German GP 1974

AUGUST 4, 1974

German GP, 1974

The boom in Formula 1 in the 1974 season meant that there were 31 cars entered for the Nurburgring and with only 26 cars starting, six would not qualify. The only major change to the entry was the arrival in the second Iso Marlboro of F1 debutante Jacques Laffite. Guy Edwards was back in action for the Hill team while Australian rising star Larry Perkins was entered in the Amon. Token fielded Ian Ashley. Practice got off to a bad start when Howden Ganley's Maki suffered a suspension failure and crashed heavily at Hatzenbach, suffering serious ankle injuries.

The two Ferraris were on the front row of the grid again with Niki Lauda outqualifying Clay Regazzoni. Next up were the other two World Championship contenders Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren) and Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell) while third row featured Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell) and Carlos Reutemann (Brabham). The top 10 was completed by Denny Hulme (McLaren), Ronnie Peterson (Lotus), Jacky Ickx (Lotus) and Jochen Mass (Surtees).

At the start Fittipaldi failed to get away cleanly and as Hulme tried to pass him he found Ickx in his path and so the two McLarens made contact. Hulme retired on the spot but Fittipaldi seemed to have got away with it and set off.

Regazzoni had gone into the lead when Lauda made a poor start and as Lauda tried to make up ground he clashed with Scheckter and spun out. Further around the lap Fittipaldi suffered a puncture and had to limp around to the pits. He would rejoin but retired soon afterwards because of his damaged suspension.

At the front Regazzoni was being chased by Scheckter, Reutemann and Mass and the top three remained unchanged all afternoon. Mass was passed on the sixth lap by both Peterson and Ickx but he was able to get back ahead of the Swede before his engine failed. Hailwood inherited fifth place but on the 13th lap he lost control when the car landed after the jump at Pflanzgarten and crashed heavily. Tom Pryce (Shadow) finished sixth to score his first World Championship point.

Regazzoni's victory took him to the top of the World Championship table, three points ahead of Scheckter.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 312B3 14 1h41m35.000s  
Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Cosworth 007 14 1h42m25.700s  
Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Cosworth BT44 14 1h42m58.300s  
Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Cosworth 76 14 1h42m59.200s  
Jacky Ickx Lotus-Cosworth 72E 14 1h43m00.000s  
16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Cosworth DN3 14 1h43m53.100s  11 
Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Cosworth 741 14 1h44m33.700s  20 
17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Cosworth DN3 14 1h45m00.900s  18 
26 Graham Hill Lola-Cosworth T370 14 1h45m01.400s  19 
10 15 Henri Pescarolo BRM P201 14 1h45m52.700s  24 
11 18 Derek Bell Surtees-Cosworth TS16 14 1h46m52.700s  25 
12 Carlos Pace Brabham-Cosworth BT44 14 1h48m01.300s  17 
13 10 Vittorio Brambilla March-Cosworth 741 14 1h50m18.100s  23 
14 32 Ian Ashley Token-Cosworth RJ02 13  26 
15r 33 Mike Hailwood McLaren-Cosworth M23 12 Accident 12 
24 James Hunt Hesketh-Cosworth 308 11 Gearbox 13 
19 Jochen Mass Surtees-Cosworth TS16 10 Engine 10 
Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Cosworth 007 Suspension/ Accident 
20 Arturo Merzario Iso Marlboro-Cosworth FW Throttle Linkage 16 
14 Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM P201 Transmission 15 
22 Vern Schuppan Ensign-Cosworth N174 Gearbox 22 
Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Cosworth M23 Suspension/ Accident 
21 Jacques Laffite Iso Marlboro-Cosworth FW Suspension/ Accident 21 
28 John Watson Brabham-Cosworth BT44 Suspension/ Accident 14 
12 Niki Lauda Ferrari 312B3 Accident 
r/dq Denny Hulme McLaren-Cosworth M23 Accident/ Took Over Spare Car 
nq 37 Francois Migault BRM P160E   27 
nq 23 Tim Schenken Trojan-Cosworth T103   28 
nq 27 Guy Edwards Lola-Cosworth T370   29 
nq 30 Larry Perkins Amon-Cosworth AF101   30 
nq 30 Chris Amon Amon-Cosworth AF101  Driver Ill 31 
nq 25 Howden Ganley Maki-Cosworth F101  Accident/ Injury 32