The 1973 Formula One season was the 27th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently over a fifteen-race seriesResults of the 1973 FIA International Championships, 1974 FIA Yearbook, Grey Section, pages 104–105 that commenced on 28 January and ended on 7 October. The season also included two non-championship races which were open to both Formula One and Formula 5000 cars.
The World Championship of Drivers was won by Jackie Stewart, driving for Elf Team Tyrrell, for the third time. The International Cup for F1 Manufacturers was awarded to John Player Team Lotus. At the final race of the season, Stewart's teammate François Cevert crashed during Saturday practice and was killed instantly. The Tyrrell team withdrew from the race, handing the Manufacturers' title to Lotus. Subsequently, Stewart made public his decision to retire, but he had decided on this already earlier.
British driver Roger Williamson was also killed during the season, in a tragic crash at the Dutch Grand Prix where marshals arrived too late on the scene and fellow driver David Purley was unable to free Williamson from the burning wreck.
Drivers and constructors The following teams and drivers contested the 1973 World Championship.
Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre Driver Rounds John Player Team Lotus Lotus-Ford 72D72E Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Emerson Fittipaldi All Ronnie Peterson All Elf Team Tyrrell Elf Tyrrell-Ford 005006 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Jackie Stewart All François Cevert All Chris Amon 14–15 Motor Racing Developments Ceramica Pagnossin Team MRD Hexagon of Highgate Brabham-Ford BT37BT42 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Carlos Reutemann All Wilson Fittipaldi All Andrea de Adamich 4–6, 8–9 Rolf Stommelen 11–14 John Watson 9, 15 Yardley Team McLaren McLaren-Ford M19AM19CM23 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Denny Hulme All Peter Revson 1–7, 9–15 Jody Scheckter 3, 8–9, 14–15 Jacky Ickx 11 Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 312B2312B3 Ferrari 001/1 3.0 F12Ferrari 001/11 3.0 F12 Jacky Ickx 1–9, 13 Arturo Merzario 1–3, 6, 8, 12–15 Clarke-Mordaunt-Guthrie Racing Team Pierre Robert March-Ford 721G731 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Mike Beuttler 1–7, 9–15 Reine Wisell 7–8 STP March Racing Team STP March / Wheatcroft Racing March Racing Team March-Ford 721G731 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Jean-Pierre Jarier 1–3, 5–8, 12, 14–15 Henri Pescarolo 4 Roger Williamson 9–10 Brooke Bond Oxo - Rob Walker Team Surtees Brooke Bond Oxo Team Surtees Ceramica Pagnossin Team Surtees Team Surtees Surtees FINA-Ford TS9ATS9BTS14A Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Mike Hailwood All Carlos Pace All Luiz Bueno 2 Andrea de Adamich 3 Jochen Mass 9, 11, 15 Marlboro BRM BRM P160CP160D BRM P142 3.0 V12 Jean-Pierre Beltoise All Clay Regazzoni 1–13, 15 Niki Lauda All Peter Gethin 14 Frank Williams Racing Cars Iso-Marlboro-Ford FX3BIR Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Nanni Galli 1–2, 4–6 Howden Ganley All Jackie Pretorius 3 Tom Belsø 7 Henri Pescarolo 8, 11 Graham McRae 9 Gijs van Lennep 10, 12–13 Tim Schenken 14 Jacky Ickx 15 UOP Shadow Racing Shadow-Ford DN1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Jackie Oliver 3–15 George Follmer 3–15 Brian Redman 15 Scribante Lucky Strike Racing Lotus-Ford 72D Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Dave Charlton 3 Blignaut Lucky Strike Racing Tyrrell-Ford 004 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Eddie Keizan 3 Embassy Racing Shadow-Ford DN1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Graham Hill 4–15 Martini Racing Team Tecno PA123/6 Tecno Series-P 3.0 F12 Chris Amon 5–6, 9–10, 12 LEC Refrigeration Racing March-Ford 731 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 David Purley 6, 9–11, 13 Hesketh Racing March-Ford 731 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 James Hunt 6, 8–10, 12–15 Team Ensign Ensign-Ford N173 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Rikky von Opel 8–10, 12–15
Team and driver changes
There were relatively few changes in the top teams, but no less than usual further down the order:
The factory-backed Matra team had withdrawn from Formula One. They had already reduced their operations to one car before the season and, after the season, packed up all-together, making the 1973 season the first season without a participation of any French constructor since . After the departure of Eagle in the season, no American constructor competed in Formula One for three seasons until the arrival of Shadow during this season with backing from Universal Oil Products and technical support from ex-BRM designer Tony Southgate. The team held an American licence until the season, but was based in Britain throughout its participation in Formula One. Shadow brought their Can-Am driver Jackie Oliver with them and signed 1972 Can-Am champion George Follmer. In addition to running their own works team, Shadow also sold a chassis to Graham Hill's new privateer team Embassy Racing. Lotus signed Ronnie Peterson from March. Hill had moved from Brabham, where Andrea de Adamich took his place. The Italian came from Surtees, where Carlos Pace found a new home. After Pace and Henri Pescarolo left, Frank Williams had to find two new drivers: Howden Ganley from BRM and Nanni Galli from Tecno. Tecno signed Matra's last driver, Chris Amon.E. Young. Forza Amon. A biography of Chris Amon. Harper Collins (2003) Auckland, p. 164-6. BRM signed Clay RegazzoniGill (1976) pp.300–301 and Niki Lauda, next to Jean-Pierre Beltoise. This was a golden trio of drivers, but they would only manage to gain twelve points and the team finished seventh in the Manufacturers' championship. A slight consolidation for Regazzoni, who had left Ferrari over the winter, was that the Italian squad finished just one place higher, on the same amount of points. After Peterson and Lauda had left March, they signed Jean-Pierre Jarier. He was due to drive for them in Formula Two, but was given a Formula One seat as well. His F1 season would turn out difficult, only classifying once during the year, but he managed to rack up the Formula Two title in dominant fashion.
