The 1973 British Grand Prix (formally the John Player Grand Prix) was a Formula One (F1) motor race held at Silverstone on 14 July 1973. It was race 9 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race is known for the first lap pile-up, which ultimately caused eleven cars to retire. The accident happened when Jody Scheckter, running fourth in his McLaren, spun across the track at Woodcote Corner at the end of the first lap, causing many other cars to collide and crash. The incident eliminated nine cars, including all three works Surtees cars, while Brabham driver Andrea de Adamich suffered a broken ankle that ended his F1 career. The race was stopped at the end of the second lap, before being restarted over the original 67-lap distance with 18 of the original 29 cars. David Purley and Graham McRae had retired in separate incidents.
On the first start, a swift start by Jackie Stewart brought him from fourth to first in less than half a lap. At Becketts Corner, Stewart out-braked race leader Ronnie Peterson and took the lead. As the massive pile-up at the end of the first lap caused the race to be restarted, Stewart had to start from fourth again. This time it was Niki Lauda who had an excellent start and moved up behind Peterson into second, with Stewart third. Stewart passed Lauda on lap 2, and charged after Peterson. On lap 6, Stewart again tried to pass Peterson for the lead but the Swedish driver shut the door; Stewart lost control of his Tyrrell and spun off into the thick grass. Although he was able to continue, Stewart ended up finishing 10th, one lap down.
Another notable drive came from James Hunt in his Hesketh Racing March, who ran fourth for most of the race and was part of a four-way battle for the lead between himself, Peterson, Denny Hulme, and Peter Revson. American driver Revson took his first Grand Prix victory by 2.8 seconds from Peterson. The pile-up was to be a factor in this being the last World Championship F1 race held on the original Silverstone layout; a chicane would be added at Woodcote shortly before the 1975 event. Grand Prix motorcycle racing, which would come to Silverstone from the Isle of Man TT in 1977, would use the original layout until 1986.
Qualifying Qualifying classification Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo1Ronnie PetersonLotus-Ford1:16.312Denny HulmeMcLaren-Ford1:16.523Peter RevsonMcLaren-Ford1:16.534Jackie StewartTyrrell-Ford1:16.745Emerson FittipaldiLotus-Ford1:16.756Jody ScheckterMcLaren-Ford1:16.967François CevertTyrrell-Ford1:17.378Carlos ReutemannBrabham-Ford1:17.489Niki LaudaBRM1:17.4910Clay RegazzoniBRM1:17.51011James HuntMarch-Ford1:17.61112Mike HailwoodSurtees-Ford1:18.01213Wilson FittipaldiBrabham-Ford1:18.11314Jochen MassSurtees-Ford1:18.31415Carlos PaceSurtees-Ford1:18.31516David PurleyMarch-Ford1:18.41617Jean-Pierre BeltoiseBRM1:18.41718Howden GanleyIso-Ford1:18.61819Jacky IckxFerrari1:18.91920Andrea de AdamichBrabham-Ford1:19.12021Rikky von OpelEnsign-Ford1:19.22122Roger WilliamsonMarch-Ford1:19.52223John WatsonBrabham-Ford1:20.12324Mike BeuttlerMarch-Ford1:20.12425George FollmerShadow-Ford1:20.32526Jackie OliverShadow-Ford1:20.32627Graham HillShadow-Ford1:20.52728Graham McRaeIso-Ford1:20.82829Chris AmonTecno1:21.029
Race First start and multi-car pileup The race started at 2:00pm British Summer Time (UTC+0). It featured the most cars to start a Grand Prix as it featured 28 cars in rows of three by two.
Ronnie Peterson led away but a very quick start by Jackie Stewart brought him from fourth to second, as Stewart passed Peterson to take the lead at Beckets. Carlos Reutemann was in third with Denny Hulme and Jody Scheckter behind him. As the exited Woodcote corner to complete the first lap, Stewart led Peterson and Reutemann but carnage was happening behind them. Scheckter tried to pass Hulme on the outside Scheckter's car went wide and spun right across the track and it hit the retaining wall of the pits and bounced back into the middle of the track. Hulme escaped undamaged, as Francois Cevert, James Hunt, Peter Revson, and Clay Regazzoni also went by. The big one then happened as Scheckter's car ricocheted back from the pit wall, Revson struck Scheckter's rear wing, and then all hell broke loose as the rest of the field crashed into the wrecks or dodged about to miss the wreckage. Nine cars were involved in the resulting carnage, Andrea de Adamich had crashed headlong into the barriers on the outside of the track and he was trapped in the cockpit of his Brabham with a broken ankle. Apart from minor bruises and shakings, no one else was hurt but the Surtees cars of Mike Hailwood, Carlos Pace, and Jochen Mass were smashed up. The Shadow's were also involved: Jackie Oliver's car was wrecked, while George Follmer's car was ripped open. The Embassy Hill-entered Shadow of Graham Hill was struck in the rear and a wishbone broken; Hill drove it round back to the pits under its own power. The BRM of Jean-Pierre Beltoise and the works March of Roger Williamson were wrecked, as was the McLaren of Scheckter. It would be F1's biggest race start crash until the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix took out thirteen cars; no one was injured.
