The 1971 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 23, 1971. It was race 3 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers and the 200th World Championship Grand Prix held since the championship began in . This was the last race on the original Monaco circuit, as a dedicated pit lane was created along the harbor before Tabac in 1972.
Events of the race are captured in the documentary film Weekend of a Champion in which Roman Polanski shadows Jackie Stewart.
Race report Qualifying was extremely wet and so it was Friday morning times that really counted for the grid - for Mario Andretti this was particularly unfortunate as his car was stranded out on the track at this time and so he was unable to qualify despite lying second in the World Championship. Jackie Stewart claimed a stunning pole position over a second ahead of his front row companion Jacky Ickx and shot into an immediate lead from the fast-starting Jo Siffert, Ickx, Pedro Rodríguez, Ronnie Peterson and Denny Hulme. Chris Amon stalled on the grid and Graham Hill - seeking a 6th Monaco win - made a rare mistake, hitting the wall at Tabac on the 2nd lap.
Stewart extended his lead from Siffert and Ickx, despite being painfully ill from fumes leaking into the cockpit. Peterson was astonishing the crowd with his valiant attempts to take 4th place from Rodríguez, who was baulking him as much as was legally possible. Hulme actually managed to join the battle and pass Peterson on one lap. Eventually the Mexican slipped up under pressure and locked up a wheel to let both Peterson and Hulme through.
The Who used parts of the Grand Prix and showed Jackie Stewart in the music video for the song "Baba O'Riley".
Classification
Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 11 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 1:23.2 — 2 4 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 1:24.4 +1.2 3 14 Jo Siffert BRM 1:24.8 +1.6 4 20 Chris Amon Matra 1:24.8 +1.6 5 15 Pedro Rodríguez BRM 1:25.1 +1.9 6 9 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 1:25.3 +2.1 7 21 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 1:25.6 +2.4 8 17 Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 1:25.8 +2.6 9 7 Graham Hill Brabham-Ford 1:26.0 +2.8 10 22 John Surtees Surtees-Ford 1:26.0 +2.8 11 5 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:26.1 +2.9 12 2 Reine Wisell Lotus-Ford 1:26.7 +3.5 13 27 Henri Pescarolo March-Ford 1:26.7 +3.5 14 10 Peter Gethin McLaren-Ford 1:26.9 +3.7 15 12 François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 1:27.2 +4.0 16 24 Rolf Stommelen Surtees-Ford 1:27.2 +4.0 17 1 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 1:27.7 +4.5 18 8 Tim Schenken Brabham-Ford 1:28.3 +5.1 16 Howden Ganley BRM 1:28.8 +5.6 6 Mario Andretti Ferrari 1:29.1 +5.9 19 Nanni Galli* March-Alfa Romeo 1:34.6 +11.4 18 Alex Soler-Roig March-Ford 1:44.4 +21.2 28 Skip Barber March-Ford 2:48.6 +1:25.4 Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 11 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 80 1:52:21.3 1 9 2 17 Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 80 + 25.6 8 6 3 4 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 80 + 53.3 2 4 4 9 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 80 + 1:06.7 6 3 5 1 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 17 2 6 24 Rolf Stommelen Surtees-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 16 1 7 22 John Surtees Surtees-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 10 8 27 Henri Pescarolo March-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 13 9 15 Pedro Rodríguez BRM 76 + 4 Laps 5 10 8 Tim Schenken Brabham-Ford 76 + 4 Laps 18 14 Jo Siffert BRM 58 Oil pipe 3 21 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 47 Differential 7 20 Chris Amon Matra 45 Differential 4 5 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 24 Accident 11 10 Peter Gethin McLaren-Ford 22 Accident 14 2 Reine Wisell Lotus-Ford 21 Wheel bearing 12 12 François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 5 Accident 15 7 Graham Hill Brabham-Ford 1 Accident 9 16 Howden Ganley BRM 6 Mario Andretti Ferrari 19 Nanni Galli* March-Alfa Romeo 18 Alex Soler-Roig March-Ford 28 Skip Barber March-Ford
- Andrea de Adamich was listed as the driver of the #19 March, but never drove. Galli was entered instead.
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for American driver Skip Barber. This was the first fastest lap set and first Grand Slam for British constructor Tyrrell. This was Graham Hill's 127th Grand Prix start, thereby breaking the old record set by Jack Brabham at the 1970 Mexican Grand Prix.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jackie Stewart 24 1 2 Jacky Ickx 10 1 3 Mario Andretti 9 11 4 Ronnie Peterson 6 1 5 Chris Amon 6Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 1 Tyrrell-Ford 24 1 2 Ferrari 19 6 3 March-Ford 6 1 4 Matra 6 1 5 McLaren-Ford 6Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References