1973 Formula One season

The 1973 Formula One season included the 24th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 28, 1973, and ended on October 7 after fifteen races.

Season summary

In 1973, Lotus teammates Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson raced each other while Stewart was supported by François Cevert at Tyrrell. Stewart took the Driver's title, but then at the final race of the season, the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Cevert crashed during Saturday practice in the notorious esses and was killed instantly. Stewart and Tyrrell withdrew from the race effectively handing the Constructor's title to Lotus. At the end of the season Stewart made public his decision to retire, a decision that was already made before the US Grand Prix.

By the end of 1973 season the best car on the track was probably the new McLaren M23, a wedge-shaped car following the same concept as the Lotus 72 but with more conventional suspension and up to date aerodynamics.

END OF THE STEWART ERA Although Lotus won the Constructors' Championship, 1973 saw a return to the status quo with Jackie Stewart winning the Drivers' Championship for Tyrrell. However, the political 'war' between the Commission Sportive Internationale and the Constructors' Association, begun in 1971, continued apace. A peace of sorts was reached in September when a plan for a new F1 was published, to take effect in 1976. Aerodynamics continued to be at the forefront of designers' minds. Although Lotus continued with their Type 72, the 1973 version was much modified compared with the original three-year-old version. One especially significant change was the trailing-edge flaps fitted to the front aerofoils. The M23 McLaren, which showed early promise when Denny Hulme won the Swedish Grand Prix, tended to follow the Lotus configuration and was judged by some to be faster at maximum speed, without being significantly slower through the bends. The 1973 season was, in fact, notable for the appearance of a number of cars following a new technical regulation jointly evolved by the CSI and FOCA. This -at the time rare - collaboration was aimed at improving driver safety, and more precisely at increasing protection of the fuel tanks to reduce fire risks. These deformable structures became mandatory from 1 April 1973. Competition between the tyre manufacturers took a special turn in 1973. Firestone had announced, the previous summer, their withdrawal from F1 at the end of 1972 but, due to the uproar this caused, then rescinded it. Nevertheless, Lotus and Ferrari switched to Goodyear, and Lotus particularly found in Goodyear an excellent working relationship, although at much greater cost to the supplier. Safety concerns continued to occupy the minds and hearts of all concerned but fatalities returned to Fl in 1973. New boy Roger Williamson died in only his second GP, driving Tom Wheatcroft's March 731G in the Dutch GP at Zandvoort. This was followed by the death of Jackie Stewart's gifted team-mate Francois Cevert during practice for the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. Stewart withdrew from that event - it would have been his hundredth GP - and a week later announced his retirement from racing, although it emerged that he had, in fact, made the decision back in April. This was the end of an era. The Tyrrell team never fully recovered from Stewart's retirement and the loss of Cevert. But 1973 also saw the start of a new era: Frank Williams had his first full season with the Iso-Marlboro, regarded as the first 'Williams'-built cars, and finished in the points twice, in Holland and Canada.

Season review

Round	Race	Date	Location	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
1	Argentine Grand Prix	January 28	Oscar Gálvez	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	Report
2	Brazilian Grand Prix	February 11	Interlagos	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	Report
3	South African Grand Prix	March 3	Kyalami	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	Report
4	Spanish Grand Prix	April 29	Montjuïc	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	Report
5	Belgian Grand Prix	May 20	Zolder	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	Report
6	Monaco Grand Prix	June 3	Monaco	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	Report
7	Swedish Grand Prix	June 17	Scandinavian Raceway	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	Report
8	French Grand Prix	July 1	Paul Ricard	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	Report
9	British Grand Prix	July 14	Silverstone	Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford	Report
10	Dutch Grand Prix	July 29	Zandvoort	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	Report
11	German Grand Prix	August 5	Nürburgring	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	Report
12	Austrian Grand Prix	August 19	Österreichring	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	Report
13	Italian Grand Prix	September 9	Monza	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	Report
14	Canadian Grand Prix	September 23	Mosport Park	Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford	Report
15	United States Grand Prix	October 7	Watkins Glen	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	Report

