1973 Canadian Grand Prix

The 1973 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mosport Park on 23 September 1973. It was race 14 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.[2]

1973 Canadian Grand Prix
Race details
Date 23 September 1973
Official name XIII Labatt's Canadian Grand Prix
Location Mosport Park, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 3.957 km (2.459 miles)
Distance 80 laps, 316.56 km (196.72 miles)
Weather Mild with temperatures approaching 22.2 °C (72.0 °F); wind speeds up to 11.8 kilometres per hour (7.3 mph)[1]
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:13.697
Fastest lap
Driver Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford
Time 1:15.496
Podium
First McLaren-Ford
Second Lotus-Ford
Third Shadow-Ford
Lap leaders

The 80-lap race was won by Peter Revson, driving a McLaren M23, after starting from second on the grid. This turned out to be Revson's last victory and podium finish in Formula One. As of the conclusion of the 2023 Formula One World Championship, this is the last Grand Prix to be won by a driver born in the USA. Emerson Fittipaldi took second position for Team Lotus, while Jackie Oliver took third in a Shadow, his first podium in five years and his last of all.

This was also the 99th and last race start of triple world champion Jackie Stewart.

Qualifying classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Time/Gap
1 2   Ronnie Peterson LotusFord 1:13.697
2 8   Peter Revson McLarenFord +1.040
3 0   Jody Scheckter McLarenFord +1.061
4 10   Carlos Reutemann BrabhamFord +1.116
5 1   Emerson Fittipaldi LotusFord +1.338
6 6   François Cevert TyrrellFord +1.421
7 7   Denny Hulme McLarenFord +1.622
8 21   Niki Lauda BRM +1.703
9 5   Jackie Stewart TyrrellFord +1.944
10 11   Wilson Fittipaldi BrabhamFord +2.415
11 29   Chris Amon TyrrellFord +2.531
12 23   Mike Hailwood SurteesFord +2.593
13 16   George Follmer ShadowFord +2.661
14 17   Jackie Oliver ShadowFord +2.739
15 27   James Hunt MarchFord +2.807
16 20   Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM +2.926
17 12   Graham Hill ShadowFord +3.043
18 9   Rolf Stommelen BrabhamFord +3.149
19 24   Carlos Pace SurteesFord +3.331
20 4   Arturo Merzario Ferrari +3.653
21 15   Mike Beuttler MarchFord +3.686
22 25   Howden Ganley WilliamsFord +3.882
23 18   Jean-Pierre Jarier MarchFord +4.024
24 26   Tim Schenken WilliamsFord +4.705
25 19   Peter Gethin BRM +4.801
26 28   Rikky von Opel EnsignFord +4.985
Source:[3]

Race report

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This was the first Grand Prix to feature a car with the number 0, the car in question being the McLaren of Jody Scheckter.[4]

The race start was delayed from 2:30pm to 3:00pm and began in very wet conditions, which caused a number of incidents later in the race. François Cevert and Scheckter collided on the 32nd lap, resulting in the deployment of a safety car for the first time in Formula One history[5] (although it would not be until twenty years later, in 1993, when these cars were given an official role). The car in question was a yellow Porsche 914[6] driven by former F1 privateer Eppie Wietzes. Wietzes stayed in front of Howden Ganley's Iso-Marlboro by mistake, which allowed several drivers, including eventual winner Peter Revson, to gain a lap on the field.[7]

Pit stops at the time were unusual. Formula One had only recently switched to slick tyres but the drying conditions necessitated stops mid-race. The small pit lane at Mosport became busy, with a number of drivers heading into the pit lane only to have to drive through as there was no room for them to be serviced.[8] Ganley realised the problem and waited until team-mate Tim Schenken had made his stop, making him one of the last to stop.[8] The pit stops caused significant confusion, with some believing the leader to be Ganley and others, including Team Lotus manager Colin Chapman, believing it to be Emerson Fittipaldi. Chapman even went as far as to perform his traditional victory celebration of tossing his cap in the air at the end of what he believed to be the 80th lap, even though Fittipaldi was not shown the checkered flag. After a long pause, the starter waved the flag over a group of cars consisting of Ganley, Mike Hailwood, Peter Revson and James Hunt. Despite seeing the flag first, Ganley did not believe he had won the race, despite lap charts kept by the team showing him leading.[8] The officials then announced Revson as the winner after a long confusion which included protests from Ganley's then girlfriend (later wife) who had been keeping the team's lap chart. Ganley maintains he feels he won the race, citing the fact official lap charts have him pitting when he did not.[8]

Race classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 8   Peter Revson McLaren-Ford 80 1:59:04.083 2 9
2 1   Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 80 + 32.734 5 6
3 17   Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 80 + 34.505 14 4
4 20   Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 80 + 36.514 16 3
5 5   Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 9 2
6 25   Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 22 1
7 27   James Hunt March-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 15  
8 10   Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 4  
9 23   Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 12  
10 29   Chris Amon Tyrrell-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 11  
11 11   Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 10  
12 9   Rolf Stommelen Brabham-Ford 76 + 4 Laps 18  
13 7   Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 75 + 5 Laps 7  
14 26   Tim Schenken Iso-Marlboro-Ford 75 + 5 Laps 24  
15 4   Arturo Merzario Ferrari 75 + 5 Laps 20  
16 12   Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 73 + 7 Laps 17  
17 16   George Follmer Shadow-Ford 73 + 7 Laps 13  
18 24   Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 72 + 8 Laps 19  
NC 18   Jean-Pierre Jarier March-Ford 71 + 9 Laps 23  
NC 28   Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford 68 + 12 Laps 26  
Ret 21   Niki Lauda BRM 62 Transmission 8  
Ret 0   Jody Scheckter McLaren-Ford 32 Collision 3  
Ret 6   François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 32 Collision 6  
Ret 15   Mike Beuttler March-Ford 20 Engine 21  
Ret 2   Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 16 Suspension 1  
Ret 19   Peter Gethin BRM 5 Oil Pump 25  
Source:[9]

Notes

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  • This was the 50th Grand Prix start for British constructor March.

Championship standings after the race

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  • 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

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  1. ^ "Weather information for the "1973 Canadian Grand Prix"". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  2. ^ "1973 Canadian Grand Prix Entry list".
  3. ^ "Formula One 1973 Canadian Grand Prix Classification | Motorsport Stats".
  4. ^ "Car 0". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  5. ^ Lang, Mike (1982). Grand Prix! Vol 2. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 244. ISBN 0-85429-321-3.
  6. ^ Kathri, Tarun (7 February 2012). "First ever Safety Car in Formula 1 : Rewind to 1973". aaFormula1.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  7. ^ "Eppie Wietzes biography". F1 Rejects. Archived from the original on 16 August 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d Jones, Dewis (4 May 2015). "The Great Grand Prix Robbery". Velocity Magazine.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "1973 Canadian Grand Prix". Formula One. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Canada 1973 – Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.


Previous race:
1973 Italian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1973 season
Next race:
1973 United States Grand Prix
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1972 Canadian Grand Prix
Canadian Grand Prix Next race:
1974 Canadian Grand Prix