1972 British Grand Prix

The 1972 British Grand Prix was held on July 15 at Brands Hatch, southeast of London. It was won by Emerson Fittipaldi in a , who finished four seconds ahead of Jackie Stewart in a , with 's Peter Revson driving a solid race to third. 's Jacky Ickx had led Fittipaldi and Stewart in a tight three car battle for the first 2/3 of the race before his engine broke.
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==Background ==
The teams convened at the very bumpy Brands Hatch circuit, in the suburbs southeast of London. The abnormally large number of accidents at Charade, plus the retirement of Helmut Marko due to his eye injury, meant that a reduced number of cars would be appearing, so none of the entries were facing a failure to qualify.
*: All three cars had the modified rear suspension that appeared on Carlos Reutemann's car in France.
*: The rash of accidents in France had hit BRM particularly hard, and even with the enforced retirement of Helmut Marko, the team was very short of cars. Jean-Pierre Beltoise had his P160C rebuilt, and the team had three other P160Bs running. One of those was for Peter Gethin, and a third was used by Jackie Oliver, due to his reputation as a 'Brands specialist'. But the need for a spare left both Howden Ganley and Reine Wisell out in the cold. Wisell in particular thought that he had the option of either a BRM or Lotus drive, and wound up without any drive at all.
*: Peter Connew was a former draftsman and designer for , who quit after a falling out with John Surtees. He then decided to create his own F1 car, which was built over the winter of 1970-71. This car was never intended to be anything other than a test vehicle, and construction on the second car commenced. After more than a year of construction (and searching for funding), and after having been entered in France (but the transporter broke down), the car was finally present at Brands, with François Migault behind the wheel and powered by a used engine purchased from McLaren. The car looked well built and attractive in the red and yellow colors of their sponsor, but everything was still chronically underfunded.
*: Clay Regazzoni was still nursing his broken wrist, and Mario Andretti was at a USAC event, so Ferrari gave the second car to one of their prototype drivers, Arturo Merzario. The cars themselves were unchanged.
*: Lotus had planned to field a third car at home (possibly for Reine Wisell), but what was turning into the annual Cosworth engine shortage thwarted those plans.
*: Niki Lauda was driving a brand new chassis, and the car he drove in France was now being used as the test car for possible 1973 developments.
*: Chris Amon had his old MS120C as a backup, and would up using it in the race after a crash in the MS120D.
*: The M19C that Brian Redman crunched in France had not been fully repaired, so Peter Revson was using the original M19A, and the team was without a spare. Denny Hulme had crashed heavily the previous weekend in the Road America CanAm race, and was still very stiff and sore.
*: Mike Hailwood's car had a new design of rear wing.
*: The car had a new rear suspension, designed by Ron Tauranac on a freelance basis. The single cross member and vertical dampers had been replaced with more conventional parts to provide greater wheel movement.
*: Jackie Stewart was entered in the repaired 005, with François Cevert in his usual 002, and Stewart's old 003 as the spare. Stewart wound up using 003 in the race, as he crashed 005 in almost exactly the same manner as Cevert had in France, leading the team to believe that there was a problem with either the inboard front brakes or the suspension.
*: Frank Williams joined the ranks of constructors, with a new car called the Politoys FX3. The team had not planned to enter it yet, but Henri Pescarolo's accident damaged the old 721 so severely that the team decided to go ahead and run it. Pescarolo himself was still feeling rather sore from his two major accidents in the past month. The car was a basic kit car with a engine, designed by Len Bailey with some assistance from Ron Tauranac, and was clearly a work in progress. While the car was officially described as Politoys being the manufacturer, by tracking backwards from the 1979 FW07, the team later counted this as the first of the "FW" cars.
===Entry List===
The full entry list for the is outlined below:
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model 	Tyre
1 	Jackie Stewart 	Elf Team Tyrrell 	 	003 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
2 	François Cevert 	Elf Team Tyrrell 	 	002 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
3 	Ronnie Peterson 	STP March Racing Team 	 	721G 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
4 	Niki Lauda 	STP March Racing Team 	 	721G 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
5 	Jacky Ickx 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312B2 	 	001/1 F12 3.0 	
6 	Arturo Merzario 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312B2 	 	001/1 F12 3.0 	
7 	Mario Andretti 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312B2 	 	001/1 F12 3.0 	
8 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	John Player Team Lotus 	 	72D 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
