1972 Canadian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jackie Stewart dominated the Canadian Grand Prix once the fog finally cleared at Mosport. Peter Revson converted his first pole position into second place, while Denny Hulme recovered from early throttle trouble to complete another double podium for McLaren.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Peter Revson	McLaren
Pole time	1:13.6
Fastest lap	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell
Fastest-lap time	1:15.700 on lap 25
First	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell
Second	Peter Revson	McLaren
Third	Denny Hulme	McLaren

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
22 September 1972	Friday untimed practice	Morning
22 September 1972	Friday timed practice	Afternoon
23 September 1972	Saturday first timed practice	Morning
23 September 1972	Saturday final qualifying	Afternoon
24 September 1972	Sunday delayed warm-up	10:00 scheduled; delayed until afternoon
24 September 1972	Race	14:30 scheduled; delayed

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Emerson Fittipaldi arrived at round 11 leading the 1972 F1 World Championship on 61 points, with Denny Hulme on 31. Lotus – Ford headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 61 points.

Race entries

Reine Wisell returned to Lotus alongside newly crowned champion Fittipaldi. Local driver Bill Brack joined BRM, and Skip Barber added another March to the field. Cevert received the new Tyrrell 006, while Stewart continued with the 005 that had shown speed without consistent results.

Friday untimed practice

Mosport opened with an untimed session for learning the circuit and setting up the cars. Hulme looked particularly quick, but Hill and Pace missed the running through engine problems. Ganley compared BRM’s P180 and P160 before choosing the older car, leaving the newer machine for Brack.

Friday timed practice

Short-lived qualifying tyres gave the Goodyear runners substantial grip, with Stewart ending the day fastest. Ickx crashed and switched to the spare Ferrari after running was stopped for recovery. Beltoise escaped a fast spin following a suspension-joint failure, while Hill and Pace continued to lose valuable track time.

Saturday first timed practice

McLaren took command, Revson setting the eventual pole time ahead of Hulme. Stewart’s engine drive belt broke before he could use the newer Tyrrell, leaving him much slower in the spare. Cevert improved as fuel-system problems were resolved, but Hill lost another engine and Bell’s Tecno suffered structural trouble.

Saturday final qualifying

Revson lost a wheel and hit the barrier, interrupting the session and giving McLaren an overnight repair job. Peterson attacked spectacularly to move into third, joining the McLarens on the three-car front row. Stewart and Fittipaldi improved slightly but could not displace them, while Cevert also found more speed.

Qualifying Classification

Each driver’s best eligible practice lap determined the qualifying order.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	19	Peter Revson	McLaren	1:13.6
2	18	Denny Hulme	McLaren	1:13.900
3	25	Ronnie Peterson	March	1:14.000
4	5	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus	1:14.400
5	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	1:14.400
6	2	François Cevert	Tyrrell	1:14.500
7	11	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	1:14.500
8	10	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:14.700
9	8	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham	1:14.900
10	4	Chris Amon	Matra	1:15.400
11	9	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham	1:15.600
12	16	Peter Gethin	BRM	1:15.700
13	22	Tim Schenken	Surtees	1:15.700
14	15	Howden Ganley	BRM	1:15.700
15	23	Andrea de Adamich	Surtees	1:15.900
16	6	Reine Wisell	Lotus	1:16.000
17	7	Graham Hill	Brabham	1:16.200
18	29	Carlos Pace	March	1:16.400
19	26	Niki Lauda	March	1:16.800
20	14	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	1:16.800
21	28	Henri Pescarolo	March	1:17.000
22	33	Skip Barber	March	1:17.100
23	17	Bill Brack	BRM	1:17.900
24	27	Mike Beuttler	March	1:18.400
25	31	Derek Bell	Tecno	1:18.600

Sunday delayed warm-up

Dense fog prevented the planned half-hour morning session and delayed the race. Drivers eventually tried individual exploratory laps before a 15-minute warm-up became possible. Bell crashed during that running and damaged the Tecno beyond repair, reducing the starting field to 24. The race began just over an hour after its scheduled 14:30 start.

What happened in the 1972 Canadian Grand Prix?

Peterson surged into the lead, but Stewart passed him on the fourth lap and quickly pulled away. Dust caused sticking throttles for several drivers, especially Hulme, who lost places before recovering. Peterson later collided with Hill while trying to lap him and was disqualified after his damaged March was pushed backwards along the pit lane.

Revson moved into second as Fittipaldi lost time replacing a damaged nose fin. Reutemann held off Hulme in an increasingly intense contest, while Regazzoni’s spin dropped the Ferrari behind them. Cevert’s promising recovery ended with brake and gearbox trouble.

Stewart won by more than 48 seconds, giving the Tyrrell 005 its first victory. Hulme finally passed a fuel-starved Reutemann on the last lap to finish third behind Revson. Regazzoni and Amon took the remaining points, while Lauda was disqualified for receiving outside assistance.

After the race, Emerson Fittipaldi headed the drivers’ standings with 61 points, followed by Jackie Stewart on 36. Lotus – Ford led the constructors’ table on 61, with McLaren – Ford on 45.

