1973 British Grand Prix

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

Race

First start and multi-car pileup

The race started at 2:00pm British Summer Time (UTC+0). It featured the most cars to start a Grand Prix as it featured 28 cars in rows of three by two.

Ronnie Peterson led away but a very quick start by Jackie Stewart brought him from fourth to second, as Stewart passed Peterson to take the lead at Beckets. Carlos Reutemann was in third with Denny Hulme and Jody Scheckter behind him. As the exited Woodcote corner to complete the first lap, Stewart led Peterson and Reutemann but carnage was happening behind them. Scheckter tried to pass Hulme on the outside Scheckter's car went wide and spun right across the track and it hit the retaining wall of the pits and bounced back into the middle of the track. Hulme escaped undamaged, as Francois Cevert, James Hunt, Peter Revson, and Clay Regazzoni also went by. The big one then happened as Scheckter's car ricocheted back from the pit wall, Revson struck Scheckter's rear wing, and then all hell broke loose as the rest of the field crashed into the wrecks or dodged about to miss the wreckage. Nine cars were involved in the resulting carnage, Andrea de Adamich had crashed headlong into the barriers on the outside of the track and he was trapped in the cockpit of his Brabham with a broken ankle. Apart from minor bruises and shakings, no one else was hurt but the Surtees cars of Mike Hailwood, Carlos Pace, and Jochen Mass were smashed up.The Shadow's were also involved: Jackie Oliver's car was wrecked, while George Follmer's car was ripped open. The Embassy Hill-entered Shadow of Graham Hill was struck in the rear and a wishbone broken; Hill drove it round back to the pits under its own power. The BRM of Jean-Pierre Beltoise and the works March of Roger Williamson were wrecked, as was the McLaren of Scheckter. It would be F1's biggest race start crash until the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix took out thirteen cars; no one was injured.

The race organisation acted instantly and the race was red flagged indicating without argument or discussion that the race was stopped and would be started again later. Meanwhile, those ahead of the accident were still racing until they ended the lap, when they all came to a rapid stop at the scene of the crash. It took 30 minutes to release de Adamich from the wreckage of the Brabham, plus an hour to clear away the wrecked cars and the debris. The cars that escaped were wheeled back to the starting grid and Hill's Shadow was repaired in the pits, and Niki Lauda's BRM that had been in the pits all the time had a new drive-shaft fitted. Hunt's March needed a new airbox as his original one was damaged in the wreck and borrowed Mike Beuttler's airbox from his car.

Second start

Drivers were allowed to use spare cars but none were used, Lauda's BRM and Hill's Shadow having been repaired during the red flag period. Non-starters included de Adamich who had been taken to hospital, Scheckter who was barred by McLaren as several team bosses including John Surtees wanted to throw him out for causing the crash, Graham McRae's Iso-Marlboro which had a throttle issue and could not restart, and David Purley's March which had spun off before the big one and did not restart. Other drivers who did not take the restart included Oliver, Follmer, Beltoise, Williamson, Purley, Pace, Hailwood, and Mass. It was 3.30 p.m. before the track was clear and there were nineteen starters ready for the restart over the original distance on 67 laps. At 3:35 pm, the depleted field moved up on to the starting grid. Everyone took up their original positions, leaving gaps for those who had been eliminated. This time it was Lauda who had an excellent start and moved up behind Peterson into second, with Stewart third. Stewart passed Lauda on lap 2 and charged after Peterson. On lap 6, Stewart again tried to pass Peterson for the lead but the Swedish driver shut the door; Stewart lost control of his Tyrrell and spun off into the thick grass. Although he was able to continue, Stewart ended up finishing 10th, one lap down.

Classification

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British drivers Roger Williamson and future Grand Prix winner John Watson, German driver and future Grand Prix winner Jochen Mass and for New Zealand driver Graham McRae.
• This was the 61st pole position for Lotus, breaking the old record set by Ferrari at the 1972 Italian Grand Prix.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. 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.

References

| Previous_year's_race = 1972 British Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 1974 British Grand Prix

References

1. "1973 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes".
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3. "1973 British Grand Prix F1 Final Results".
4. (1973). "The John Player Grand Prix ".
5. (2025-05-05). "Jochen Mass, who won 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, dies aged 78".
6. Magazine, Motosport. (August 1973). "1973 British GP Race Report". Motorsport Magazine.
7. Fearnley, Paul. (27 June 2013). "1973 British GP – I attended". Motorsport Magazine.
8. Henry, Alan. (27 June 2013). "1973 British GP – A look back". McLaren.
9. (1998). "1998 F1 World Championship {{!}} Motorsport Database".
10. "1973 British Grand Prix". formula1.com.
11. "Britain 1973 - Championship • STATS F1".