1973 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1973 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder on 20 May 1973.^[1] It was race 5 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won by British driver Jackie Stewart driving a Tyrrell 006.

1973 Belgian Grand Prix
Race details
Date	20 May 1973
Official name	XXXI GROTE PRIJS VAN BELGIE
Location	Circuit Zolder Heusden-Zolder, Limburg, Belgium
Course	Grand Prix Circuit
Course length	4.220 km (2.622 miles)
Distance	70 laps, 295.379 km (183.540 miles)
Weather	Warm, dry
Pole position
Driver	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:22.46
Fastest lap
Driver	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford
Time	1:25.42 on lap 28
Podium
First	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford
Second	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford
Third	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford
Lap leaders

The entire Zolder track had to be resurfaced a week before the actual Grand Prix after a few drivers such as Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi and François Cevert walked around the track to inspect it. They found that the track started to break up as a result of a previous race, and the track owners immediately decided to resurface the track, only a week before the Grand Prix. Cevert, Fittipaldi and Stewart refused to drive on the track because of the danger, and Cevert responded to the FIA that they would attempt to cancel the race if the owners did not do a good enough job of fixing the track.

Future world champion Niki Lauda took his first ever career points here, by finishing in fifth place in his BRM.

This race saw the end of teams' numbers changing from race to race - the numbers teams raced with at Zolder lasted until the end of the season. For the 1974 season, the finishing positions in the Constructors' Championship were used to allocate the numbers, after which teams did not change numbers unless they won the Drivers' Championship (or signed the current World Champion).

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

Pos.	Driver	Constructor	Time	No
1	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	1:22,46	1
2	Denis Hulme	McLaren-Ford	1:23,00	2
3	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:23,10	3
4	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	1:23,22	4
5	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	B.R.M.	1:23,25	5
6	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	1:23,28	6
7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	1:23,34	7
8	Carlos Pace	Surtees-Ford	1:23,34	8
9	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	1:23,44	9
10	Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford	1:23,52	10
11	George Follmer	Shadow-Ford	1:23,86	11
12	Clay Regazzoni	B.R.M.	1:23,91	12
13	Mike Hailwood	Surtees-Ford	1:23,96	13
14	Niki Lauda	B.R.M.	1:24,51	14
15	Chris Amon	Tecno	1:24,79	15
16	Jean-Pierre Jarier	March-Ford	1:24,83	16
17	Nanni Galli	Iso-Ford	1:24,89	17
18	Andrea de Adamich	Brabham-Ford	1:25,28	18
19	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham-Ford	1:25,57	19
20	Mike Beuttler	March-Ford	1:25,77	20
21	Howden Ganley	Iso-Ford	1:26,68	21
22	Jackie Oliver	Shadow-Ford	1:28,12	22
23	Graham Hill	Shadow-Ford	1:30,45	23

Race

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	70	1:42:13.43	6	9
2	6	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	70	+ 31.84	4	6
3	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	70	+ 2:02.79	9	4
4	9	Andrea de Adamich	Brabham-Ford	69	+ 1 Lap	18	3
5	21	Niki Lauda	BRM	69	+ 1 Lap	14	2
6	22	Chris Amon	Tecno	67	+ 3 Laps	15	1
7	7	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	67	+3 Laps	2
8	24	Carlos Pace	Surtees-Ford	66	+4 Laps	8
9	12	Graham Hill	Shadow-Ford	65	+5 Laps	23
10	19	Clay Regazzoni	BRM	63	Accident	12
11	15	Mike Beuttler	March-Ford	63	Accident	20
Ret	14	Jean-Pierre Jarier	March-Ford	60	Accident	16
Ret	20	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	56	Not classified	5
Ret	11	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham-Ford	46	Engine	19
Ret	2	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	42	Accident	1
Ret	8	Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford	33	Accident	10
Ret	25	Howden Ganley	Iso-Marlboro-Ford	16	Accident	21
Ret	10	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	14	Engine	7
Ret	16	George Follmer	Shadow-Ford	13	Throttle	11
Ret	17	Jackie Oliver	Shadow-Ford	11	Accident	22
Ret	3	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	6	Oil pump	3
Ret	26	Nanni Galli	Iso-Marlboro-Ford	6	Engine	17
Ret	23	Mike Hailwood	Surtees-Ford	4	Accident	13
Source:[2]

Notes

• This was the 50th race in which a Brazilian driver participated.
• This race marked the 24th and 25th podium finish for British constructor Tyrrell.
• This was the 50th pole position for a Ford-powered car.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Emerson Fittipaldi 35 2 Jackie Stewart 28 3 François Cevert 18 4 Peter Revson 9 5 Denny Hulme 9 Source: [3]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 1 Tyrrell-Ford 36 1 2 Lotus-Ford 35 3 McLaren-Ford 15 4 Ferrari 9 5 Shadow-Ford 5 Source: [3]

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

References

1. "1973 Belgian Grand Prix Entry list".
2. "1973 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
3. "Belgium 1973 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.

Previous race: 1973 Spanish Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 1973 season	Next race: 1973 Monaco Grand Prix
Previous race: 1972 Belgian Grand Prix	Belgian Grand Prix	Next race: 1974 Belgian Grand Prix
Previous race: 1972 British Grand Prix	European Grand Prix (Designated European Grand Prix)	Next race: 1974 German Grand Prix