1973 Canadian Grand Prix

  1973 Canadian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 14 of 15 in the 1973 Formula One season
Date	September 23, 1973
Official name	XIII Labatt's Canadian Grand Prix
Location	Mosport Park, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	3.957 km (2.459 mi)
Distance	80 laps, 316.56 km (196.72 mi)
Weather	Mild with temperatures approaching 22.2 °C (72.0 °F); wind speeds up to 11.8 kilometres per hour (7.3 mph)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:13.697
Fastest lap
Driver	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:15.496
Podium
First	Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford
Second	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford
Third	Jackie Oliver	Shadow-Ford

The 1973 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mosport Park on 23 September 1973. It was the fourteenth race of the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers.

The 80-lap race was won by Peter Revson after starting from second on the grid, driving a McLaren M23. This turned out to be Revson's last victory and podium finish in Formula One. As of 2015, this is the last Grand Prix to be won by an American born driver. Emerson Fittipaldi took second position for Team Lotus, while Jackie Oliver took his first podium in five years, and would turn out to be his last.

Report

The race began in very wet conditions, which caused a number of incidents later in the race. François Cevert and Jody Scheckter collided on the 32nd lap, resulting in the deployment of a safety car for the first time in Formula One history^[2] (although the sport would wait until 1993 before giving an official role to these cars). The car in question was a yellow Porsche 914^[3] driven by former F1 privateer Eppie Wietzes. Wietzes stayed in front of Howden Ganley's Iso-Marlboro car by mistake, which allowed several drivers including eventual winner Revson, to gain a lap on the field.^[4] Pit stops at the time were unusual. Formula One had only recently switched to slick tyres but the drying conditions necessitated stops mid-race. The small pit lane at Mosport became busy, with a number of drivers heading into the pit lane only to have to drive through as there was no room for them to be serviced.^[5] Ganley realised the problem and waited until teammate Tim Schenken had made his stop, making him one of the last to stop.^[5] The pit stops caused significant confusion, with some believing the leader to be Ganley and others, including Team Lotus manager Colin Chapman, believing it to be Fittipaldi. Chapman even went as far as to perform his traditional victory celebration of tossing his cap in the air at the end of what he believed to be the 80th lap, even though Fittipaldi was not shown the checkered flag. After a long pause, the starter waved the flag over a group of cars consisting of Ganley, Hailwood, Revson and Hunt. Despite seeing the flag first, Ganley did not believe he had won the grand prix despite lap charts kept by the team showing him leading.^[5] The officials then announced Revson as the winner after a long confusion which included protests from Ganley's then girlfriend (later wife) who had been keeping the teams lap chart. Ganley maintains he feels he won the race, citing the fact official lap charts have him pitting when he didn't.^[5]

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford	80	1:59:04.083	2	9
2	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	80	+ 32.734	5	6
3	17	Jackie Oliver	Shadow-Ford	80	+ 34.505	14	4
4	20	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	80	+ 36.514	16	3
5	5	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	79	+ 1 Lap	9	2
6	25	Howden Ganley	Iso-Marlboro-Ford	79	+ 1 Lap	22	1
7	27	James Hunt	March-Ford	78	+ 2 Laps	15
8	10	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	78	+ 2 Laps	4
9	23	Mike Hailwood	Surtees-Ford	78	+ 2 Laps	12
10	29	Chris Amon	Tyrrell-Ford	77	+ 3 Laps	11
11	11	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham-Ford	77	+ 3 Laps	10
12	9	Rolf Stommelen	Brabham-Ford	76	+ 4 Laps	18
13	7	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	75	+ 5 Laps	7
14	26	Tim Schenken	Iso-Marlboro-Ford	75	+ 5 Laps	24
15	4	Arturo Merzario	Ferrari	75	+ 5 Laps	20
16	12	Graham Hill	Shadow-Ford	73	+ 7 Laps	17
17	16	George Follmer	Shadow-Ford	73	+ 7 Laps	13
18	24	Carlos Pace	Surtees-Ford	72	+ 8 Laps	19
NC	18	Jean-Pierre Jarier	March-Ford	71	Not classified	23
NC	28	Rikky von Opel	Ensign-Ford	68	Not classified	26
Ret	21	Niki Lauda	BRM	62	Transmission	8
Ret	0	Jody Scheckter	McLaren-Ford	32	Collision	3
Ret	6	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	32	Collision	6
Ret	15	Mike Beuttler	March-Ford	20	Engine	21
Ret	2	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	16	Suspension	1
Ret	19	Peter Gethin	BRM	5	Oil Pump	25
Source:[6]

Notes

• This is the first Grand Prix to have a car with the number 0, as driven by Jody Scheckter.^[7]
• 20th podium: Emerson Fittipaldi.
• Chris Amon was brought into the Tyrrell team in order to try to help with constructors points. He finished way out of the points, three laps down. Team Lotus was able to take the lead from Tyrrell in the constructors championship in the final results.
• Last race start and finish: Jackie Stewart

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jackie Stewart 71 2 Emerson Fittipaldi 54 3 François Cevert 47 4 Ronnie Peterson 43 5 Peter Revson 36

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 1 Lotus-Ford 83 (87) 1 2 Tyrrell-Ford 82 (86) 3 McLaren-Ford 55 4 Brabham-Ford 18 5 Ferrari 12

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 7 results from the first 8 races and the best 6 results from the last 7 races counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References