9 	Dave Walker 	John Player Team Lotus 	 	72D 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
10 	Tony Trimmer 	John Player Team Lotus 	 	72D 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
11 	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Marlboro BRM 	 	P160C 	 	P142 V12 3.0 	
12 	Peter Gethin 	Marlboro BRM 	 	P160B 	 	P142 V12 3.0 	
14 	Jackie Oliver 	Marlboro BRM 	 	P160B 	 	P142 V12 3.0 	
15 	Reine Wisell 	Marlboro BRM 	 	P160B 	 	P142 V12 3.0 	
16 	Helmut Marko 	Austria Marlboro BRM 	 	P160B 	 	P142 V12 3.0 	
17 	Chris Amon 	Equipe Matra Sports 	 	MS120C 	 	MS72 V12 3.0 	
18 	Denny Hulme 	Yardley Team McLaren 	 	M19C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
19 	Peter Revson 	Yardley Team McLaren 	 	M19A 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
20 	Brian Redman 	Yardley Team McLaren 	 	M19A 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
21 	Mike Hailwood 	Brooke Bond Oxo Team Surtees 	 	TS9B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
22 	Tim Schenken 	Flame Out Team Surtees 	 	TS9B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
23 	Andrea de Adamich 	Ceramica Pagnossin Team Surtees	 	TS9B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
24 	Henri Pescarolo 	Team Williams Motul 	 	FX3 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
25 	Carlos Pace 	Team Williams Motul 	 	711 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
26 	Graham Hill 	Motor Racing Developments 	 	BT37 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
27 	Carlos Reutemann 	Motor Racing Developments 	 	BT37 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
28 	Wilson Fittipaldi 	Motor Racing Developments 	 	BT34 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
29 	Dave Charlton 	Scribante Lucky Strike Racing 	 	72D 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
30 	Nanni Galli 	Martini Racing 	 	PA123/3	 	Series-P F12 3.0	
31 	Mike Beuttler 	Clarke-Mordaunt-Guthrie Racing 	 	721G 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
32 	Ray Allen 	Speed International 	 	711 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
33 	Rolf Stommelen 	Team Eifelland Caravans 	 	21 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
34 	François Migault 	Darnval Connew Racing Team 	 	PC1 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
===Qualifying Results===
Pos	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Lap 	Gap
1 	5 	Jacky Ickx 	 	1:22.2	—
2 	8 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	 	1:22.6	+0.4
3 	19 	Peter Revson 	 	1:22.7	+0.5
4 	1 	Jackie Stewart 	 	1:22.9	+0.7
5 	27 	Tim Schenken 	 	1:23.2	+1.0
6 	11 	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	 	1:23.4	+1.2
7 	21 	Mike Hailwood 	 	1:23.5	+1.3
8 	3 	Ronnie Peterson 	 	1:23.7	+1.5
9 	6 	Arturo Merzario 	 	1:23.7	+1.5
10 	27 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	1:23.8	+1.6
11 	18 	Denny Hulme 	 	1:23.9	+1.7
12 	2 	François Cevert 	 	1:23.9	+1.7
13 	25 	Carlos Pace 	 	1:24.0	+1.8
14 	23 	Jackie Oliver 	 	1:24.4	+2.2
15 	9 	Dave Walker 	 	1:24.4	+2.2
16 	12 	Peter Gethin 	 	1:24.5	+2.3
17 	17 	Chris Amon 	 	1:24.6	+2.4
18 	30 	Nanni Galli 	 	1:25.1	+2.9
19 	4 	Niki Lauda 	 	1:25.1	+2.9
20 	23 	Andrea de Adamich 	 	1:25.2	+3.0
21 	26 	Graham Hill 	 	1:25.2	+3.0
22 	28 	Wilson Fittipaldi 	 	1:25.5	+3.3
23 	31 	Mike Beuttler 	 	1:25.6	+3.4
24 	29 	Dave Charlton 	 	1:25.6	+3.4
25 	33 	Rolf Stommelen 	 	1:26.3	+4.1
26 	24 	Henri Pescarolo 	 	1:27.4	+5.2
27 	34 	François Migault 	 	1:30.3	+7.1
===Grid===
==Race==
===Report===
===Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps 	Time/Retired 	Grid	Pts
1 	8 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	 	76 	1:47:50.2 	2 	9
2 	1 	Jackie Stewart 	 	76 	+4.1 	4 	6
3 	19 	Peter Revson 	 	76 	+1:12.5 	3 	4
4 	17 	Chris Amon 	 	75 	+1 Lap 	17 	3
5 	18 	Denny Hulme 	 	75 	+1 Lap 	11 	2
6 	6 	Arturo Merzario 	 	75 	+1 Lap 	9 	1
7 	3 	Ronnie Peterson 	 	74 	Out of fuel/Accident	8 	 
8 	27 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	73 	+3 Laps 	10 	 
9 	4 	Niki Lauda 	 	73 	+3 Laps 	19 	 
10 	33 	Rolf Stommelen 	 	71 	+5 Laps 	25 	 
11 	11 	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	 	70 	+6 Laps 	6 	 
12 	29 	Wilson Fittipaldi 	 	69 	Suspension 	22 	 
13 	31 	Mike Beuttler 	 	69 	+7 Laps 	23 	 
Ret 	22 	Tim Schenken 	 	64 	Suspension 	5 	 
Ret 	2 	François Cevert 	 	60 	Flat tire/Accident 	12 	 
Ret 	9 	Dave Walker 	 	59 	Suspension 	15 	 
Ret 	5 	Jacky Ickx 	 	49 	Engine 	1 	 
Ret 	26 	Graham Hill 	 	47 	Accident 	21 	 
Ret 	25 	Carlos Pace 	 	39 	Transmission 	13 	 
Ret 	14 	Jackie Oliver 	 	37 	Suspension 	14 	 
Ret 	21 	Mike Hailwood 	 	31 	Gearbox 	7 	 
Ret 	29 	Dave Charlton 	 	22 	Gearbox 	24 	 
Ret 	30 	Nanni Galli 	 	21 	Accident 	18 	 
Ret 	24 	Henri Pescarolo 	 	7 	Accident 	26 	 
Ret 	12 	Peter Gethin 	 	6 	Accident 	16 	 
Ret 	23 	Andrea de Adamich 	 	3 	Accident 	20 	 
DNS 	34 	François Migault 	 	 	Cracks in chassis 	27 	 
==Milestones==
First race and championship point for Arturo Merzario.
==Standings after race==
==References==
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Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1972 Grands Prix
Category:British Grand Prix
Category:European Grand Prix
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Formula One races in the United Kingdom