1973 French Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Ronnie Peterson finally claimed his first championship Grand Prix victory in the 1973 French Grand Prix. A collision between Jody Scheckter and Emerson Fittipaldi removed the leading pair from contention, leaving Peterson to win ahead of François Cevert and Carlos Reutemann.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell
Pole time	1:48.37
Fastest lap	Denny Hulme	McLaren
Fastest-lap time	1:50.990 on lap 52
First	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus
Second	François Cevert	Tyrrell
Third	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
29 June 1973	Friday timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
30 June 1973	Saturday first timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
30 June 1973	Saturday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
1 July 1973	Warm-up	Morning; start unconfirmed
1 July 1973	Race	15:00

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 8 leading the 1973 F1 World Championship on 41 points, with Jackie Stewart on 39. Tyrrell – Ford headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 49 points.

Race entries

Scheckter drove McLaren’s third M23 while Revson raced in the United States. Ensign made its championship debut with von Opel, and Hunt returned in Hesketh’s March. Pescarolo replaced Galli at Williams, while Wisell stood in for the injured Beuttler. Merzario and de Adamich also returned after missing Sweden.

Friday timed practice

Stewart was credited with 1:48.37, more than a second ahead of Cevert, although rival teams’ own watches later raised doubts about the figure. Paul Ricard demanded a compromise between low drag on the long straight and grip through its slower section. Scheckter quickly showed he could challenge the established leaders in the M23, while the heat added pressure to fuel systems and engines.

Saturday first timed practice

Hulme headed the second session, confirming McLaren’s strength. Nobody approached Stewart’s published Friday time, reinforcing questions about whether it contained a timing error; it nevertheless remained official. Teams continued refining the balance between straight-line speed and cornering performance, with the McLarens emerging as a serious threat to Lotus and Tyrrell.

Saturday final qualifying

Scheckter set the fastest time of the final session and qualified second, between Stewart and Fittipaldi on the three-car front row. Merzario outqualified Ickx, while Hunt earned a strong midfield position ahead of several established runners. Von Opel qualified the new Ensign at the back, with the team’s immediate aim to complete its first race reliably.

Qualifying Classification

Stewart’s officially recorded Friday lap secured pole. Contemporary team timing suggested a possible one-second discrepancy, but the published classification was not changed.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	5	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	1:48.37
2	8	Jody Scheckter	McLaren	1:49.18
3	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus	1:49.36
4	6	François Cevert	Tyrrell	1:49.39
5	2	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus	1:49.45
7	14	Jean-Pierre Jarier	March	1:50.69
8	10	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham	1:50.75
9	19	Clay Regazzoni	BRM	1:50.99
10	4	Arturo Merzario	Ferrari	1:51.17
11	23	Mike Hailwood	Surtees	1:51.17
12	3	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:51.44
13	9	Andrea de Adamich	Brabham	1:51.53
14	27	James Hunt	March	1:51.63
15	20	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	1:51.67
16	12	Graham Hill	Shadow	1:51.70
17	21	Niki Lauda	BRM	1:51.78
18	24	Carlos Pace	Surtees	1:51.88
19	11	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham	1:52.07
20	16	George Follmer	Shadow	1:52.30
21	17	Jackie Oliver	Shadow	1:52.94
22	15	Reine Wisell	March	1:53.20
23	26	Henri Pescarolo	Iso-Marlboro	1:53.56
24	25	Howden Ganley	Iso-Marlboro	1:53.87
25	29	Rikky von Opel	Ensign	1:55.55

Sunday warm-up

An early untimed session allowed final checks before a long supporting programme and the scheduled 15:00 start. Heat remained a significant concern: teams shaded the drivers on the grid, and Merzario had difficulty starting his Ferrari as the field prepared to leave.

What happened in the 1973 French Grand Prix?

Scheckter made an excellent getaway and led Peterson, Stewart, Hulme and Fittipaldi. Hulme and Stewart lost time to rear punctures, while Fittipaldi moved past Peterson and began pressuring the young McLaren driver. Scheckter resisted for much of the race despite the close pursuit.

When the leaders caught Beltoise, Fittipaldi tried an inside move on Scheckter and the cars collided. The Lotus retired immediately, and Scheckter stopped soon afterwards with suspension damage. Peterson inherited the lead. Behind him, Cevert moved ahead of Reutemann after the Brabham driver spun, while Stewart recovered through the field.

Peterson completed a long-awaited first victory, with Cevert second and Reutemann taking his first podium. Stewart finished close behind the Brabham in fourth, followed by Ickx and Hunt, who earned his first championship point. Von Opel brought the new Ensign to the finish, giving the small team a reliable debut.

After the race, Jackie Stewart headed the drivers’ standings with 42 points, followed by Emerson Fittipaldi on 41. Lotus – Ford led the constructors’ table on 52, with Tyrrell – Ford on 51.

