1975 Austrian Grand Prix

The 1975 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on 17 August 1975. It was race 12 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.[3] It was the eighth Austrian Grand Prix and the sixth to be held at the Österreichring. It was held over 29 of the scheduled 54 laps of the six kilometre circuit for a race distance of 171 kilometres. The race was shortened by heavy rain, meaning that only half points were awarded and was marred by the deaths of Mark Donohue and a track marshal in a practice crash.

1975 Austrian Grand Prix
Race details
Date 17 August 1975
Official name XIII Memphis Großer Preis von Österreich
Location Spielberg, Austria
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.911 km (3.673 mi)
Distance 29 laps, 171.419 km (106.517 mi)
Scheduled distance 54 laps, 319.914 km (198.342 mi)
Weather Heavy rain
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 1:34.85[1]
Fastest lap
Driver Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford
Time 1:53.90[2] (lap record)
Podium
First
March-Ford
Second
Hesketh-Ford
Third
Shadow-Ford

Mastering the wet weather, the race was won by Italian driver Vittorio Brambilla driving a March 751. It was Brambilla's only Formula One win in his seven-year Grand Prix career. He took a 27-second win over British driver James Hunt in his Hesketh 308. Eight seconds further back was the Shadow DN5 of British driver Tom Pryce in the first of just two podiums in his abbreviated career.

With neither Carlos Reutemann nor Emerson Fittipaldi featuring in the points, Niki Lauda's sixth position actually allowed him to expand his points lead to 17.5 points. If Lauda scored any points at all at the Italian Grand Prix the Austrian driver could claim the championship.

Race summary
Ronnie Peterson (left) and James Hunt in the pits

Niki Lauda delighted his home crowd by claiming his seventh pole position of the year. Rolf Stommelen returned after his crash in Spain, Chris Amon had returned for Ensign and Brett Lunger qualified well in his début for Hesketh.

Practice was marred by a series of accidents, Brian Henton crashing his Lotus when he hit an oil patch and Wilson Fittipaldi breaking two bones in his hand. During the final practice session, Mark Donohue crashed at Vost-Hugel, the flat-out right hander after the pits. The car went through catch fencing and advertising billboards lining the track.[4] Both Donohue, who had suffered a brain hemorrhage, and a track marshal who had been hit by debris died two days later.[4]

As the grid formed up, there were reports of rain at the far side of the track. Thunderclouds were forming ominously and the cars were returned to the pits to change to wet tyres.

Argentine driver Carlos Reutemann (left) with Bernie Ecclestone

After 45 minutes, the grid reformed. Lauda led off the start from James Hunt and Patrick Depailler who had shot up from the fourth row. Mario Andretti spun off, whilst Bob Evans retired the BRM.

Vittorio Brambilla had shot through the spray to gain a third place, with Ronnie Peterson leaping from tenth to fourth.

By lap 12, it was obvious that Lauda's car was not set up fully to cope with wet conditions and by lap 15 Hunt stormed by to lead for the fifth time this season. However, this was to be short-lived. The Hesketh's engine was running on only seven cylinders and Brambilla was clambering all over the back of the car. Ahead of them Lunger was driving carefully in his first wet race and could not see the leaders approaching him. Brambilla seized the lead and it took a further two laps for Hunt to finally pass his teammate. Peterson had to pit to replace a faulty visor, whilst the Brabham drivers found they had been racing with one of their own rear tyres and one of their teammates'. Jochen Mass spun out of third place, and soon there was frantic activity between the Grand Prix Drivers' Association and the race officials as to whether the race should continue – it was brought to a halt on lap 29.

As Brambilla took the flag, he crashed into the barriers and the March team celebrated a historic victory. However, behind the scenes, there was confusion. Some teams were preparing for a restart, but as the race had been stopped with a chequered flag only, this could not happen. The race results would stand, but with only half points awarded. Brambilla, the oldest man in the field at 37, had won his first Grand Prix.