1973 Constructors Championship final standings

Place	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Points[1]	Wins	Podiums	Poles
1	Lotus-Ford	72D 72E	Ford Cosworth DFV		92 (96)	7	15	10
2	Tyrrell-Ford	005 006	Ford Cosworth DFV		82 (86)	5	15	3
3	McLaren-Ford	M18C M19C M23	Ford Cosworth DFV		58	3	8	1
4	Brabham-Ford	BT37 BT42	Ford Cosworth DFV		22		2
5	March-Ford	721G 731	Ford Cosworth DFV		14		2
6	Ferrari	312B2 312B3	Ferrari 001/1 Ferrari 001/11		12
7	BRM	P160C P160D P160E	BRM P142		12			1
8	Shadow-Ford	DN1	Ford Cosworth DFV		9		2
9	Surtees-Ford	TS9A TS14A	Ford Cosworth DFV		7		1
10	Iso Marlboro-Ford	FX3B IR	Ford Cosworth DFV		2
11	Tecno	PA123B E731	Tecno Series-P		1
12	Ensign-Ford	N173	Ford Cosworth DFV

1973 Drivers Championship final standings

Pos Driver ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE FRA GBR NED GER AUT ITA CAN USA Points 1 Jackie Stewart 3 2 1 Ret 1 1 5 4 10 1 1 2 4 5 WD 71 2 Emerson Fittipaldi 1 1 3 1 3 2 12 Ret Ret Ret 6 Ret 2 2 6 55 3 Ronnie Peterson Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret 3 2 1 2 11 Ret 1 1 Ret 1 52 4 François Cevert 2 10 NC 2 2 4 3 2 5 2 2 Ret 5 Ret DNS 47 5 Peter Revson 8 Ret 2 4 Ret 5 7 1 4 9 Ret 3 1 5 38 6 Denny Hulme 5 3 5 6 7 6 1 8 3 Ret 12 8 15 13 4 26 7 Carlos Reutemann Ret 11 7 Ret Ret Ret 4 3 6 Ret Ret 4 6 8 3 16 8 James Hunt 6 4 3 Ret Ret 7 2 14 9 Jacky Ickx 4 5 Ret 12 Ret Ret 6 5 8 3 8 7 12 10 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Ret Ret Ret 5 Ret Ret Ret 11 Ret 5 Ret 5 13 4 9 9 11 José Carlos Pace Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret 10 13 Ret 7 4 3 Ret 18 Ret 7 12 Arturo Merzario 9 4 4 Ret 7 7 Ret 15 16 6 13 George Follmer 6 3 Ret 14 Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret 10 17 14 5 14 Jackie Oliver Ret Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret 11 3 15 4 15 Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior 6 Ret Ret 10 Ret 11 Ret 16 Ret Ret 5 Ret Ret 11 NC 3 16 Andrea de Adamich 8 Ret 4 7 Ret Ret 3 17 Clay Regazzoni 7 6 Ret 9 10 Ret 9 12 7 8 Ret 6 Ret 8 3 18 Niki Lauda Ret 8 Ret Ret 5 Ret 13 9 12 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 2 19 Howden Ganley NC 7 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret 14 9 9 NC NC 6 12 1 20 Gijs van Lennep 6 9 Ret 1 21 Chris Amon 6 Ret Ret Ret 10 WD 1 22 Mike Hailwood Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret 14 10 7 9 Ret 0 23 Mike Beuttler 10 Ret Ret NC 7 11 Ret 8 11 Ret 16 Ret Ret Ret 0 24 Jochen Mass Ret 7 Ret 0 25 Henri Pescarolo 8 Ret 10 0 26 Graham Hill Ret 9 Ret Ret 10 Ret NC 13 Ret 14 16 13 0 27 Nanni Galli Ret 9 11 Ret Ret 0 28 Jody Scheckter 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 29 Rolf Stommelen 11 Ret 12 12 0 30 Jean-Pierre Jarier Ret Ret NC Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret NC 11 0 31 Luiz Bueno 12 0 32 Rikky von Opel 15 13 DNS Ret Ret DNS Ret 0 33 Tim Schenken 14 0 34 David Purley Ret Ret WD 16 Ret 0 — Jackie Pretorius Ret Ret NC Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret NC 0 — Reine Wisell Ret Ret 0 — Roger Williamson Ret Ret 0 — John Watson Ret Ret 0 — Eddie Keizan NC 0 — Dave Charlton Ret 0 — Graham McRae Ret 0 — Peter Gethin Ret 0 — Brian Redman DSQ 0 Pos Driver ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE FRA GBR NED GER AUT ITA CAN USA Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished, in points Blue Finished, no points Purple Did not finish (Ret) Not classified (NC) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Blank Did not participate Injured (INJ) Excluded (EX)

Non-Championship race results

Other Formula One races were also held in 1973, which did not count towards the World Championship.

Race Name	Circuit	Date	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
VIII Race of Champions	Brands Hatch	March 18	Peter Gethin	Chevron-Chevrolet	Report
XXV BRDC International Trophy	Silverstone	April 8	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Cosworth	Report

Notes

1. ^ 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.