1973_Canadian_Grand_Prix

1973 Canadian Grand Prix

1973 Canadian Grand Prix

Motor car race

The 1973 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mosport Park on 23 September 1973. It was race 14 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.[2]

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The 80-lap race was won by Peter Revson, driving a McLaren M23, after starting from second on the grid. This turned out to be Revson's last victory and podium finish in Formula One. As of the conclusion of the 2023 Formula One World Championship, this is the last Grand Prix to be won by a driver born in the USA. Emerson Fittipaldi took second position for Team Lotus, while Jackie Oliver took third in a Shadow, his first podium in five years and his last of all.

This was also the 99th and last race start of triple world champion Jackie Stewart.

Qualifying classification

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Race report

This was the first Grand Prix to feature a car with the number 0, the car in question being the McLaren of Jody Scheckter.[4]

The race start was delayed from 2:30pm to 3:00pm and began in very wet conditions, which caused a number of incidents later in the race. François Cevert and Scheckter collided on the 32nd lap, resulting in the deployment of a safety car for the first time in Formula One history[5] (although it would not be until twenty years later, in 1993, when these cars were given an official role). The car in question was a yellow Porsche 914[6] driven by former F1 privateer Eppie Wietzes. Wietzes stayed in front of Howden Ganley's Iso-Marlboro by mistake, which allowed several drivers, including eventual winner Peter Revson, to gain a lap on the field.[7]

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.[8] Ganley realised the problem and waited until team-mate Tim Schenken had made his stop, making him one of the last to stop.[8] 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 Emerson 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, Mike Hailwood, Peter Revson and James Hunt. Despite seeing the flag first, Ganley did not believe he had won the race, despite lap charts kept by the team showing him leading.[8] 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 team's lap chart. Ganley maintains he feels he won the race, citing the fact official lap charts have him pitting when he did not.[8]

Race classification

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Championship standings after the race

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  • 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

  1. [1]
    "Weather information for the "1973 Canadian Grand Prix"". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  2. [2]
    "1973 Canadian Grand Prix Entry list".
  3. [3]
    "Formula One 1973 Canadian Grand Prix Classification | Motorsport Stats".
  4. [4]
    "Car 0". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  5. [5]
    Lang, Mike (1982). Grand Prix! Vol 2. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 244. ISBN 0-85429-321-3.
  6. [6]
    Kathri, Tarun (7 February 2012). "First ever Safety Car in Formula 1 : Rewind to 1973". aaFormula1.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  7. [7]
    "Eppie Wietzes biography". F1 Rejects. Archived from the original on 16 August 2012.
  8. [8]
    Jones, Dewis (4 May 2015). "The Great Grand Prix Robbery". Velocity Magazine.[permanent dead link]
  9. [9]
    "1973 Canadian Grand Prix". Formula One. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  10. [10]
    "Canada 1973 – Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
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1973 Italian Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1973 season		 Next race:
1973 United States Grand Prix
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1972 Canadian Grand Prix		 Canadian Grand Prix Next race:
1974 Canadian Grand Prix
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