German GP 1971
AUGUST 1, 1971
German GP, 1971
After a year away at Hockenheim, the German Grand Prix returned to the Nurburgring where the track had been resurfaced, additional run-off area had been created, and barriers and catch-fencing had been installed.
Missing from the regular grid was Jean-Pierre Beltoise who had been a further period of license suspension which resulted from the accident in Buenos Aires in January which had claimed the life of Ignazio Giunti. He was not replaced. Vic Elford reappeared as the wheel of a BRM ( replacing Pedro Rodriguez, who had been killed a few weeks earlier in a sportscar accident). Ferrari was back up the three cars again with Mario Andretti not having any USAC commitments that weekend.
Qualifying resulted in Jackie Stewart taking pole position for Tyrrell with Jacky Ickx alongside side him on the front row in his Ferrari. Jo Siffert (BRM) and Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) were on row two with Francois Cevert (Tyrrell) and Denny Hulme (McLaren) on row three. The top 10 was completed by Ronnie Peterson (March), Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus), Tim Schenken (Brabham) and Henri Pescarolo (Frank Williams March).
One man who failed to qualify was F1 new boy Helmut Marko from Austria who was running in Jo Bonnier's old McLaren. He fell out with the team when the car ran out of fuel on the first lap out of the pits.
There was a huge crowd for the race on Sunday and as Graham Hill (Brabham) and Reine Wisell (Lotus) both hand problems before the start only 20 cars lined up on the grid. Ickx took the lead from Stewart but the Tyrrell was soon back ahead again and pulling away from the rest with Ickx being chased by Regazzoni, Hulme, Siffert, Peterson and Cevert. On the second lap Ickx spun off at the Wippermann corner and Regazzoni went off as he tried to avoid his team mate. This left Stewart with a big lead over Siffert (who had overtaken Hulme). Regazzoni rejoined in third and Peterson (who had also overtaken Hulme) was fourth. The McLaren driver soon fell behind Andretti and Cevert, and the Tyrrell driver soon passed the Ferrari so was up to fifth. In the laps that followed Cevert was the man to watch as he overtook Peterson, Siffert (who soon dropped behind Regazzoni) and then Regazzoni himself. Thereafter the order remained stable at the front with a Tyrrell 1-2 the result. Regazzoni was third with Andretti catching and passing Peterson for fourth.
POS | NO | DRIVER | ENTRANT | LAPS | TIME/RETIREMENT | QUAL POS |
1 | 2 | Jackie Stewart | Tyrrell-Cosworth 003 | 12 | 1h29m15.700s | 1 |
2 | 3 | Francois Cevert | Tyrrell-Cosworth 002 | 12 | 1h29m45.800s | 5 |
3 | 6 | Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari 312B2 | 12 | 1h29m52.800s | 4 |
4 | 5 | Mario Andretti | Ferrari 312B2 | 12 | 1h31m20.700s | 11 |
5 | 15 | Ronnie Peterson | March-Cosworth 711 | 12 | 1h31m44.800s | 7 |
6 | 25 | Tim Schenken | Brabham-Cosworth BT33 | 12 | 1h32m14.300s | 9 |
7 | 7 | John Surtees | Surtees-Cosworth TS9 | 12 | 1h32m34.700s | 15 |
8 | 9 | Reine Wisell | Lotus-Cosworth 72D | 12 | 1h35m47.400s | 17 |
9 | 24 | Graham Hill | Brabham-Cosworth BT34 | 12 | 1h35m52.700s | 13 |
10 | 12 | Rolf Stommelen | Surtees-Cosworth TS9 | 11 | 12 | |
11 | 22 | Vic Elford | BRM P160 | 11 | 18 | |
12 | 17 | Giovanni Galli | March-Alfa Romeo 711 | 10 | 21 | |
r | 8 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Lotus-Cosworth 72D | 8 | Mechanical | 8 |
r | 21 | Jo Siffert | BRM P160 | 6 | Coil | 3 |
r | 10 | Chris Amon | Matra Simca-Matra MS120B | 6 | Accident | 16 |
r | 20 | Peter Gethin | McLaren-Cosworth M19A | 5 | Suspension/ Accident | 19 |
r | 14 | Henri Pescarolo | March-Cosworth 711 | 5 | Suspension | 10 |
dq | 28 | Mike Beuttler | March-Cosworth 711 | 3 | Incorrect Route Into Pits | 22 |
r | 18 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-Cosworth M19A | 3 | Fuel Leak | 6 |
r | 16 | Andrea de Adamich | March-Alfa Romeo 711 | 2 | Fuel Injection | 20 |
r | 23 | Howden Ganley | BRM P153 | 2 | Engine | 14 |
r | 4 | Jacky Ickx | Ferrari 312B2 | 1 | Accident | 2 |
nq | 27 | Jo Bonnier | McLaren-Cosworth M7C | 23 | ||
nq | 27 | Helmut Marko | McLaren-Cosworth M7C | Out Of Fuel | 24 |