1973 French Grand Prix race results

The 1973 French Grand Prix was held on 1 July 1973, with a scheduled start of 15:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	2	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus	54	1:41:36.52	9
2	6	François Cevert	Tyrrell	54	+ 40.92	6
3	10	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham	54	+ 46.48	4
4	5	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	54	+ 46.93	3
5	3	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	54	+ 48.90	2
6	27	James Hunt	March	54	+ 1:22.54	1
7	4	Arturo Merzario	Ferrari	54	+ 1:29.19	0
8	7	Denny Hulme	McLaren	54	+ 1:29.53	0
9	21	Niki Lauda	BRM	54	+ 1:45.76	0
10	12	Graham Hill	Shadow	53	+ 1 Lap	0
11	20	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	53	+ 1 Lap	0
12	19	Clay Regazzoni	BRM	53	+ 1 Lap	0
13	24	Carlos Pace	Surtees	51	+ 3 Laps	0
14	25	Howden Ganley	Iso-Marlboro	51	+ 3 Laps	0
15	29	Rikky von Opel	Ensign	51	+ 3 Laps	0
16	11	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham	50	+ 4 Laps	0
Ret	8	Jody Scheckter	McLaren	43	Collision damage	0
Ret	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus	41	Collision	0
Ret	23	Mike Hailwood	Surtees	29	Oil Leak	0
Ret	9	Andrea de Adamich	Brabham	28	Halfshaft	0
Ret	15	Reine Wisell	March	20	Overheating	0
Ret	16	George Follmer	Shadow	16	Fuel system	0
Ret	26	Henri Pescarolo	Iso-Marlboro	16	Overheating	0
Ret	14	Jean-Pierre Jarier	March	7	Halfshaft	0
Ret	17	Jackie Oliver	Shadow	0	Clutch	0

1973 French Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	7	Denny Hulme	McLaren	52	1:50.990

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

1973 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1973 French Grand Prix.

1973 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jackie Stewart	British	Tyrrell	42
2	Emerson Fittipaldi	Brazilian	Lotus	41
3	François Cevert	French	Tyrrell	31
4	Ronnie Peterson	Swedish	Lotus	19
5	Denny Hulme	New Zealander	McLaren	19
6	Peter Revson	American	McLaren	11
7	Jacky Ickx	Belgian	Ferrari	8
8	Carlos Reutemann	Argentine	Brabham	7
9	Arturo Merzario	Italian	Ferrari	6
10	George Follmer	American	Shadow	5
11	Andrea de Adamich	Italian	Surtees / Brabham	3
12	Niki Lauda	Austrian	BRM	2
13	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	French	BRM	2
14	Clay Regazzoni	Swiss	BRM	1
15	James Hunt	British	March	1
16	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brazilian	Brabham	1
17	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Tecno	1
–	Mike Beuttler	British	March	0
–	Howden Ganley	New Zealander	Iso-Marlboro	0
–	Carlos Pace	Brazilian	Surtees	0
–	Mike Hailwood	British	Surtees	0
–	Henri Pescarolo	French	March / Iso-Marlboro	0
–	Graham Hill	British	Shadow	0
–	Nanni Galli	Italian	Iso-Marlboro	0
–	Jody Scheckter	South African	McLaren	0
–	Jackie Oliver	British	Shadow	0
–	Luiz Bueno	Brazilian	Surtees	0
–	Rikky von Opel	Liechtensteiner	Ensign	0
–	Jean-Pierre Jarier	French	March	0
–	Eddie Keizan	South African	Tyrrell	0
–	Jackie Pretorius	South African	Iso-Marlboro	0
–	David Purley	British	March	0
–	Reine Wisell	Swedish	March	0
–	Dave Charlton	South African	Lotus	0

1973 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Lotus – Ford	52
2	Tyrrell – Ford	51
3	McLaren – Ford	26
4	Ferrari	12
5	Brabham – Ford	11
6	Shadow – Ford	5
7	BRM	5
8	March – Ford	1
9	Tecno	1
—	Iso-Marlboro – Ford	0
—	Surtees – Ford	0
—	Ensign – Ford	0

Drivers counted their best 7 results from rounds 1–8 and their best 6 from rounds 9–15. Only the highest-placed car for each constructor could score constructor points, with the same dropped-results limits applying.

1973 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1973 Argentine Grand Prix	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires	28 January
2	1973 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo de Interlagos, São Paulo	11 February
3	1973 South African Grand Prix	Kyalami, Midrand	3 March
4	1973 Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuïc, Barcelona	29 April
5	1973 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder	20 May
6	1973 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	3 June
7	1973 Swedish Grand Prix	Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp	17 June
8	1973 French Grand Prix	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet	1 July
9	1973 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	14 July
10	1973 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	29 July
11	1973 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	5 August
12	1973 Austrian Grand Prix	Österreichring, Spielberg	19 August
13	1973 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	9 September
14	1973 Canadian Grand Prix	Mosport Park, Bowmanville	23 September
15	1973 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	7 October