Canadian GP 1973

Canadian GP, 1973

With Jackie Stewart having won the Drivers' World Championship in Italy two weeks earlier, the major interest was over the Constructors' title which was finely balanced between Tyrrell and Lotus. Tyrrell decided to enter three cars for the Canadian race and as Patrick Depailler was out of action after a motorcycle accident Tyrrell decided to run Chris Amon, who had fallen out with Tecno. BRM had hired Peter Gethin to replace Clay Regazzoni, while Ferrari had only one car again as Jacky Ickx had left the team. Tim Schenken made his comeback as Howden Ganley's partner at Williams and Jody Scheckter reappeared in a third McLaren for the first time since he had triggered the big accident at Silverstone.

Qualifying resulted in pole position going to Ronnie Peterson (Lotus) with Peter Revson alongside him on the front row of the grid. Scheckter shared the second row with Carlos Reutemann (Brabham) while Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus) and Francois Cevert - the pair still fighting over second place in the title - were on the third row. The top 10 was completed by Denny Hulme (McLaren), Niki Lauda (BRM), Stewart and Wilson Fittipaldi (Brabham).

It was raining on race day and at the start Peterson took the lead with Scheckter chasing and then a fast-startring Lauda. Emerson Fittipaldi was fourth ahead of Stewart, Reutemann, Revson and the rest. In the early laps Lauda was the man on the move and he moved into the lead on lap three, leaving Peterson and Scheckter to fight over second, which they did until Peterson crashed on lap 17. By then Scheckter had dropped back behind Fittipaldi and Carlos Pace (Surtees). On lap 20 Lauda pitted for a change of tires and that left Fittipaldi in the lead with Jack Oliver (Shadow) second and Cevert third. There was considerable confusion after Cevert and Scheckter collided on lap 33 after which there was bungled pace car interlude after which things became very confused as this failed to pick up the leader and allowed those ahead to gain almost a lap. All this meant that Oliver ended up in the lead with Revson second and Beltoise third. Of these three Revson had the most competitive car and so eventually moved into the lead and led all the way to the flag while Fittipaldi charged to try to make up for lost ground and overtook Oliver and Beltoise in the closing laps to grab second. For hours after the race confusion reigned but eventually it was confirmed that Revson was the winner - thanks to a lucky break when the pace car came out.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
Peter Revson McLaren-Cosworth M23 80 1h59m04.083s  
Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Cosworth 72E 80 1h59m36.817s  
17 Jackie Oliver Shadow-Cosworth DN1 80 1h59m38.588s  14 
20 Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM P160E 80 1h59m40.597s  16 
Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Cosworth 006 79  
25 Howden Ganley Iso Marlboro-Cosworth IR 79  22 
27 James Hunt March-Cosworth 731 78  15 
10 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Cosworth BT42 78  
23 Mike Hailwood Surtees-Cosworth TS14A 78  12 
10 29 Chris Amon Tyrrell-Cosworth 005 77  11 
11 11 Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Cosworth BT42 77  10 
12 Rolf Stommelen Brabham-Cosworth BT42 76  18 
13 Denny Hulme McLaren-Cosworth M23 75  
14 26 Tim Schenken Iso Marlboro-Cosworth IR 75  24 
15 Arturo Merzario Ferrari 312B3 75  20 
16 12 Graham Hill Shadow-Cosworth DN1 73  17 
17 16 George Follmer Shadow-Cosworth DN1 73  13 
18r 24 Carlos Pace Surtees-Cosworth TS14A 72 Wheel 19 
nc 18 Jean-Pierre Jarier March-Cosworth 731 71  23 
nc 28 Rikky von Opel Ensign-Cosworth N173 68  26 
21 Niki Lauda BRM P160E 62 Transmission 
Jody Scheckter McLaren-Cosworth M23 32 Accident 
Francois Cevert Tyrrell-Cosworth 006 32 Accident 
15 Mike Beuttler March-Cosworth 731 20 Engine 21 
Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Cosworth 72E 16 Puncture/ Accident 
19 Peter Gethin BRM P160E Oil Pump 25