1972 United States Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jackie Stewart closed the season with a commanding United States Grand Prix victory, leading François Cevert home in a Tyrrell one-two. Denny Hulme finished third, while Jody Scheckter made an eye-catching championship debut for McLaren.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell
Pole time	1:40.481
Fastest lap	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell
Fastest-lap time	1:41.644 on lap 33
First	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell
Second	François Cevert	Tyrrell
Third	Denny Hulme	McLaren

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
6 October 1972	Friday timed practice	Four hours
7 October 1972	Saturday first timed practice	90 minutes scheduled; heavily curtailed
7 October 1972	Saturday final qualifying	Two and a half hours scheduled
8 October 1972	Sunday extended warm-up	Approximately half an hour
8 October 1972	Race	Start time unconfirmed

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 12 leading the 1972 F1 World Championship on 61 points, with Jackie Stewart on 36. Lotus – Ford headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 61 points.

Race entries

McLaren added Scheckter alongside Hulme and Revson, and Tyrrell brought Depailler back for a third entry. Sam Posey drove a Surtees, leaving Schenken to take over the new TS14. Redman joined BRM, while Lotus fielded Fittipaldi, Wisell and Walker in the large season-ending field.

Friday timed practice

With rain forecast for Saturday, Friday became decisive. Stewart led Revson and Hulme, benefiting from strong Goodyear performance in the cold. Scheckter impressed immediately, while Lotus’ car allocation and a cracked rear upright restricted Walker’s running. Peterson suffered two engine failures, forcing March to borrow an engine from Tyrrell.

Saturday first timed practice

Rain and fog reduced useful running to little more than half an hour. Peterson led the wet session while checking his replacement engine, with Ickx and the Brabhams also showing well. Only a limited number of drivers ventured out, and the dry Friday grid times remained untouched.

Saturday final qualifying

The fog cleared and a drying track allowed faster wet-weather laps, with Pace setting the session’s best time. Peterson then crashed after changing to slick tyres, leaving March to rebuild substantial damage overnight. Schenken finally drove the TS14 and was allowed to start despite missing the stated 110% qualifying threshold.

Qualifying Classification

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

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	1:40.481
2	20	Peter Revson	McLaren	1:40.527
3	19	Denny Hulme	McLaren	1:41.084
4	2	François Cevert	Tyrrell	1:41.445
5	29	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham	1:41.692
6	8	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	1:41.951
7	18	Chris Amon	Matra	1:41.979
8	21	Jody Scheckter	McLaren	1:42.058
9	10	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus	1:42.400
10	9	Mario Andretti	Ferrari	1:42.482
11	3	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell	1:42.521
12	7	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:42.597
13	30	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham	1:42.766
14	23	Mike Hailwood	Surtees	1:43.204
15	27	Carlos Pace	March	1:43.319
16	12	Reine Wisell	Lotus	1:43.543
17	16	Howden Ganley	BRM	1:44.075
18	17	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	1:44.240
19	25	Andrea de Adamich	Surtees	1:44.279
20	33	Skip Barber	March	1:44.280
21	6	Mike Beuttler	March	1:44.369
22	26	Henri Pescarolo	March	1:44.433
23	34	Sam Posey	Surtees	1:44.525
24	15	Brian Redman	BRM	1:44.925
25	24	John Surtees	Surtees	1:45.232
26	5	Niki Lauda	March	1:45.290
27	4	Ronnie Peterson	March	1:46.142
28	28	Graham Hill	Brabham	1:46.313
29	14	Peter Gethin	BRM	1:46.599
30	31	Derek Bell	Tecno	1:47.023
32	24	Tim Schenken	Surtees	1:57.674

Surtees vacated his seat for Tim Schenken prior to the race.

Sunday extended warm-up

An extended final session pushed the timetable back by 50 minutes. Amon’s Matra developed an engine problem and he chose to start at the rear, while Bell’s Tecno suffered a head-gasket failure. Peterson’s repaired March handled satisfactorily, and the team resolved an engine misfire before the race.

What happened in the 1972 United States Grand Prix?

Stewart made an excellent start and immediately opened a gap. First-corner contact delayed Revson and damaged Reutemann’s nose, while Fittipaldi retired after repeated tyre trouble traced to a suspension problem. Cevert worked forward and passed Hulme for second around half-distance.

