Spanish GP 1974

Spanish GP, 1974

There was a gap of a month after the South African Grand Prix and in that period James Hunt surprised everyone with victory in the International Trophy in the new Hesketh. There were other new cars in Spain with Tyrrell producing the first 007 chassis for Jody Scheckter and the first appearance of Chris Amon's AF101, which had been designed by Gordon Fowell. There was also the Ron Tauranac-designed Trojan, entered by Peter Agg's Trojan Engineering of Croydon and driven by Tim Schenken. Shadow decided to hire Brian Redman to replace the late Peter Revson, while at Brabham Richard Robarts's short career ended when Rikki Von Opel arrived with a bigger budget. As a result Mo Nunn's Ensign team was missing.

In qualifying pole position went to Ronnie Peterson in the Lotus 76 with Niki Lauda's Ferrari alongside on the front row. The second row featured Emerson Fittipaldi in the McLaren and Clay Regazzoni's second Ferrari while Carlos Reutemann was on the third row with Jacky Ickx's Lotus. The top 10 was completed by Denny Hulme (McLaren), Arturo Merzario (showing well again in the Iso-Marlboro), James Hunt (Hesketh) and Scheckter in the Tyrrell. The qualifying was marked by a heavy accident for Vittorio Brambilla in the second factory March although the Italian avoided injury.

It was raining on race day and at the start Peterson took the lead while the rest of the field was lost in a cloud of spray. Lauda and Regazzoni were second and third with Ickx fourth and Fittipaldi fifth. The order remained largely unchanged in the early laps although Fittipaldi's car was misfiring and as the track dried he began to drop back, falling behind Scheckter on lap 11. Soon afterwards the cars began to pit for slick tires. During this period Peterson suffered an engine failure and Ickx's Lotus dropped away when he set off with a wheel which had not been properly fastened. Lauda and Regazzoni thus took first and second places with Stuck running third. Merzario was fourth but on lap 38 he went off, his car going over the barriers and landing amongst a group of photographers. Fortunately no-one was hurt.

The race was stopped at two hours (six laps short of the intended race distance) and Ferrari ended the day with a 1-2, with Lauda scoring his first GP victory. Fittipaldi was able to catch and pass Stuck to claim third in the closing laps. Fifth went to Scheckter while Hulme was able to catch and pass Hunt and Redman to grab sixth.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
12 Niki Lauda Ferrari 312B3 84 2h00m29.560s  
11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 312B3 84 2h01m05.170s  
Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Cosworth M23 83  
Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Cosworth 741 82  13 
Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Cosworth 007 82  
56 Denny Hulme McLaren-Cosworth M23 82  
16 Brian Redman Shadow-Cosworth DN3 81  21 
Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Cosworth 006 81  16 
33 Mike Hailwood McLaren-Cosworth M23 81  17 
10 24 James Hunt Hesketh-Cosworth 308 81  10 
11 28 John Watson Brabham-Cosworth BT42 80  15 
12 15 Henri Pescarolo BRM P160E 80  20 
13 18 Carlos Pace Surtees-Cosworth TS16 78  14 
14r 23 Tim Schenken Trojan-Cosworth T103 76 Spin 25 
nc 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Cosworth DN3 73  12 
26 Graham Hill Lola-Cosworth T370 43 Engine 19 
20 Arturo Merzario Iso Marlboro-Cosworth FW 37 Accident 
19 Jochen Mass Surtees-Cosworth TS16 35 Gearbox 18 
37 Francois Migault BRM P160E 27 Engine 22 
Jacky Ickx Lotus-Cosworth 76 26 Brakes 
Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Cosworth 76 23 Overheating 
30 Chris Amon Amon-Cosworth AF101 22 Brakes 23 
Rikky von Opel Brabham-Cosworth BT44 14 Mechanical 24 
Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Cosworth BT44 12 Accident 
14 Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM P201 Engine 11 
ns 10 Vittorio Brambilla March-Cosworth 741  Accident 26 
nq 27 Guy Edwards Lola-Cosworth T370   27 
nq 21 Tom Belso Iso Marlboro-Cosworth FW   28