1972 Canadian Grand Prix race results

The 1972 Canadian Grand Prix was held on 24 September 1972, with a scheduled start of 14:30 scheduled; delayed local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	80	1:43:16.9	9
2	19	Peter Revson	McLaren	80	+ 48.2	6
3	18	Denny Hulme	McLaren	80	+ 54.6	4
4	8	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham	80	+ 1:00.7	3
5	11	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	80	+ 1:07.0	2
6	4	Chris Amon	Matra	79	+ 1 lap	1
7	22	Tim Schenken	Surtees	79	+ 1 lap	0
8	7	Graham Hill	Brabham	79	+ 1 lap	0
9	29	Carlos Pace	March	78	Out of fuel	0
10	15	Howden Ganley	BRM	78	+ 2 laps	0
11	5	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus	78	+ 2 laps	0
12	10	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	77	+ 4 laps	0
13	28	Henri Pescarolo	March	73	+ 7 laps	0
Ret	6	Reine Wisell	Lotus	65	Engine	0
DSQ	26	Niki Lauda	March	64	Received outside assistance	0
DSQ	25	Ronnie Peterson	March	61	Push start after collision	0
NC	27	Mike Beuttler	March	59	+ 21 laps	0
Ret	2	François Cevert	Tyrrell	51	Gearbox	0
Ret	16	Peter Gethin	BRM	25	Suspension	0
NC	33	Skip Barber	March	24	+ 56 laps	0
Ret	14	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	21	Oil leak	0
Ret	17	Bill Brack	BRM	20	Spun off	0
Ret	9	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham	5	Gearbox	0
Ret	23	Andrea de Adamich	Surtees	2	Gearbox	0
DNS	31	Derek Bell	Tecno		Practice accident	0

1972 Canadian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	25	1:15.700

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

1972 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1972 Canadian Grand Prix.

1972 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Brazilian	Lotus	61
2	Jackie Stewart	British	Tyrrell	36
3	Denny Hulme	New Zealander	McLaren	35
4	Jacky Ickx	Belgian	Ferrari	25
5	Peter Revson	American	McLaren	23
6	Clay Regazzoni	Swiss	Ferrari	15
7	Mike Hailwood	British	Surtees	13
8	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Matra	12
9	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	French	BRM	9
10	François Cevert	French	Tyrrell	9
11	Ronnie Peterson	Swedish	March	9
12	Howden Ganley	New Zealander	BRM	4
13	Brian Redman	British	McLaren	4
14	Graham Hill	British	Brabham	4
15	Carlos Reutemann	Argentine	Brabham	3
16	Andrea de Adamich	Italian	Surtees	3
17	Mario Andretti	American	Ferrari	3
18	Carlos Pace	Brazilian	March	3
19	Tim Schenken	Australian	Surtees	2
20	Arturo Merzario	Italian	Ferrari	1
21	Peter Gethin	British	BRM	1
–	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brazilian	Brabham	0
–	Niki Lauda	Austrian	March	0
–	Helmut Marko	Austrian	BRM	0
–	Mike Beuttler	British	March	0
–	Henri Pescarolo	French	March / Politoys	0
–	David Walker	Australian	Lotus	0
–	Rolf Stommelen	German	March	0
–	Reine Wisell	Swedish	BRM / Lotus	0
–	Nanni Galli	Italian	Tecno / Ferrari	0
–	John Love	Rhodesian	Surtees	0
–	John Surtees	British	Surtees	0
–	Patrick Depailler	French	Tyrrell	0
–	Jackie Oliver	British	BRM	0
–	Skip Barber	American	March	0
–	Alex Soler-Roig	Spanish	BRM	0
–	François Migault	French	Connew	0
–	Dave Charlton	South African	Lotus	0
–	Bill Brack	Canadian	BRM	0
–	Derek Bell	British	Tecno	0

1972 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Lotus – Ford	61
2	McLaren – Ford	45
3	Tyrrell – Ford	42
4	Ferrari	31
5	Surtees – Ford	18
6	BRM	14
7	Matra	12
8	March – Ford	12
9	Brabham – Ford	7
—	Eifelland – Ford	0
—	Tecno	0
—	Politoys – Ford	0
—	Connew – Ford	0

Drivers counted their best 5 results from rounds 1–6 and their best 5 from rounds 7–12. Only the highest-placed car for each constructor could score constructor points, with the same dropped-results limits applying.

1972 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1972 Argentine Grand Prix	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires	23 January
2	1972 South African Grand Prix	Kyalami, Midrand	4 March
3	1972 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuito del Jarama, San Sebastián de los Reyes	1 May
4	1972 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	14 May
5	1972 Belgian Grand Prix	Nivelles-Baulers, Nivelles	4 June
6	1972 French Grand Prix	Circuit de Charade, Clermont-Ferrand	2 July
7	1972 British Grand Prix	Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown	15 July
8	1972 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	30 July
9	1972 Austrian Grand Prix	Österreichring, Spielberg	13 August
10	1972 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	10 September
11	1972 Canadian Grand Prix	Mosport Park, Bowmanville	24 September
12	1972 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	8 October