Monaco GP 1973

Monaco GP, 1973

Monaco was later than usual and there were big changes to the circuit with a new tunnel section and a new section of track around the new Swimming Pool between Tabac and the a new corner called La Rascasse. This meant that the pits (which were back to their original location after a year down on the waterfront) were much better than they had been.

The field had grown again with the arrival of two new customer March teams: Hesketh Racing, which was running F1 debutante James Hunt, and David Purley's Lec Refrigeration operation under Mike Earle. There were 26 entries but George Follmer seriously damaged his Shadow in a collision with Arturo Merzario's Ferrari on Saturday and so the American had to miss the race.

Pole position went to Jackie Stewart in the Tyrrell with Ronnie Peterson's Lotus alongside. Then came Denny Hulme (McLaren) and Francois Cevert (Tyrrell) on the second row and Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus) and an impressive Niki Lauda (BRM) on the third. Jacky Ickx (Ferrari) and Clay Regazzoni (BRM) shared row four while the top 10 was completed by Wilson Fittipaldi's Brabham and Howden Ganley in the Williams. The Tecno continued to do well with Chris Amon qualifying 12th while Hunt did a good job in 18th position.

At the start Cevert burst through to take the lead but on the second lap he suffered a puncture when he hit a curb and so Peterson went ahead, chased by a quick-starting Regazzoni, Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Lauda, Ickx and the rest. Peterson was able to build a lead and it became clear that Regazzoni was holding up the rest of the field. It was not until the sixth lap that the BRM driver made a mistake and went up the escape road at the chicane. This allowed Stewart to set off after Peterson. The Lotus driver ran into fuel feed trouble and dropped to sixth, leaving Stewart in the lead with Emerson Fittipaldi second, Lauda third, Ickx fourth and Wilson Fittipaldi fifth. On lap 25 Lauda went out with gearbox trouble and on lap 45 Ickx suffered a driveshaft failure and so Wilson Fittipaldi ran third until lap 71 when he began to suffer problems with a fuel leak which forced him to retire. This gave Peterson third place. Cevert, Peter Revson (McLaren) and Hulme completed the points scorers, although the impressive Hunt was ahead of Hulme until he went out in the closing laps with an engine failure.

Stewart's victory (his 25th) equaled Jim Clark's record of victories in the World Championship.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 5 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Cosworth 006 78 1h57m44.300s  1 
2 1 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Cosworth 72E 78 1h57m45.600s  5 
3 2 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Cosworth 72E 77  2 
4 6 Francois Cevert Tyrrell-Cosworth 006 77  4 
5 8 Peter Revson McLaren-Cosworth M23 76  15 
6 7 Denny Hulme McLaren-Cosworth M23 76  3 
7 9 Andrea de Adamich Brabham-Cosworth BT37 75  25 
8 23 Mike Hailwood Surtees-Cosworth TS14A 75  13 
9r 27 James Hunt March-Cosworth 731 73 Engine 18 
10 17 Jackie Oliver Shadow-Cosworth DN1 72  22 
11r 11 Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Cosworth BT42 71 Fuel System 9 
r 14 Jean-Pierre Jarier March-Cosworth 731 67 Gearbox 14 
r 12 Graham Hill Shadow-Cosworth DN1 62 Suspension 24 
r 4 Arturo Merzario Ferrari 312B3 58 Engine 16 
r 10 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Cosworth BT42 46 Gearbox 19 
r 3 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 312B3 44 Drive Shaft 7 
r 25 Howden Ganley Iso Marlboro-Cosworth IR 41 Drive Shaft 10 
r 20 Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM P160E 39 Accident 11 
r 18 David Purley March-Cosworth 731 31 Fuel System 23 
r 24 Carlos Pace Surtees-Cosworth TS14A 31 Drive Shaft 17 
r 26 Giovanni Galli Iso Marlboro-Cosworth IR 30 Drive Shaft 21 
r 21 Niki Lauda BRM P160E 24 Gearbox 6 
r 22 Chris Amon Tecno PA123 22 Overheating 12 
r 19 Clay Regazzoni BRM P160E 15 Brakes 8 
r 15 Mike Beuttler March-Cosworth 731 3 Engine 20 
ns 16 George Follmer Shadow-Cosworth DN1  Accident 26