1972 Formula 1.5 Season

The 1972 Formula 1.5 Season was the 23rd season of the Formula 1.5 World Championship. Ronnie Peterson would take his first World Drivers' Championship, beating reigning two time champ Chris Amon with 49 points. Surtees-Ford would win their first (and only) World Constructors' crown with 61 points. They tied Matra the previous year on points but lost on countback, in 1972, March-Ford would tie Surtees on points but lose on countback.

## Entries

### Excluded teams

* Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC, John Player Team Lotus / World Wide Racing, Yardley Team McLaren, and Elf Team Tyrrell

### Team changes

* Brabham would be sold to Bernie Ecclestone during the off-season, as the team's co-founder, Ron Tauranac, wished to return to his former design role within the team after trying his hand at leading the outfit during 1971. Tauranac would leave Brabham early in 1972 after having disagreements with Ecclestone over the teams management direction.
* BRM returned to the category after a year in F1 that would turn out to be their last, the squad now fully committed to F1.5. They came back decked out in new sponsorship from Marlboro, the first time the cigarette giant would be involved in Formula 1 or Formula 1.5.
* The factory March outfit would also return after a single year competing in the big leagues, their cars covered in STP stickers. March would remain in F1.5 for the rest of their existence, never again taking the chance of moving up the ladder despite achieving great success in F1.5 throughout the 70's.
* Matra Sports shrunk to a one car operation , solely focusing on Chris Amon's attempt to take a third drivers' title in as many years.
* McLaren left at the end of 1971 to refocus their efforts on F1, following their failed shot at championship glory.
* 1963 Formula 1.5 Drivers' Champion, Jo Bonnier, would retire from F1.5 after competing on and off for fifteen years, deciding to move into sports car racing for 1972, and therefore taking his eponymous team with him. He would tragically lose his life competing in the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans after colliding with a Ferrari, getting airborne and spearing into the trees trackside.
* Günther Hennerici, head of Eifelland Caravans, had been sponsoring F2 and F3 teams, as well as German driver Rolf Stommelen, for a couple years before deciding to enter F1.5 in 1972. His car was a redesigned March 721 that certainly stood out, but would rarely be competitive; after eight races their best qualifying would be eighth and their best finish fifth. The team would be forced to pull out of racing before seasons end as their funding dried up, and they failed to procure any more to keep the venture going. The team's infrastructure would be sold to the Hexagon outfit for 1973.
* Italian junior formulae constructors, Tecno, stepped up to F1.5 for 1972, bringing Martini sponsorship and their own in-house Flat-12 engine.
* After falling out at the Surtees team, a young draughtsman, Peter Connew, formed his own outfit to compete in F1.5. Construction started on his first car in December of 1970 in a London garage with the team eventually set to be ready in time for the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix...only for a sudden rule change to necessitate the construction of a new chassis, made from a different type of aluminium. For propulsion, Connew made a deal with McLaren to acquire a second hand Cosworth DFV engine, not overly promising, but ultimately not the cause of Connew's biggest difficulties, the main culprit being rear suspension issues. The team showed up to Brands Hatch but withdrew after cracks were found in their unusual rear suspension design. They then tried to enter the next race in Germany, but got turned away by the organisers. Austria would see them finally qualify for and start a race, though a rear wishbone mounting point failure would curb their hopes at finishing or scoring points. The team at seasons end gave up on their F1.5 aspirations and modified the car to compete in European F5000 for 1973.

### Driver changes

* The Brabham team under new management, expanded to three cars. As such, two South American rookies would be drafted in, Carlos Reutemann and Wilson Fittipaldi (older brother of Emerson), meanwhile British veteran Graham Hill was retained from the previous year.
* BRM upon their return fielded a number of different drivers throughout the year, at times running as many as five cars. The most consistently used drivers were Howden Ganley and Peter Gethin, who'd both raced for the team the previous year in F1, and Jean-Pierre Beltoise, formerly of Matra. Helmut Marko was competing often with BRM in the early part of the season, until a stone was kicked up into his eye during the 1972 French Grand Prix, ending his racing career. Swede, Reine Wisell, formerly of Team Lotus, ran part time during the season, typically at even numbered rounds.
* March brought back with them young star, Ronnie Peterson, and partnered him with Austrian rookie, Niki Lauda.
* At Matra, Jean-Pierre Beltoise would be dropped from his part-timer role, as the team decided to field just a single entry focused around reigning two-time drivers' champion, Chris Amon.
* Team Surtees fielded three cars for 1972: one for Tim Schenken, who'd left Brabham at the end of 1971; one for Italian, Andrea de Adamich, making his debut in F1.5 after spending a couple years running part-time in F1; and one for Mike Hailwood who'd been trialed by the team in the latter races of 1971. Team founder, John Surtees, retired from full-time driving duties, but would take part in the 1972 Italian and U.S Grands Prix.
* At Williams, Henri Pescarolo would be retained for a second season as the team expanded to a two car operation, now also fielding Brazilian rookie, Carlos Pace.
* The new Eifelland team took Rolf Stommelen from Surtees to lead their squad.
* Tecno hired ex-March F1 driver Nanni Galli and Englishman, Derek Bell, whose previous racing experiences were mostly in lower formulae, aside from a couple one-off outings for Surtees.
* The small Connew team hired French driver François Migault, to make his debut in F1.5.
* 1971 drivers' championship runner-up, Denny Hulme, would move back up to Formula 1 with McLaren.

## Calendar

### Calendar changes

* The Argentine Grand Prix returned to the calendar in 1972 for the first time since 1960.
* The Belgian Grand Prix returned to the calendar for 1972, the 1971 race was cancelled because of the failure to bring Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps up to mandatory safety standards. The 1972 race was held at the Nivelles-Baulers circuit.
* The French Grand Prix was moved from Circuit Paul Ricard to the Charade Circuit.
* The Canadian Grand Prix was supposed to be held at the Circuit Mont-Tremblant, in accordance with the event-sharing arrangement with Mosport Park, but safety concerns arose regarding the bitter winters seriously affecting the track surface and a dispute with the local racing authorities there in 1972 didn't help either. Mosport would host the race in 1972 on its intended date.
* The United States Grand Prix West was originally scheduled for the 9th of April at the Ontario Motor Speedway road course in southern California but was cancelled due to the FIA's insistence on circuits holding a test event first.
* The Dutch Grand Prix was originally scheduled for the 18th of June but was cancelled because of safety upgrades that were not completed at the Zandvoort Circuit in time for the race due to lack of funds.
* The Mexican Grand Prix was originally scheduled for 22 October but was cancelled as interest waned following the death of Pedro Rodríguez in a sportscar crash in July 1971.

Due to event-sharing arrangements, several Grands Prix swapped circuits for 1972:

* The Spanish Grand Prix was moved from Montjuïc to Jarama
* The British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone to Brands Hatch

## Results & standings

### World Drivers' Championship standings

Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six finishers at each race. The best five results from the first half and the best five results from the second half of the season were retained.

Legend: **Bold** = Pole Position; *Italics* = Fastest Lap; (Brackets) = Result/score did not count towards championship total

### International Cup for F1.5 Manufacturers standings

Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six finishers at each round, however only the best placed car from each manufacturer was eligible to score points. The best five results from the first half and the best five results from the second half of the season were retained.

Legend: (Brackets) = Result/score did not count towards championship total