French GP 1971
French GP, 1971
The new Circuit Paul Ricard at Le Castellet was a new generation race track with advanced safety features and an impressive pit building. It was a the shape of the things to come. The teams traveled straight to the new track from Holland and so there were no major changes, although a bandaged Emerson Fittipaldi had recovered from his road accident and was back in action for Lotus. The gas turbine car was out of action because of damage done to it in Holland. Also missing was Mario Andretti who had flown off to the United States to race USAC cars at Pocono. Andrea de Adamich was back at the wheel of the March-Alfa Romeo after Nanni Galli had had two races in the car and because Cosworth engines were in short supply Ronnie Peterson was running one in his factory March.. There were two new faces in private Marches: Francois Mazet driving for Jo Siffert and Jean Max driving a second car for Frank Williams. Jackie Stewart took pole position in the Tyrrell with Clay Regazzoni and Jacky Ickx alongside in their Ferraris. The second row featured Graham Hill's Brabham and Pedro Rodriguez's BRM while Siffert was on row three in his BRM, alongside Francois Cevert (Tyrrell) and Jean-Pierre Beltoise (Matra). Team Lotus was again off the pace with Reine Wisell 15th and Fittipaldi 17th. At the start Stewart went into the lead with Regazzoni chasing. Ickx was in trouble with his engine and dropped quickly back to retire while there was a battle for third place between Rodriguez and Beltoise. On the 19th lap Peterson's Alfa Romeo engine blew up and Regazzoni spun off on the oil. Hill had a similar accident but was able to get going and pit for repairs. This left Rodriguez in second place but seven laps later his ignition failed. By then Cevert had moved into third and so he found himself promoted to second place behind Stewart, giving Tyrrell a 1-2. Third place went to Fittipaldi who had driven a good race to come up through the field.
POS | NO | DRIVER | ENTRANT | LAPS | TIME/RETIREMENT | QUAL POS |
1 | 11 | Jackie Stewart | Tyrrell-Cosworth 003 | 55 | 1h46m41.680s | 1 |
2 | 12 | Francois Cevert | Tyrrell-Cosworth 002 | 55 | 1h47m09.800s | 7 |
3 | 1 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Lotus-Cosworth 72D | 55 | 1h47m15.750s | 17 |
4 | 14 | Jo Siffert | BRM P160 | 55 | 1h47m18.850s | 6 |
5 | 20 | Chris Amon | Matra Simca-Matra MS120B | 55 | 1h47m22.760s | 9 |
6 | 2 | Reine Wisell | Lotus-Cosworth 72D | 55 | 1h47m57.700s | 15 |
7 | 21 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | Matra Simca-Matra MS120B | 55 | 1h47m58.610s | 8 |
8 | 22 | John Surtees | Surtees-Cosworth TS9 | 55 | 1h48m06.590s | 13 |
9 | 10 | Peter Gethin | McLaren-Cosworth M19A | 54 | 19 | |
10 | 16 | Howden Ganley | BRM P153 | 54 | 16 | |
11 | 24 | Rolf Stommelen | Surtees-Cosworth TS9 | 53 | 10 | |
12r | 8 | Tim Schenken | Brabham-Cosworth BT33 | 50 | Engine | 14 |
13 | 34 | Francois Mazet | March-Cosworth 701 | 50 | 23 | |
nc | 28 | Jean Max | March-Cosworth 701 | 46 | 22 | |
r | 27 | Henri Pescarolo | March-Cosworth 711 | 45 | Gearbox | 18 |
r | 7 | Graham Hill | Brabham-Cosworth BT34 | 34 | Mechanical | 4 |
r | 19 | Andrea de Adamich | March-Alfa Romeo 711 | 31 | Engine | 20 |
r | 15 | Pedro Rodriguez | BRM P160 | 27 | Coil | 5 |
r | 5 | Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari 312B2 | 20 | Spin | 2 |
r | 17 | Ronnie Peterson | March-Alfa Romeo 711 | 19 | Engine | 12 |
r | 9 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-Cosworth M19A | 16 | Ignition | 11 |
r | 4 | Jacky Ickx | Ferrari 312B2 | 4 | Engine | 3 |
r | 18 | Alex Soler-Roig | March-Cosworth 711 | 4 | Fuel Pump | 21 |
ns | 33 | Giovanni Galli | March-Cosworth 711 | Car Raced By Soler-roig | 24 |