This was the first of only two races where Shadow used a Matra engine instead of the Cosworth DFV in Jean-Pierre Jarier's Shadow DN7.[5]

Classification

Qualifying
PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
1 12 Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:34.85 —
2 24 James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 1:34.97 +0.12
3 1 Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 1:35.21 +0.36
4 10 Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 1:35.38 +0.53
5 11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:35.41 +0.56
6 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 1:35.71 +0.86
7 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:35.78 +0.93
8 9 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1:35.80 +0.95
9 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:36.12 +1.27
10 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 1:36.14 +1.29
11 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 1:36.43 +1.58
12 21 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 1:37.60 +2.75
13 5 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:37.61 +2.76
14 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Matra 1:37.62 +2.77
15 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 1:37.64 +2.79
16 23 Tony Brise Hill-Ford 1:37.69 +2.84
17 25 Brett Lunger Hesketh-Ford 1:37.87 +3.02
18 18 John Watson Surtees-Ford 1:37.96 +3.11
19 27 Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 1:37.97 +3.12
20 30 Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:38.14 +3.29
21 28 Mark Donohue March-Ford 1:38.19 +3.34
22 29 Lella Lombardi March-Ford 1:38.43 +3.58
23 6 Brian Henton Lotus-Ford 1:38.72 +3.87
24 31 Chris Amon Ensign-Ford 1:38.75 +3.90
25 14 Bob Evans BRM 1:39.53 +4.68
26 22 Rolf Stommelen Hill-Ford 1:39.56 +4.71
27 32 Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 1:40.72 +5.87
28 33 Roelof Wunderink Ensign-Ford 1:42.58 +7.73
29 20 Jo Vonlanthen Williams-Ford 1:42.80 +7.95
DNQ 35 Tony Trimmer Maki-Ford 1:44.88 +10.03

Race
Italian Vittorio Brambilla, winner in a March-Ford
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 9 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 29 0:57:56.69 8 4.5
2 24 James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 29 + 27.03 2 3
3 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 29 + 34.85 15 2
4 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 29 + 1:12.66 9 1.5
5 5 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 29 + 1:23.33 13 1
6 12 Niki Lauda Ferrari 29 + 1:30.28 1 0.5
7 11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 29 + 1:39.07 5  
8 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 28 + 1 Lap 10  
9 1 Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 28 + 1 Lap 3  
10 18 John Watson Surtees-Ford 28 + 1 Lap 18  
11 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 28 + 1 Lap 7  
12 31 Chris Amon Ensign-Ford 28 + 1 Lap 24  
13 25 Brett Lunger Hesketh-Ford 28 + 1 Lap 17  
14 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 28 + 1 Lap 11  
15 23 Tony Brise Hill-Ford 28 + 1 Lap 16  
16 22 Rolf Stommelen Hill-Ford 27 + 2 Laps 26  
17 29 Lella Lombardi March-Ford 26 + 3 Laps 22  
NC 33 Roelof Wunderink Ensign-Ford 25 + 4 Laps 28  
Ret 32 Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 23 Electrical 27  
Ret 21 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 21 Handling 12  
Ret 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 17 Engine 6  
Ret 20 Jo Vonlanthen Williams-Ford 14 Engine 29  
Ret 10 Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 10 Accident 4  
Ret 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Matra 10 Injection 14  
Ret 14 Bob Evans BRM 2 Engine 25  
Ret 27 Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 1 Accident 19  
DNS 30 Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 0 Handling 20  
DNS 28 Mark Donohue March-Ford 0 Fatal accident 21  
DNS 6 Brian Henton Lotus-Ford 0 Accident 23  
DNQ 35 Tony Trimmer Maki-Ford        
Source:[6]

Lap leaders

Laps led:[7]

  • Niki Lauda (1–14)
  • James Hunt (15–18)
  • Vittorio Brambilla (19–29)

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 6 results from the first 7 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
  1. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 93. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  2. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 95. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  3. "1975 Austrian Grand Prix Entry list". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "Donohue dies after surgery". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. August 20, 1975.
  5. Jones, Bruce (1998). "Statistics". The Complete Encyclopedia of Formula One. Carlton Books. pp. 400–401. ISBN 1-85868-515-X.
  6. "1975 Austrian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  7. "Austrian Grand Prix 1975". motorsport-stats.com. Archived from the original on 2007-01-12. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  8. "Austria 1975 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
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1975 German Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1975 season		 Next race:
1975 Italian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1974 Austrian Grand Prix		 Austrian Grand Prix Next race:
1976 Austrian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1974 German Grand Prix		 European Grand Prix
(Designated European Grand Prix)		 Next race:
1976 Dutch Grand Prix
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