British GP 1974

British GP, 1974

The British Grand Prix attracted the biggest field of the year with no fewer than 34 cars fighting for 25 grid positions. The biggest news was at Brabham. Rikki Von Opel had decided that he did not want to be a Grand Prix driver any longer and he had retired. This gave Bernie Ecclestone the opportunity to hire Carlos Pace. That move freed the second Hexagon Brabham and Italian lady racer Lella Lombardi took over. Surtees hired Derek Bell to partner Jochen Mass while Tom Belso was back in the second Iso Marlboro, although it was also driven in practice by Jean-Pierre Jabouille. Howden Ganley returned to F1 at the wheel of the new Maki. Guy Edwards had broken his wrist after a Formula 5000 accident at Mallory Park the previous weekend and so Graham Hill took on Peter Gethin as a replacement. Appearing for the first time was the Lyncar, driven by John Nicholson. Mike Wilds hired the old Hesketh March previously used by James Hunt while David Purley took over the Token and the field was completed by Leo Kinnunen in his AAW Racing Surtees.

Qualifying resulted in Niki Lauda taking his third consecutive pole position for Ferrari although Ronnie Peterson later equaled the time and so lined up second on the grid. The second row featured Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell) and Carlos Reutemann (Brabham) while the third row featured Tom Pryce (Shadow) and James Hunt (Hesketh), who had collided on the first lap in the previous two races. The fourth row featured World Championship contenders Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) and Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren) while the top 10 was completed by Hans Stuck (March) and Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell). The non-qualifiers were Purley, Bell, Lombardi, Belso, Vern Schuppan (Ensign), Nicholson, Ganley, Wilds and Kinnunen.

In the race Lauda went into an immediate with Scheckter and Regazzoni getting ahead of Peterson. Reutemann, Fittipaldi, Pryce, Stuck and the rest followed. Hunt had made a bad start and ruined his chances on the second lap by spinning out of 11th place. The order at the front remained unchanged until the halfway point when Reutemann spun. And then both Peterson and Regazzoni suffered punctures after running over debris from an accident which Stuck had had. That left Lauda and Scheckter out on their own and Fittipaldi third. That order stayed the same until the closing laps when Lauda began to slow with a puncture. Scheckter took the lead and Ferrari decided to call Lauda in but before he got to the pits the tire fell apart. Fittipaldi swept through to take second place while Ickx survived to finish third.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Cosworth 007 75 1h43m02.200s  3 
2 5 Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Cosworth M23 75 1h43m17.500s  8 
3 2 Jacky Ickx Lotus-Cosworth 72E 75 1h44m03.700s  12 
4 11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 312B3 75 1h44m09.400s  7 
5 12 Niki Lauda Ferrari 312B3 74  1 
6 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Cosworth BT44 74  4 
7 6 Denny Hulme McLaren-Cosworth M23 74  19 
8 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Cosworth DN3 74  5 
9 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Cosworth BT44 74  20 
10 1 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Cosworth 72E 73  2 
11 28 John Watson Brabham-Cosworth BT42 73  13 
12 14 Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM P201 72  23 
13 26 Graham Hill Lola-Cosworth T370 69  22 
14 19 Jochen Mass Surtees-Cosworth TS16 68  17 
r 15 Henri Pescarolo BRM P201 64 Engine 24 
nc 37 Francois Migault BRM P160E 62  14 
r 33 Mike Hailwood McLaren-Cosworth M23 57 Spin 11 
r 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Cosworth DN3 45 Suspension 16 
r 9 Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Cosworth 741 36 Accident 9 
r 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Cosworth 007 35 Engine 10 
r 20 Arturo Merzario Iso Marlboro-Cosworth FW 25 Engine 15 
r 10 Vittorio Brambilla March-Cosworth 741 17 Fuel Pressure 18 
r 23 Tim Schenken Trojan-Cosworth T103 6 Suspension 25 
r 24 James Hunt Hesketh-Cosworth 308 2 Suspension/ Spin 6 
r 27 Peter Gethin Lola-Cosworth T370 0 Driver Discomfort 21 
nq 42 David Purley Token-Cosworth RJ02   26 
nq 39 Derek Bell Surtees-Cosworth TS16   27 
nq 21 Tom Belso Iso Marlboro-Cosworth FW   28 
nq 208 Lella Lombardi Brabham-Cosworth BT42   29 
nq 22 Vern Schuppan Ensign-Cosworth N174   30 
nq 29 John Nicholson Lyncar-Cosworth 006   31 
nq 25 Howden Ganley Maki-Cosworth F101   32 
nq 35 Mike Wilds March-Cosworth 731   33 
nq 43 Leo Kinnunen Surtees-Cosworth TS16   34 
nq 27 Guy Edwards Lola-Cosworth T370  Driver Unfit (earlier Accident) 35