In his time at McLaren, Hulme won six Grands Prix, but he was nearing the end of his time in F1, and his competitive urges were being blunted by a growing apprehension about the dangers of racing. After the Brazilian Grand Prix in which Hulme finished in twelfth place, these fears were well founded. when testing at Kyalami commenced, in March 1974, Peter Revson suffered a front suspension failure (broken front Ball Joint), veering head-on into the barriers. Hulme tried in vain to save his friend's life, but to no avail. After the accident Hulme announced that he would see out before retiring from Grand Prix racing. However, other than winning the Argentine event (he inherited the lead when his now teammate Fittipaldi inadvertently knocked-off the electrical "kill-switch" on his steering wheel, on the penultimate lap) and coming home second in Austria, he did not make much of an impact on the season, and he retired dignified at the end of the year and stepped away from the sport and returned to New Zealand.