla and Regazzoni duelled. Jochen Mass and John Watson collided – the German retired whilst Watson returned to the pits with a damaged nosecone. Alan Jones also had to retire after a collision with Jacques Laffite. Arturo Merzario was out with a burnt out clutch. Pace's fiery start was now causing problems with brakes and cold tyres and he was having to drop back.
Brambilla took the lead until lap six when he was passed by Lauda. Tony Brise spun at the chicane and retired shortly after with piston failure. Jody Scheckter was storming through the field to be in second place by lap nine. Brambilla's brakes were fading and he dropped down the order. Jean-Pierre Jarier spun into the catch-fencing, James Hunt retired with a broken gear-linkage. Clay Regazzoni had risen to third, but then dived into the pits to change a blistered tyre. Lauda led Scheckter comfortably and the race settled down into a procession.
Carlos Pace had handling problems and dropped down the order when he lost third gear. By lap 49, Ronnie Peterson crashed into the catch fencing, whilst Brambilla surrendered third place to change a blistered tyre, resuming but retiring with brake problems.
Fittipaldi was also having brake problems, leaving him helpless against the assault of Regazzoni and Tom Pryce as he dropped from fifth to seventh in the last six laps.
Classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 12 Niki Lauda Ferrari 70 1:43:53.98 1 9 2 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 70 + 19.22 9 6 3 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 70 + 41.82 6 4 4 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 70 + 1:00.08 12 3 5 11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 70 + 1:03.84 4 2 6 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 70 + 1:28.45 5 1 7 1 Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 69 + 1 Lap 8 8 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 69 + 1 Lap 2 9 14 Bob Evans BRM 68 + 2 Laps 20 10 18 John Watson Surtees-Ford 68 + 2 Laps 18 11 28 Mark Donohue Penske-Ford 67 + 3 Laps 21 12 30 Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 67 + 3 Laps 24 22 François Migault Hill-Ford 57 Suspension 22 9 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 54 Brakes 3 6 Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 52 Brakes 16 5 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 36 Brakes 14 21 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 18 Gearbox 23 10 Lella Lombardi March-Ford 18 Engine 17 23 Tony Brise Hill-Ford 17 Engine 7 24 James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 15 Transmission 11 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 13 Spun Off 10 20 Arturo Merzario Williams-Ford 2 Clutch 19 26 Alan Jones Hesketh-Ford 1 Accident 13 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 0 Accident 15 31 Roelof Wunderink Ensign-Ford 35 Dave Walker Maki-Ford
Notes
This was the 200th race in which an American driver participated. In those 200 races, American drivers won 22 Grands Prix, achieved 99 podium finishes, 22 pole positions, 28 fastest laps, 4 Grand Slams and won 1 World Championship. This was also the 100th race in which an Argentinian driver participated. In those 100 races, Argentinian drivers won 29 Grands Prix, achieved 65 podium finishes, 34 pole positions, 28 fastest laps, 9 Grand Slams and 5 World Championships. This race also marked the 10th Grand Prix win for an Austrian driver. This race was the 6th win of the Belgian Grand Prix for Ferrari, breaking the previous record set by Lotus at the 1972 Belgian Grand Prix. It was also the 6th win of the Belgian Grand Prix for a Ferrari-powered car, equally breaking the previous record set by Coventry Climax at the 1965 Belgian Grand Prix.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 2 1 Niki Lauda 23 1 2 Emerson Fittipaldi 21 1 3 Carlos Pace 16 4 Carlos Reutemann 16 1 5 Jody Scheckter 15Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 1 Brabham-Ford 29 1 2 McLaren-Ford 26.5 3 Ferrari 26 4 Tyrrell-Ford 19 5 Hesketh-Ford 7Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References