The 1975 Formula One season was the 29th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1975 World Championship of F1 Drivers1976 FIA Yearbook, Grey section, page 90 and the 1975 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers1976 FIA Yearbook, Grey section, page 91 which were contested concurrently from 12 January to 5 October over fourteen races. The season also included three non-championship Formula One races and a nine race South African Formula One Championship.
After a strong finish to the season, many observers felt the Brabham team were favourites going into the new year. An emotional first win for Carlos Pace in his native São Paulo looked to confirm this, but tyre wear frequently hampered the cars and the initial promise was not maintained.Gill, Barrie (1976) "The World Championship 1975" John Player Motorsport yearbook 1976 p. 103 Queen Anne Press Ltd. In his second year with Ferrari, Niki Lauda was given the keys to the Ferrari 312T, a car that was technically far superior to any of the competition. He won his first drivers' title with five wins and a huge margin over second place in the championship. Ferrari took home the championship trophy for manufacturers. Lauda often referred to 1975 as "the unbelievable year".
American Mark Donohue died in August, two days after crashing in practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. The 1975 season would be the last Formula One season to see a fatality caused by an accident in the rain until the 2014 season when Jules Bianchi died as a result of his injuries following an accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. After the season, in late November, an Embassy Hill airplane crashed in England and all six aboard were killed, including team owner Graham Hill and driver Tony Brise.
Drivers and constructors The following drivers and constructors and contested the 1975 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers.
Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre No Driver Rounds Marlboro Team Texaco McLaren-Ford M23C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 1 Emerson Fittipaldi All 2 Jochen Mass All Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell-Ford 007 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 3 Jody Scheckter All 4 Patrick Depailler All 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille 9 Michel Leclère 14 John Player Team Lotus Lotus-Ford 72E Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 5 Ronnie Peterson All 6 Jacky Ickx 1–9 Jim Crawford 10, 13 John Watson 11 Brian Henton 12, 14 15 10 Martini Racing Brabham-Ford BT44B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 7 Carlos Reutemann All 8 Carlos Pace All Beta Team March Lavazza March March-Ford 741751 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 9 Vittorio Brambilla All10 Lella Lombardi 3–9 Hans-Joachim Stuck 10–14 29 Lella Lombardi 10–13 SEFAC Ferrari Ferrari 312B3-74312T Ferrari 001/11 3.0 F12Ferrari 015 3.0 F12 11 Clay Regazzoni All 12 Niki Lauda All Stanley-BRM BRM P201 BRM P200 3.0 V12 14 Mike Wilds 1–2 Bob Evans 3–9, 12–13 UOP Shadow Racing Shadow-Ford DN3BDN5 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 16 Tom Pryce All 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier 1–11, 14 Shadow-Matra DN7 Matra MS73 3.0 V12 12–13 Matchbox Team Surtees National Organs Team Surtees Surtees-Ford TS16 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 18 John Watson 1–10, 12 19 Dave Morgan 10 HB Bewaking Team Ensign Ensign-Ford N174N175 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 19 Gijs van Lennep 11 31 8–9 Roelof Wunderink 4–5, 10, 13–14 Chris Amon 12 32 13 33 Roelof Wunderink 12 Frank Williams Racing Cars Williams Ambrozium H7 Racing Williams-Ford FWFW04 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 20 Arturo Merzario 1–6 Damien Magee 7 Ian Scheckter 8 François Migault 9 Ian Ashley 11 Jo Vonlanthen 12 Renzo Zorzi 13 Lella Lombardi 14 21 Ian Scheckter 7 Jacques Laffite 1–3, 5–6, 8–14 Tony Brise 4 Embassy Racing with Graham Hill Lola-Ford T370T371 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 22 Graham Hill 1–3 23 Rolf Stommelen 1–3 Hill-Ford GH1 22 4, 12–13 François Migault 6 Vern Schuppan 7 Alan Jones 8–11 23 François Migault 4 Graham Hill 5 Tony Brise 6–14 Hesketh Racing Warsteiner Brewery Polar Caravans Hesketh-Ford 308308B308C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 24 James Hunt All 25 Torsten Palm 5 Harald Ertl 11 Brett Lunger 12–14 32 Torsten Palm 7 Harald Ertl 12 34 13 Custom Made Harry Stiller Racing Rob Walkers Custom Made Racing Hesketh-Ford 308B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 25 Alan Jones 4 26 5–7 Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing Parnelli-Ford VPJ4 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 27 Mario Andretti 1–5, 7, 9–14 First National City Bank Team March-Ford 751 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 28 Mark Donohue 10–12 Penske-Ford PC1 1–9 John Watson 14 Copersucar Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford FD01FD02FD03 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 30 Wilson Fittipaldi 1–12, 14 Arturo Merzario 13 Lucky Strike Racing McLaren-Ford M23 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 31 Dave Charlton 3 Lexington Racing Tyrrell-Ford 007 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 32 Ian Scheckter 3 Pinch Plant (Ltd) Lyncar-Ford 006 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 32 John Nicholson 10 Team Gunston Lotus-Ford 72E Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 33 Eddie Keizan 3 34 Guy Tunmer 3 Citizen Maki F1 Citizen Maki Engineering Citizen Maki F1-TeamMaki-FordF101CFord Cosworth DFV 3.0 V835 Hiroshi Fushida 8, 10 Tony Trimmer 11–13
Team and driver changes
The Williams had lost their sponsorship from Iso and Marlboro and entered two cars under their own name for the first time. Having driven for Brabham in and , Wilson Fittipaldi entered this season with his own team and chassis. He drove the car himself and managed to launch two new developments of the car during the year. Denny Hulme retired at the end of the season. Jochen Mass, who already drove the last two races for McLaren, was signed for a full season with the team. March signed Lella Lombardi. She was the first woman to qualify in an F1 race since Maria Teresa de Filippis in . John Watson was signed by Surtees, after entering all 1974 races in a private Brabham.