The race organisation acted instantly and the race was red flagged indicating without argument or discussion that the race was stopped and would be started again later. Meanwhile, those ahead of the accident were still racing until they ended the lap, when they all came to a rapid stop at the scene of the crash. It took 30 minutes to release de Adamich from the wreckage of the Brabham, plus an hour to clear away the wrecked cars and the debris. The cars that escaped were wheeled back to the starting grid and Hill's Shadow was repaired in the pits, and Niki Lauda's BRM that had been in the pits all the time had a new drive-shaft fitted. Hunt's March needed a new airbox as his original one was damaged in the wreck and borrowed Mike Beuttler's airbox from his car.
Second start Drivers were allowed to use spare cars but none were used, Lauda's BRM and Hill's Shadow having been repaired during the red flag period. Non-starters included de Adamich who had been taken to hospital, Scheckter who was barred by McLaren as several team bosses including John Surtees wanted to throw him out for causing the crash, Graham McRae's Iso-Marlboro which had a throttle issue and could not restart, and David Purley's March which had spun off before the big one and did not restart. Other drivers who did not take the restart included Oliver, Follmer, Beltoise, Williamson, Purley, Pace, Hailwood, and Mass. It was 3.30 p.m. before the track was clear and there were nineteen starters ready for the restart over the original distance on 67 laps. At 3:35 pm, the depleted field moved up on to the starting grid. Everyone took up their original positions, leaving gaps for those who had been eliminated. This time it was Lauda who had an excellent start and moved up behind Peterson into second, with Stewart third. Stewart passed Lauda on lap 2 and charged after Peterson. On lap 6, Stewart again tried to pass Peterson for the lead but the Swedish driver shut the door; Stewart lost control of his Tyrrell and spun off into the thick grass. Although he was able to continue, Stewart ended up finishing 10th, one lap down.
Classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 8 Peter Revson McLaren-Ford 67 1:29:18.5 3 9 2 2 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 67 + 2.8 1 6 3 7 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 67 + 3.0 2 4 4 27 James Hunt March-Ford 67 + 3.4 11 3 5 6 François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 67 + 36.6 7 2 6 10 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 67 + 44.7 8 1 7 19 Clay Regazzoni BRM 67 + 1:11.7 10 8 3 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 67 + 1:17.4 19 9 25 Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 66 +1 lap 18 10 5 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 66 +1 lap 4 11 15 Mike Beuttler March-Ford 65 +2 Laps 24 12 21 Niki Lauda BRM 63 +4 laps 9 13 28 Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford 61 +6 laps 21 11 Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 44 Oil leak 13 1 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 36 Transmission 5 29 John Watson Brabham-Ford 36 Fuel system 23 12 Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 24 Chassis 27 22 Chris Amon Tecno 6 Fuel system 29 30 Jody Scheckter McLaren-Ford 0 Collision 6 23 Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 0 Collision 12 31 Jochen Mass Surtees-Ford 0 Collision 14 24 Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 0 Collision 15 20 Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 0 Collision 17 9 Andrea de Adamich Brabham-Ford 0 Collision 20 14 Roger Williamson March-Ford 0 Collision 22 16 George Follmer Shadow-Ford 0 Collision 25 17 Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 0 Collision 26 26 Graham McRae Iso-Marlboro-Ford 0 Throttle 28 18 David Purley March-Ford 0 Spun Off 16
See also List of red-flagged Formula One races
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British drivers Roger Williamson and future Grand Prix winner John Watson, German driver and future Grand Prix winner Jochen Mass and for New Zealand driver Graham McRae. This was the 61st pole position for Lotus, breaking the old record set by Ferrari at the 1972 Italian Grand Prix.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jackie Stewart 42 2 Emerson Fittipaldi 41 3 François Cevert 33 4 Ronnie Peterson 25 5 Denny Hulme 23Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Ford 58 (62) 2 Tyrrell-Ford 53 (57) 3 McLaren-Ford 35 1 4 Brabham-Ford 12 1 5 Ferrari 12Source:
References