1975 British Grand Prix
Race details
Date 19 July 1975
Official name John Player Grand Prix[1]
Location Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, Great Britain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.719 km (2.932 miles)
Distance 56 laps, 264.264 km (164.192 miles)
Weather Sunny, then overcast, then heavy rain
Pole position
Driver
Shadow-Ford
Time 1:19.36[2]
Fastest lap
Driver Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari
Time 1:20.9 on lap 16[3]
Podium
First
McLaren-Ford
Second
Brabham-Ford
Third
Tyrrell-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1975 British Grand Prix (formally the John Player Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 19 July 1975. It was race 10 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 30th British Grand Prix to be held since the race was first held in 1926 and the 17th time the race had been held at Silverstone. The race was held over 56 of the scheduled 67 laps of the four kilometre venue for a race distance of 264 kilometres. This was the first race that used the traffic light system with coloured lights (red and green) at the start (system used until the 1995 Australian Grand Prix).

The results were overshadowed by a heavy hail storm from Lap 53, which caused three out of the top four cars (Jody Scheckter, James Hunt, and Mark Donohue), to aquaplane and crash in the same corner, bringing an early finish to the race, and a significant absence on the podium. A number of other cars crashed at the same corner as well, including Wilson Fittipaldi, Jochen Mass, and John Watson. The race results were finalised the lap after the lap most cars crashed, giving Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, who had been the race leader prior to the storm, a one lap win in his McLaren M23. Carlos Pace, who was one of the crashers in his Brabham BT44B was classified in second position with another of the crashers, Tyrrell 007 driver Jody Scheckter classified third.

Race summary

A new chicane had been installed at Woodcote Corner, bringing complaints from the purists but also arguments that it was necessary in the interests of safety. Tom Pryce gained his only career pole position in his home race, whilst the Ferraris were on the second row, with James Hunt languishing on the fifth row.

Graham Hill, who had already announced his retirement as a driver after 17 seasons and 176 races after failing in his attempt to qualify in Monaco, make a farewell lap one hour before the start of the race (without overalls and helmet), and concentrated on the leadership of his Embassy Hill team.

From the start – in which a lights system was being used for the first time in any Grand Prix, replacing the traditional national flag – Carlos Pace led from Pryce.

Following the hail storm, only six cars were running at the end. The RAC declared the race finished officially on the lap after the lap when most cars were running – lap 56. Ferrari, with both of their cars stuck on lap 54 in the classification protested, but the RAC threw these protests out and three days later, the provisional results were confirmed.

The win was the 14th and final win of Fittipaldi's career which had included two world championships. He would continue racing in Formula One until 1980. The win also vaulted Fittipaldi past Carlos Reutemann into second place in the championship, 14 points behind Lauda.

Classification

Qualifying classification

Pos. No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 1:19.36
2 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 1:19.50 +0.14
3 12 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:19.54 +0.18
4 11 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:19.55 +0.19
5 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1:19.63 +0.27
6 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 1:19.81 +0.45
7 1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 1:19.91 +0.55
8 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 1:20.04 +0.68
9 24 United Kingdom James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 1:20.14 +0.78
10 2 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:20.18 +0.82
11 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 1:20.33 +0.97
12 27 United States Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 1:20.36 +1.00
13 23 United Kingdom Tony Brise Hill-Ford 1:20.41 +1.05
14 10 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 1:20.46 +1.10
15 28 United States Mark Donohue March-Ford 1:20.50 +1.14
16 5 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:20.58 +1.22
17 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:20.60 +1.24
18 18 United Kingdom John Watson Surtees-Ford 1:20.83 +1.47
19 21 France Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 1:21.01 +1.65
20 22 Australia Alan Jones Hill-Ford 1:21.19 +1.83
21 15 United Kingdom Brian Henton Lotus-Ford 1:21.36 +2.00
22 29 Italy Lella Lombardi March-Ford 1:21.60 +2.24
23 19 United Kingdom Dave Morgan Surtees-Ford 1:21.65 +2.29
24 30 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:21.67 +2.31
25 6 United Kingdom Jim Crawford Lotus-Ford 1:21.86 +2.50
26 32 New Zealand John Nicholson Lyncar-Ford 1:22.86 +3.50
27 31 Netherlands Roelof Wunderink Ensign-Ford 1:25.02 +5.66
28 35 Japan Hiroshi Fushida Maki-Ford 1:26.61 +7.25

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 56 1:22:05.0 7 9
2 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 55 Accident 2 6
3 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 55 Accident 6 4
4 24 United Kingdom James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 55 Accident 9 3
5 28 United States Mark Donohue March-Ford 55 Accident 15 2
6 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 55 + 1 Lap 5 1
7 2 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 55 Accident 10  
8 12 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 54 + 2 Laps 3  
9 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 54 Accident 17  
10 22 Australia Alan Jones Hill-Ford 54 + 2 Laps 20  
11 18 United Kingdom John Watson Surtees-Ford 54 Accident 18  
12 27 United States Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 54 + 2 Laps 12  
13 11 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 54 + 2 Laps 4  
14 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 53 Accident 11  
15 23 United Kingdom Tony Brise Hill-Ford 53 Accident 13  
16 15 United Kingdom Brian Henton Lotus-Ford 53 Accident 21  
17 32 New Zealand John Nicholson Lyncar-Ford 51 Accident 26  
18 19 United Kingdom Dave Morgan Surtees-Ford 50 Accident 23  
19 30 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 50 Accident 24  
Ret 10 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 45 Accident 14  
Ret 6 United Kingdom Jim Crawford Lotus-Ford 28 Accident 25  
Ret 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 20 Accident 1  
Ret 29 Italy Lella Lombardi March-Ford 18 Engine 22  
Ret 5 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 7 Engine 16  
Ret 21 France Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 5 Gearbox 19  
Ret 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 4 Engine 8  
DNQ 31 Netherlands Roelof Wunderink Ensign-Ford        
DNQ 35 Japan Hiroshi Fushida Maki-Ford        
Source:[5]

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 6 results from the first 7 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

  1. ↑ "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1975". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  2. ↑ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 88. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  3. ↑ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 90. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  4. ↑ "British Grand Prix 1975". motorsport-stats.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "1975 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Britain 1975 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
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