Mid-season changes Future world champion James Hunt debuted at the Monaco Grand Prix, driving a privateer March 731 entered by Hesketh Racing. It was also the team's championship debut. Also debuting that race was David Purley for LEC Refrigeration Racing, his own team sponsored by his family's refrigeration company. Like Hunt, he hired a March 731. Sadly, he is mostly known for his failed rescue attempt of Roger Williamson (see below). The LEC team returned with their own chassis in . After five races, Nanni Galli announced his retirement. His place at the team of Frank Williams was taken up by seven different drivers in the remaining part of the season. 1972 British F3 champion Rikky von Opel commissioned a Formula One chassis for his F3 team Ensign. They debuted in the French Grand Prix. The British Grand Prix saw the debut of two-time British F3 champion Roger Williamson. In only his second race, the Dutch Grand Prix, he crashed and died in the subsequent fire. Rolf Stommelen returned to Formula One to take the place of Andrea de Adamich at Brabham. The Italian was heavily injured in a pile-up at Silverstone. It took thirty minutes to extract him from his car. The Tecno team folded with three races to go, after several disputes created a toxic atmosphere. Driver Chris Amon moved to Tyrrell and started preparations for his own racing team.
Calendar Round Grand Prix Circuit Date 1 Argentine Grand Prix Autódromo de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 28 January 2 Brazilian Grand Prix Autodromo de Interlagos, São Paulo 11 February 3 South African Grand Prix Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand 3 March 4 Spanish Grand Prix Montjuïc Circuit, Barcelona 29 April 5 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder 20 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 3 June 7 Swedish Grand Prix Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp 17 June 8 French Grand Prix Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet 1 July 9 British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 14 July 10 Dutch Grand Prix Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort 29 July 11 German Grand Prix Nürburgring, Nürburg 5 August 12 Austrian Grand Prix Österreichring, Spielberg 19 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 9 September 14 Canadian Grand Prix Mosport Park, Bowmanville 23 September 15 United States Grand Prix Watkins Glen International, New York 7 October
Calendar changes The calendar was expanded from 12 to 15 races: The Brazilian Grand Prix was held for the first time, at Autodromo de Interlagos, and the Swedish Grand Prix was held for the first time, at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp. The Dutch Grand Prix returned to the calendar after it had been cancelled in due to safety upgrades that were not completed in time. The upgrades included new asphalt, new barriers, a change in the circuit's layout and a new race control tower.
Other changes: The Belgian Grand Prix and Monaco Grand Prix swapped places on the calendar so that the Monaco round came second. The Belgian round also carried the unofficial title of European Grand Prix for 1973.Peter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, page 71 The Spanish Grand Prix was moved from Jarama near Madrid to the Montjuïc street circuit in Barcelona, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. Likewise, the Belgian Grand Prix was moved from Nivelles-Baulers to Circuit Zolder, and the British Grand Prix was moved from Brands Hatch to Silverstone. The French Grand Prix was moved from Circuit de Charade to Circuit Paul Ricard.
Regulation changes
Technical regulations The minimum weight was increased from to .
Sporting regulations Drivers started doing a full warm-up lap before the race. Previously, they would form a dummy grid, a short distance behind an official grid, and the cars would simply move from one to the other to begin the race (the German Grand Prix, however, was the only one to continue this traditional practice until 1976, due to the immense length of the Nürburgring circuit, which spanned 22.8 kilometers). The numbering system for teams was formalised: From the second race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, on, teammates were paired: the Lotus drivers were given 1 and 2, Tyrrell's drivers 3 and 4, and so on. The numbers assigned to each team did still change for a couple of races. Ahead of the fifth race on the calendar, the Belgian Grand Prix, the order was set for the rest of the year. And then for the 1974 season, the numbers were assigned based on finishing positions in the 1973 Manufacturers' championship. After this, teams did not change numbers, unless they won the Drivers' championship or signed the reigning Drivers' champion, or if they or another team dropped out of the competition. The 1973 season saw the intervention of a Safety Car in Formula One for the first time, in the form of a Porsche 914 at the Canadian Grand Prix. However, the concept of a safety car would not be officially introduced until twenty years later, in .
Championship report Rounds 1 to 4