Mid-season changes After two races, Bob Evans replaced Mike Wilds at BRM, Jacky Ickx left Lotus halfway through the season. Embassy Racing, owned by Graham Hill, entered a Lola chassis for the first three races and then their first Hill chassis. The only difference, however, was the employment of their designer and subsequent naming of the chassis. Ensign missed the first part of the season but returned with a duo of Dutch drivers, Roelof Wunderink and Gijs van Lennep, following new sponsorship by the Dutch security company HB Bewaking. John Nicholson had won the 1973 and 1974 British Formula Atlantic Championship in a Lyncar 005, before he debuted in the 1975 British Grand Prix with a Lyncar-commissioned F1 chassis. He also tried this in , but had not managed to qualify on that attempt. Shadow trialled a Matra V12 engine for two races, but Jean-Pierre Jarier retired on both occasions. American Mark Donohue died in August, two days after crashing in practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. John Watson was released from Surtees to drive for Penske and would stay with the American team in 1976. Nearing the end of 1974, Chris Amon had retired his own team and drove two races for BRM. He returned to F1 near the end of the 1975 season with Ensign.
Calendar Round Grand Prix Circuit Date 1 Argentine Grand Prix Autódromo de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 12 January 2 Brazilian Grand Prix Autodromo de Interlagos, São Paulo 26 January 3 South African Grand Prix Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand 1 March 4 Spanish Grand Prix Montjuïc Circuit, Barcelona 27 April 5 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 11 May 6 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder 25 May 7 Swedish Grand Prix Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp 8 June 8 Dutch Grand Prix Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort 22 June 9 French Grand Prix Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet 6 July 10 British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 19 July 11 German Grand Prix Nürburgring, Nürburg 3 August 12 Austrian Grand Prix Österreichring, Spielberg 17 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 7 September 14 United States Grand Prix Watkins Glen Grand Prix Course, New York 5 October
Calendar changes The Spanish Grand Prix was moved from Jarama to Montjuïc, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. Likewise, the French Grand Prix was moved from Circuit de Dijon-Prenois to Circuit Paul Ricard, and the British Grand Prix was moved from Brands Hatch to Silverstone. The Belgian Grand Prix and Monaco Grand Prix swapped places on the calendar so that the Monaco round followed the Belgian Grand Prix. The Canadian Grand Prix was originally scheduled to be the penultimate race in 1975 but was cancelled due to a small row between Formula One Constructors' Association and Mosport Park about payments.
Regulation changes Fire-resistant race suits were made obligatory. The concept of marshal posts, with service roads leading to and from them, was created and implemented at various circuits. Also, from now on, marshals had to practice rescuing drivers from their cars.
Season report Race 1: Argentina The drivers went to Argentina to start the season, and it was Jean-Pierre Jarier in the Shadow who took pole position with the Brabhams of Carlos Pace and Carlos Reutemann second and third on the grid. However, poleman Jarier could not even start the race because his transmission failed on the parade lap. Home hero Reutemann took the lead from teammate Pace, with Niki Lauda's Ferrari third.
Pace passed teammate Reutemann to take the lead but then spun off and dropped to seventh. James Hunt in his Hesketh soon overtook Lauda and then Reutemann, much to the chagrin of the crowd. By then, reigning world champion Emerson Fittipaldi in his McLaren was past Lauda and up to third, and soon took Reutemann for second as well. Fittipaldi closed in on Hunt and took the lead with 18 laps left. Pace recovered to fourth after his spin, but it was to no avail as his engine blew up. Fittipaldi started his title defence with a win, Hunt was a superb second, and Reutemann third in front of his home crowd.
Race 2: Brazil The second round was in Brazil, and Jarier took pole position again with Fittipaldi alongside and Reutemann third. Reutemann, just like in Argentina, took the lead at the start from Jarier and Pace was up to third, whereas home driver Fittipaldi dropped to seventh. Jarier retook the lead from Reutemann on lap 5 and then pulled away. Reutemann struggled with handling issues and dropped well down the order then, with Pace up to second, Clay Regazzoni's Ferrari third and Fittipaldi recovering to fourth. Jarier's engine stopped with seven laps left and Pace took the lead. Regazzoni was up to second but dropped behind Fittipaldi and Jochen Mass in the second McLaren as he too suffered handling issues. Pace took a home victory, with countryman Fittipaldi second and Mass third.
Race 3: South Africa A month after the Brazilian race, the field went to South Africa and Pace followed up his win with pole, with Reutemann alongside as Brabham locked out the front row, and home hero Jody Scheckter was third in the Tyrrell. Pace led at the start, with Scheckter second, and Ronnie Peterson in his Lotus jumped up from eighth to take third. However, the Swede did not have the pace of the front runners and dropped back down the order. Scheckter took the lead from Pace on the third lap, to the delight to the fans. Pace kept second until he struggled with tyres and was passed by Reutemann and the second Tyrrell of Patrick Depailler. Scheckter took an emotional home victory, with Reutemann and Depailler completing the podium.
Race 4: Spain