Belgian GP 1973
Belgian GP, 1973
After visiting Nivelles in 1972, the Belgian GP moved to Zolder in the Flemish part of Belgium. The organizers started resurfacing late because of a dispute with the teams and so when practice began the tarmac was still not properly hardened. The result was that the track surface broke up in places on Friday. Resurfacing work was carried out overnight, amid threats from the Grand Prix Drivers Association that they would cancel the event if the track broke up again on Saturday. The disputes continued well into Saturday morning but finally it became clear that the track was all right and there was a rush to qualify. The field was as normal with the addition of Chris Amon in a new Tecno. Arturo Merzario was back in action in the second Ferrari having missed the Spanish GP because his new car was not ready. Qualifying resulted in pole position for Ronnie Peterson's Lotus with Denny Hulme second in the McLaren M23. Then came Ickx's Ferrari and Francois Cevert's Tyrrell. The third row featured Jean-Pierre Beltoise in his BRM and Jackie Stewart's Tyrrell, while the top 10 was completed by Carlos Reutemann (Brabham), Carlos Pace (Surtees), Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus) and Peter Revson (McLaren). Peterson took the lead at the start with Cevert chasing and then Ickx, Hulme and Reutemann. On the second lap Cevert took the lead and began to pull away. Hulme dropped away after going off on oil being dropped by Ickx and soon afterwards Ickx retired with an oil pump failure. This put Reutemann third but he went out with engine failure on the 14th lap. Four laps later Fittipaldi and Stewart (who were now third and fourth) overtook Peterson and on lap 20 the Fittipaldi took the lead when Cevert spun. Five laps later Stewart went into the lead and began to pull away. Fittipaldi began to suffer from fuel pressure problems and on lap 48 dropped behind Cevert to give Stewart a 1-2 with the Lotus driver surviving to finish third. De Adamish and Lauda ended up fourth and fifth with Amon sixth.
POS | NO | DRIVER | ENTRANT | LAPS | TIME/RETIREMENT | QUAL POS |
1 | 5 | Jackie Stewart | Tyrrell-Cosworth 006 | 70 | 1h42m13.430s | 6 |
2 | 6 | Francois Cevert | Tyrrell-Cosworth 006 | 70 | 1h42m45.270s | 4 |
3 | 1 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Lotus-Cosworth 72E | 70 | 1h44m16.220s | 9 |
4 | 9 | Andrea de Adamich | Brabham-Cosworth BT37 | 69 | 18 | |
5 | 21 | Niki Lauda | BRM P160E | 69 | 14 | |
6 | 22 | Chris Amon | Tecno PA123 | 67 | 15 | |
7 | 7 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-Cosworth M23 | 67 | 2 | |
8 | 24 | Carlos Pace | Surtees-Cosworth TS14A | 66 | 8 | |
9 | 12 | Graham Hill | Shadow-Cosworth DN1 | 65 | 23 | |
10r | 19 | Clay Regazzoni | BRM-Cosworth P160E | 63 | Accident | 12 |
11r | 15 | Mike Beuttler | March-Cosworth 731 | 63 | Accident | 20 |
r | 14 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | March-Cosworth 731 | 60 | Accident | 16 |
r | 20 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | BRM P160E | 56 | Engine | 5 |
r | 11 | Wilson Fittipaldi | Brabham-Cosworth BT42 | 46 | Engine | 19 |
r | 2 | Ronnie Peterson | Lotus-Cosworth 72E | 42 | Accident | 1 |
r | 8 | Peter Revson | McLaren-Cosworth M23 | 33 | Accident | 10 |
r | 25 | Howden Ganley | Iso Marlboro-Cosworth IR | 16 | Throttle Jammed/ Accident | 21 |
r | 10 | Carlos Reutemann | Brabham-Cosworth BT42 | 14 | Engine | 7 |
r | 16 | George Follmer | Shadow-Cosworth DN1 | 13 | Throttle Slides Jammed | 11 |
r | 17 | Jackie Oliver | Shadow-Cosworth DN1 | 11 | Accident | 22 |
r | 26 | Giovanni Galli | Iso Marlboro-Cosworth IR | 6 | Engine | 17 |
r | 3 | Jacky Ickx | Ferrari 312B3 | 6 | Oil Pump | 3 |
r | 23 | Mike Hailwood | Surtees-Cosworth TS14A | 4 | Accident | 13 |