1975 Monaco Grand Prix

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XXXIII Gran Prix de MonacoF1
Country 22px-Flag of Monaco.png
Grand Prix 22px-Flag of Monaco.png
Date May 11
Year 1975
Race No 5
Season No 14
Location Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco
Course Street circuit
Course mi 2.037
Course km 3.278
Distance laps 75
Distance mi 152.764
Distance km 245.850
Scheduled laps 78
Scheduled mi 158.874
Scheduled km 255.684
Weather Rain, later drying
Pole Driver Niki Lauda
Pole Team Ferrari
Pole Time 1:26.40
Pole Country flagiconAustria
Fast Driver Patrick Depailler
Fast Team Tyrrell-Ford
Fast Time 1:28.67
Fast Lap 68
Fast Country flagiconFrance
First Driver Niki Lauda
First Team Ferrari
First Country flagiconAustria
Second Driver Emerson Fittipaldi
Second Team McLaren-Ford
Second Country flagiconBrazil
Third Driver José Carlos Pace
Third Team Brabham-Ford
Third Country flagiconBrazil


The 1975 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Monaco on May 11, 1975. It was the fifth race of the 1975 Formula One season

Race summary

The future of Grand Prix racing was under scrutiny following the disastrous Spanish race. Actions had to be taken quickly: extra guard rails and catch fences were erected, kerbing resited and the chicane was modified. New measures were introduced: the grid was staggered and in addition would be restricted to just 18 cars. This last rule took Graham Hill's chance to qualify: the 5-time Monaco winner had all sorts of practice problems and failed to qualify by 0.377 seconds. John Watson and Clay Regazzoni collided in practice, whilst the Surtees team was ordered to remove pro-Europe political stickers from its cars.

Niki Lauda, on Ferrari, claimed pole position, but sensationally sharing the front row was Tom Pryce, on Shadow, who just 12 months earlier had been deemed 'too inexperienced' to compete. Jean-Pierre Jarier and Ronnie Peterson filled the second row. The race began under rain conditions, so everyone went for wet tyres. Lauda was fastest at the start, whole Pryce had a slow start and was passed by Jarier; the Frenchman soon attempted to pass Lauda in an ill-advised overtaking manoeuvre, and hit the barriers at the Mirabeau; his car was damaged in the collision and handled badly, so he hit the wal again at the chicane and retired. Peterson went into the second place with Vittorio Brambilla third, until Pryce hit the Italian's wheel. Regazzoni stopped to change a tyre and the nosecone of his car, and James Hunt stopped to change onto slick tyres, anticipating a drying of the track surface. However, the team's pit work was really slow and he lost a substantial amount of time.

Ronnie Peterson's victory chances were damaged at his pit stop when a wheel nut was lost under the car. Tom Pryce came in to replace a broken nosecone, and by that time Niki Lauda led by 15 seconds from Emerson Fittipaldi and Carlos Pace. Many accidents happened during the race: Jochen Mass and James Hunt tangled at Mirabeau, and Patrick Depailler got embroiled in their accident; Clay Regazzoni hit the chicane and suffered damage; John Watson spun and stalled the engine of his car; Pryce hit the barrier and had to retire; Mario Andretti entered the pits with his car on fire; Mark Donohue hit the barrier, whilst Alan Jones broke a wheel.

In the last laps Lauda's oil pressure was fading and Fittipaldi was closing. With 3 laps left the gap was 2.75 seconds, however,the 2 hour time limit was reached and the race was stopped, with Lauda winning. Ferrari had won their first Monaco Grand Prix in 20 years; the tragedy of the Spanish Grand Prix was being forgotten and the Championship race was back on.

Classification

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 12 22px-Flag of Austria.png Niki Lauda Ferrari 75 2:01:21.31 1 9
2 1 22px-Flag of Brazil.png Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 75 + 2.78 9 6
3 8 22px-Flag of Brazil.png Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 75 + 17.81 8 4
4 5 22px-Flag of Sweden.png Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 75 + 38.45 4 3
5 4 22px-Flag of France.png Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 75 + 40.86 12 2
6 2 22px-Flag of Germany.png Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 75 + 42.07 15 1
7 3 22px-Flag of South Africa.png Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 74 + 1 Lap 7  
8 6 22px-Flag of Belgium (civil).png Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 74 + 1 Lap 14  
9 7 22px-Flag of Argentina.png Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 73 + 2 Laps 10  
Ret 28 22px-Flag of the United States.png Mark Donohue Penske-Ford 66 Accident 16  
Ret 24 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 63 Accident 11  
Ret 26 22px-Flag of Australia.png Alan Jones Hesketh-Ford 61 Wheel 18  
Ret 9 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 48 Accident 5  
Ret 16 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 39 Accident 2  
Ret 11 20px-Flag of Switzerland.png Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 36 Accident 17  
Ret 18 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png John Watson Surtees-Ford 36 Spun Off 6  
Ret 27 22px-Flag of the United States.png Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 9 Oil Leak 13  
Ret 17 22px-Flag of France.png Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 0 Accident 3  
DNQ 21 22px-Flag of France.png Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford    
DNQ 20 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Arturo Merzario Williams-Ford    
DNQ 23 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png Graham Hill Hill-Ford    
DNQ 14 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png Bob Evans BRM    
DNQ 31 22px-Flag of the Netherlands.png Roelof Wunderink Ensign-Ford    
DNQ 25 22px-Flag of Sweden.png Torsten Palm Hesketh-Ford    
DNQ 10 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Lella Lombardi March-Ford    
DNQ 30 22px-Flag of Brazil.png Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford        

Notes

  • The race was originally scheduled for 78 laps, but was stopped after reaching the two hours limit.


Previous Race:
1975 Spanish Grand Prix
FIA 1975 Formula One
World Championship
Next Race:
1975 Belgian Grand Prix
Previous Race:
1974 Monaco Grand Prix
Monaco Grand Prix Next Race:
1976 Monaco Grand Prix