Scheckter ran an impressive fourth until a brief shower caught him out and he spun. Peterson charged from the back in his rebuilt March, battling Ickx for the next position. Revson’s recovery ended with an ignition failure, and Hailwood lost a potential point when caught up in an incident involving the Marches.

Stewart completed pole, victory and fastest lap, with Cevert securing the team’s one-two ahead of Hulme. Peterson beat Ickx to fourth on the final lap, and Andretti inherited sixth. Depailler finished seventh, rounding off a strong finale for Tyrrell after an uneven season.

After the race, Emerson Fittipaldi headed the drivers’ standings with 61 points, followed by Jackie Stewart on 45. Lotus – Ford led the constructors’ table on 61, with Tyrrell – Ford on 51.

1972 United States Grand Prix race results

The 1972 United States Grand Prix was held on 8 October 1972.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	59	1:41:45.354	9
2	2	François Cevert	Tyrrell	59	+ 32.268	6
3	19	Denny Hulme	McLaren	59	+ 37.528	4
4	4	Ronnie Peterson	March	59	+ 1:22.516	3
5	7	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	59	+ 1:23.119	2
6	9	Mario Andretti	Ferrari	58	+ 1 lap	1
7	3	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell	58	+ 1 lap	0
8	8	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	58	+ 1 lap	0
9	21	Jody Scheckter	McLaren	58	+ 1 lap	0
10	12	Reine Wisell	Lotus	57	+ 2 laps	0
11	28	Graham Hill	Brabham	57	+ 2 laps	0
12	34	Sam Posey	Surtees	57	+ 2 laps	0
13	6	Mike Beuttler	March	57	+ 2 laps	0
14	26	Henri Pescarolo	March	57	+ 2 laps	0
15	18	Chris Amon	Matra	57	+ 2 laps	0
16	33	Skip Barber	March	57	+ 2 laps	0
17	23	Mike Hailwood	Surtees	56	Collision	0
18	20	Peter Revson	McLaren	54	Electrical	0
NC	5	Niki Lauda	March	49	+ 10 laps	0
Ret	27	Carlos Pace	March	48	Fuel system	0
Ret	14	Peter Gethin	BRM	47	Engine	0
Ret	16	Howden Ganley	BRM	44	Engine	0
Ret	11	Dave Walker	Lotus	44	Engine	0
Ret	30	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham	43	Engine	0
Ret	17	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	40	Ignition	0
Ret	15	Brian Redman	BRM	34	Engine	0
Ret	29	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham	31	Engine	0
Ret	25	Andrea de Adamich	Surtees	25	Collision	0
Ret	24	Tim Schenken	Surtees	22	Suspension	0
Ret	10	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus	17	Suspension	0
Ret	31	Derek Bell	Tecno	8	Engine	0
DNS	24	John Surtees	Surtees		Driven by Schenken	0

1972 United States Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	33	1:41.644

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 United States 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	45
3	Denny Hulme	New Zealander	McLaren	39
4	Jacky Ickx	Belgian	Ferrari	27
5	Peter Revson	American	McLaren	23
6	François Cevert	French	Tyrrell	15
7	Clay Regazzoni	Swiss	Ferrari	15
8	Mike Hailwood	British	Surtees	13
9	Ronnie Peterson	Swedish	March	12
10	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Matra	12
11	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	French	BRM	9
12	Mario Andretti	American	Ferrari	4
13	Howden Ganley	New Zealander	BRM	4
14	Brian Redman	British	McLaren / BRM	4
15	Graham Hill	British	Brabham	4
16	Carlos Reutemann	Argentine	Brabham	3
17	Andrea de Adamich	Italian	Surtees	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
–	Patrick Depailler	French	Tyrrell	0
–	Helmut Marko	Austrian	BRM	0
–	Mike Beuttler	British	March	0
–	Henri Pescarolo	French	March / Politoys	0
–	David Walker	Australian	Lotus	0
–	Jody Scheckter	South African	McLaren	0
–	Rolf Stommelen	German	March	0
–	Reine Wisell	Swedish	BRM / Lotus	0
–	Sam Posey	American	Surtees	0
–	Nanni Galli	Italian	Tecno / Ferrari	0
–	Skip Barber	American	March	0
–	John Love	Rhodesian	Surtees	0
–	John Surtees	British	Surtees	0
–	Jackie Oliver	British	BRM	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	Tyrrell – Ford	51
3	McLaren – Ford	47
4	Ferrari	33
5	Surtees – Ford	18
6	March – Ford	15
7	BRM	14
8	Matra	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