The 1971 South African Grand Prix, formally the Fifth AA Grand Prix of South Africa (Afrikaans: Vyfde AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix[1]), was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on 6 March 1971. It was race 1 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won by Mario Andretti who was driving for the Ferrari team in what was his first Formula One victory, but would not win another Formula One race until 1976.[2]
| 1971 South African Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 The Kyalami Circuit (1967–1985) | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 6 March 1971 | ||
| Official name | Fifth AA Grand Prix of South Africa | ||
| Location | Kyalami, Midrand, Transvaal Province, South Africa | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.104 km (2.550 miles) | ||
| Distance | 79 laps, 324.216 km (201.458 miles) | ||
| Weather | Sunny, Hot, Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:17.8 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Mario Andretti | Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:20.3 on lap 73 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
| Third | Ferrari | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
Report
editIt was expected the 12-cylinder cars would be dominant over the V8 Ford-Cosworths as Ferrari had won four out of the last five Grands Prix in 1970, and they had a strong line-up consisting of Mario Andretti, Clay Regazzoni and Jacky Ickx.
Jackie Stewart took pole in the Tyrrell to join Chris Amon and Regazzoni on the front row. Denny Hulme was suffering with a new suspension that he said was behaving very strangely.[citation needed]
At the start, Regazzoni led the field away at the start – both Stewart and Amon suffering slow starts. Emerson Fittipaldi managed to hold off Hulme until lap three when he dived through to chase the Ferraris. On lap 17, he squeezed through under braking and the orange McLaren once again led a race. Pedro Rodríguez was forced to retire from fourth place when his bodywork started to melt and the hot air began burning his feet. The heat also took its toll on Jo Siffert, whose engine overheated and Howden Ganley who was taken ill with heat exhaustion. On lap 37, John Surtees who had steadily been moving up the field, managed to pass Regazzoni. Surtees however, suffered a gearbox failure on lap 57. Andretti took his first career victory, driving a Ferrari; his teammate Regazzoni finished in third place behind Stewart.
Classification
editQualifying
editRace
edit| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Mario Andretti
|
Ferrari | 79 | 1:47:35.5 | 4 | 9 |
| 2 | 9 |  Jackie Stewart
|
Tyrrell-Ford | 79 | + 20.9 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | 5 |  Clay Regazzoni
|
Ferrari | 79 | + 31.4 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 3 |  Reine Wisell
|
Lotus-Ford | 79 | + 1:09.4 | 14 | 3 |
| 5 | 19 |  Chris Amon
|
Matra | 78 | + 1 Lap | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hulme
|
McLaren-Ford | 78 | + 1 Lap | 7 | 1 |
| 7 | 28 | Brian Redman
|
Surtees-Ford | 78 | + 1 Lap | 17 | |
| 8 | 4 |  Jacky Ickx
|
Ferrari | 78 | + 1 Lap | 8 | |
| 9 | 14 | Graham Hill
|
Brabham-Ford | 77 | + 2 Laps | 19 | |
| 10 | 7 | Ronnie Peterson
|
March-Ford | 77 | + 2 Laps | 13 | |
| 11 | 22 |  Henri Pescarolo
|
March-Ford | 77 | + 2 Laps | 18 | |
| 12 | 21 |  Rolf Stommelen
|
Surtees-Ford | 77 | + 2 Laps | 15 | |
| 13 | 8 |  Andrea de Adamich
|
March-Alfa Romeo | 75 | + 4 Laps | 22 | |
| Ret | 2 |  Emerson Fittipaldi
|
Lotus-Ford | 58 | Engine | 5 | |
| Ret | 20 | John Surtees
|
Surtees-Ford | 56 | Gearbox | 6 | |
| Ret | 10 | François Cevert
|
Tyrrell-Ford | 45 | Accident | 9 | |
| Ret | 27 | Howden Ganley
|
BRM | 42 | Physical | 24 | |
| Ret | 16 |  Pedro Rodríguez
|
BRM | 33 | Overheating | 10 | |
| Ret | 15 |  Dave Charlton
|
Brabham-Ford | 31 | Engine | 16 | |
| Ret | 17 | Jo Siffert
|
BRM | 31 | Overheating | 12 | |
| Ret | 24 |  John Love
|
March-Ford | 30 | Differential | 21 | |
| Ret | 25 | Jackie Pretorius
|
Brabham-Ford | 22 | Engine | 20 | |
| Ret | 12 | Peter Gethin
|
McLaren-Ford | 7 | Fuel Leak | 11 | |
| Ret | 23 | Jo Bonnier
|
McLaren-Ford | 5 | Suspension | 23 | |
| Ret | 26 |  Alex Soler-Roig
|
March-Ford | 5 | Engine | 25 | |
Source:[3]
| |||||||
Notes
edit- This was the Formula One World Championship debut for New Zealand driver Howden Ganley.
- This race marked the 200th podium finish for a British driver.
- This race saw the first podium finish for British constructor Tyrrell.
Championship standings after the race
edit
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
edit- ^ "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1971". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ Leslie, Jack (18 August 2017). "The 5 Drivers with the Biggest Gap between First and Second F1 Wins". wtf1.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ "1971 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ^ a b "South Africa 1971 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
External links
edit- "chicanef1.com". Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2009.