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1975 French Grand Prix

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1975 French Grand Prix
Race details
Date 6 July 1975
Official name 61ème Grand Prix de France[1]
Location Circuit Paul Ricard
Le Castellet, Var, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.809 km (3.610 miles)
Distance 54 laps, 313.686 km (194.915 miles)
Weather Dry and sunny
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:47.82[2]
Fastest lap
Driver West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford
Time 1:50.60[3] on lap 38
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Hesketh-Ford
Third McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1975 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 6 July 1975. It was race 9 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 53rd French Grand Prix and the third to be held at Paul Ricard. The race was held over 54 laps of the 5.8-kilometre (3.6 mi) circuit for a race distance of 313 kilometres (194 mi).

The race was won from pole position by Austrian driver Niki Lauda, driving a Ferrari. Lauda led every lap and survived late charges from British driver James Hunt in the Hesketh-Ford and West German driver Jochen Mass in the McLaren-Ford, who finished 1.6 and 2.3 seconds behind respectively. It was Lauda's fourth win of the season, enabling him to extend his lead in the Drivers' Championship to 22 points over Brabham driver Carlos Reutemann.

Race summary

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Despite suffering from flu, Niki Lauda still took pole position. Jean-Pierre Jarier brought a smile to French faces by setting Friday's quickest time. Jody Scheckter driving the new lightweight Tyrrell 007 set a record through the speed trap of 190 mph.

On the start line, Tom Pryce was left without a clutch and retired shortly afterwards. Lauda led from Scheckter, James Hunt and Jochen Mass. Clay Regazzoni had moved up to second before his engine exploded, Scheckter taking over the position before Hunt passed him on lap eight. Lauda and Hunt maintained first and second whilst Scheckter, struggling with handling issues, had to concede to Mass and Emerson Fittipaldi.

Jarier made a superb pass on him and made a brave bid to catch Fittipaldi, but rev-limiter problems caused him to fall back with erratic power. Mario Andretti and Patrick Depailler were performing brilliantly, advancing from eleventh to fifth and 19th to sixth respectively.

Alan Jones was duelling with Ronnie Peterson and Carlos Reutemann when he spun into the catch fencing. Reutemann suffered from tyre problems and lost a lap, whilst John Watson suffered excess power and took to the escape road. Vittorio Brambilla retired with a damper problem, Wilson Fittipaldi blew his engine, and Jacky Ickx, Mark Donohue and Carlos Pace all broke their driveshafts. Mass was in rapid pursuit of Hunt and Lauda – by the last lap he was only 2.4 seconds behind them. However, a superb lapping manoeuvre gave Hunt the space he needed. On the last corner, Lauda slid offline, but held on to win by 1.6 seconds.

Classification

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Qualifying classification

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Pos. No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 12 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:47.82
2 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 1:48.22 +0.40
3 24 United Kingdom James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 1:48.25 +0.43
4 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 1:48.44 +0.62
5 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 1:48.48 +0.66
6 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 1:48.48 +0.66
7 2 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:48.54 +0.72
8 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1:48.56 +0.74
9 11 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:48.68 +0.86
10 1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 1:48.75 +0.93
11 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 1:48.85 +1.03
12 23 United Kingdom Tony Brise Hill-Ford 1:49.21 +1.39
13 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:49.31 +1.49
14 18 United Kingdom John Watson Surtees-Ford 1:49.70 +1.88
15 27 United States Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 1:49.72 +1.90
16 21 France Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 1:49.72 +1.90
17 5 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:50.04 +2.22
18 28 United States Mark Donohue Penske-Ford 1:50.15 +2.33
19 6 Belgium Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 1:50.94 +3.12
20 22 Australia Alan Jones Hill-Ford 1:51.02 +3.20
21 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Tyrrell-Ford 1:51.06 +3.24
22 31 Netherlands Gijs van Lennep Ensign-Ford 1:51.21 +3.39
23 30 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:51.64 +3.82
24 20 France François Migault Williams-Ford 1:51.82 +4.00
25 14 United Kingdom Bob Evans BRM 1:51.85 +4.03
26 10 Italy Lella Lombardi March-Ford 1:52.97 +5.15

Race classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 12 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 54 1:40:18.84 1 9
2 24 United Kingdom James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 54 + 1.59 3 6
3 2 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 54 + 2.31 7 4
4 1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 54 + 39.77 10 3
5 27 United States Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 54 + 1:02.08 15 2
6 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:07.40 13 1
7 23 United Kingdom Tony Brise Hill-Ford 54 + 1:09.61 12  
8 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 54 + 1:19.78 4  
9 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:31.68 2  
10 5 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 54 + 1:36.02 17  
11 21 France Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 54 + 1:36.77 16  
12 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:37.13 21  
13 18 United Kingdom John Watson Surtees-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 14  
14 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 11  
15 31 Netherlands Gijs van Lennep Ensign-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 22  
16 22 Australia Alan Jones Hill-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 20  
17 14 United Kingdom Bob Evans BRM 52 + 2 Laps 25  
18 10 Italy Lella Lombardi March-Ford 50 + 4 Laps 26  
Ret 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 26 Transmission 5  
Ret 6 Belgium Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 17 Brakes 19  
Ret 30 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 14 Engine 23  
Ret 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 6 Chassis 8  
Ret 11 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 6 Engine 9  
Ret 28 United States Mark Donohue Penske-Ford 6 Transmission 18  
Ret 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 2 Transmission 6  
DNS 20 France François Migault Williams-Ford 0 Non Starter 24  
Source:[5]

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 6 results from the first 7 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

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  1. ^ "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1975". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  2. ^ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 85. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  3. ^ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 87. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  4. ^ "French Grand Prix 1975". motorsport-stats.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  5. ^ "1975 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  6. ^ a b "France 1975 - Championship". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.


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1975 Dutch Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1975 season
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1975 British Grand Prix
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1976 French Grand Prix