1973 Canadian Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Canada
Grand Prix:Canadian
Date:23 September
Year:1973
Official Name:XIII Labatt's Canadian Grand Prix
Location:Mosport Park, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:2.459
Course Km:3.957
Distance Laps:80
Distance Mi:196.72
Distance Km:316.56
Weather:Mild with temperatures approaching 22.2C; wind speeds up to 11.8km/h[1]
Pole Driver:Ronnie Peterson
Pole Team:Lotus-Ford
Pole Country:Sweden
Pole Time:1:13.697
Fast Driver:Emerson Fittipaldi
Fast Team:Lotus-Ford
Fast Country:Brazil
Fast Time:1:15.496
First Driver:Peter Revson
First Team:McLaren-Ford
First Country:United States
Second Driver:Emerson Fittipaldi
Second Team:Lotus-Ford
Second Country:Brazil
Third Driver:Jackie Oliver
Third Team:Shadow-Ford
Third Country:United Kingdom

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]

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., 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

PosNoDriverConstructorTime/Gap
12 Ronnie PetersonLotusFord1:13.697
28 Peter RevsonMcLarenFord+1.040
30 Jody ScheckterMcLarenFord+1.061
410 Carlos ReutemannBrabhamFord+1.116
51 Emerson FittipaldiLotusFord+1.338
66 François CevertTyrrellFord+1.421
77 Denny HulmeMcLarenFord+1.622
821 Niki LaudaBRM+1.703
95 Jackie StewartTyrrellFord+1.944
1011 Wilson FittipaldiBrabhamFord+2.415
1129 Chris AmonTyrrellFord+2.531
1223 Mike HailwoodSurteesFord+2.593
1316 George FollmerShadowFord+2.661
1417 Jackie OliverShadowFord+2.739
1527 James HuntMarchFord+2.807
1620 Jean-Pierre BeltoiseBRM+2.926
1712 Graham HillShadowFord+3.043
189 Rolf StommelenBrabhamFord+3.149
1924 Carlos PaceSurteesFord+3.331
204 Arturo MerzarioFerrari+3.653
2115 Mike BeuttlerMarchFord+3.686
2225 Howden GanleyWilliamsFord+3.882
2318 Jean-Pierre JarierMarchFord+4.024
2426 Tim SchenkenWilliamsFord+4.705
2519 Peter GethinBRM+4.801
2628 Rikky von OpelEnsignFord+4.985
Source:[3]

Race report

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

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
18 Peter RevsonMcLaren-Ford801:59:04.08329
21 Emerson FittipaldiLotus-Ford80+ 32.73456
317 Jackie OliverShadow-Ford80+ 34.505144
420 Jean-Pierre BeltoiseBRM80+ 36.514163
55 Jackie StewartTyrrell-Ford79+ 1 Lap92
625 Howden GanleyIso-Marlboro-Ford79+ 1 Lap221
727 James HuntMarch-Ford78+ 2 Laps15 
810 Carlos ReutemannBrabham-Ford78+ 2 Laps4 
923 Mike HailwoodSurtees-Ford78+ 2 Laps12 
1029 Chris AmonTyrrell-Ford77+ 3 Laps11 
1111 Wilson FittipaldiBrabham-Ford77+ 3 Laps10 
129 Rolf StommelenBrabham-Ford76+ 4 Laps18 
137 Denny HulmeMcLaren-Ford75+ 5 Laps7 
1426 Tim SchenkenIso-Marlboro-Ford75+ 5 Laps24 
154 Arturo MerzarioFerrari75+ 5 Laps20 
1612 Graham HillShadow-Ford73+ 7 Laps17 
1716 George FollmerShadow-Ford73+ 7 Laps13 
1824 Carlos PaceSurtees-Ford72+ 8 Laps19 
NC18 Jean-Pierre JarierMarch-Ford71+ 9 Laps23 
NC28 Rikky von OpelEnsign-Ford68+ 12 Laps26 
Ret21 Niki LaudaBRM62Transmission8 
Ret0 Jody ScheckterMcLaren-Ford32Collision3 
Ret6 François CevertTyrrell-Ford32Collision6 
Ret15 Mike BeuttlerMarch-Ford20Engine21 
Ret2 Ronnie PetersonLotus-Ford16Suspension1 
Ret19 Peter GethinBRM5Oil Pump25 

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings!! Pos! Driver! Points
1 Jackie Stewart71
2 Emerson Fittipaldi54
3 François Cevert47
4 Ronnie Peterson43
5 Peter Revson36
Source: [9]
Constructors' Championship standings!! Pos! Constructor! Points
11 Lotus-Ford83 (87)
12 Tyrrell-Ford82 (86)
3 McLaren-Ford55
4 Brabham-Ford18
5 Ferrari12
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Weather information for the "1973 Canadian Grand Prix" . The Old Farmers' Almanac . 10 November 2013.
  2. Web site: 1973 Canadian Grand Prix Entry list.
  3. Web site: Formula One 1973 Canadian Grand Prix Classification | Motorsport Stats.
  4. Web site: Car 0 . ChicaneF1.com . 15 August 2012.
  5. Book: Lang, Mike . Grand Prix! Vol 2 . Haynes Publishing Group . 1982 . 0-85429-321-3 . 244.
  6. Web site: Kathri . Tarun . First ever Safety Car in Formula 1 : Rewind to 1973 . aaFormula1.com . 7 February 2012 . 3 April 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150407172448/http://www.aaformula1.com/2012/02/first-ever-safety-car-in-formula-1.html . 7 April 2015 .
  7. Web site: Eppie Wietzes biography . F1 Rejects . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120816202539/http://f1rejects.com/drivers/wietzes/biography.html . 16 August 2012.
  8. Web site: Jones . Dewis . The Great Grand Prix Robbery . Velocity Magazine . 4 May 2015 .
  9. Web site: Canada 1973 – Championship • STATS F1. statsf1.com. 14 March 2019.