1973 South African Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jackie Stewart charged from 16th on the grid to win the 1973 South African Grand Prix. Peter Revson and Emerson Fittipaldi completed the podium, while Mike Hailwood’s rescue of Clay Regazzoni from a burning car became the weekend’s defining act of courage.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Denny Hulme	McLaren
Pole time	1:16.28
Fastest lap	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus
Fastest-lap time	1:17.100 on lap 76
First	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell
Second	Peter Revson	McLaren
Third	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
28 February 1973	Wednesday timed practice	14:30–17:30
1 March 1973	Thursday timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
2 March 1973	Friday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
3 March 1973	Saturday morning check-up session	Morning; start unconfirmed
3 March 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 3 leading the 1973 F1 World Championship on 18 points, with Jackie Stewart on 10. Lotus – Ford headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 18 points.

Race entries

Shadow made its championship debut with Oliver and Follmer, while McLaren introduced the M23 for Hulme and added Scheckter in an older M19. Charlton and Keizan brought locally entered cars, and Pretorius replaced the injured Galli at Williams. De Adamich joined Surtees, but the new Ferrari and Brabham designs were not ready to race.

Wednesday timed practice

McLaren swept the first three places, Hulme leading Revson and Scheckter. The new M23 immediately confirmed its testing pace, while the younger South African impressed in the older car. Shadow had a much harder introduction: Oliver suffered a chassis engine-mount failure and Follmer lost an engine. Both cars required strengthening and missed Thursday’s running.

Thursday timed practice

Scheckter led much of the session before cooler air ahead of a nearby storm encouraged a late Lotus challenge. Peterson came within two hundredths of Hulme’s Wednesday benchmark. Reutemann and Cevert improved, but Stewart struggled with the balance of his Tyrrell. Ickx preferred Merzario’s Ferrari after trying it, prompting a switch between the drivers.

Friday final qualifying

Stewart briefly threatened pole before complete brake failure sent him into the catch fencing. Unhurt, he took over Cevert’s Tyrrell, but his time in that car left him only 16th; the earlier lap could not carry over under the rules then in force. Hulme secured his only championship pole despite a radiator leak, with Fittipaldi and Scheckter alongside on the three-car front row. Fittipaldi’s late bid ended with a rear-subframe failure.

Qualifying Classification

The car-switch rules differed from the more permissive arrangement introduced in 1974. Stewart had to qualify in the replacement Tyrrell, while Cevert was assigned a place at the back in the repaired car. Hulme, Fittipaldi, Scheckter, Peterson and Regazzoni were separated by less than two tenths of a second.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	5	Denny Hulme	McLaren	1:16.28
2	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus	1:16.410
3	7	Jody Scheckter	McLaren	1:16.430
4	2	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus	1:16.440
5	15	Clay Regazzoni	BRM	1:16.470
6	6	Peter Revson	McLaren	1:16.720
7	16	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	1:16.840
8	18	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham	1:16.940
9	11	Carlos Pace	Surtees	1:17.060
10	17	Niki Lauda	BRM	1:17.140
11	8	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:17.160
12	10	Mike Hailwood	Surtees	1:17.170
13	25	Dave Charlton	Lotus	1:17.180
14	22	Jackie Oliver	Shadow	1:17.640
15	9	Arturo Merzario	Ferrari	1:17.640
16	3	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	1:17.650
17	19	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham	1:17.950
18	14	Jean-Pierre Jarier	March	1:17.980
19	21	Howden Ganley	Williams	1:18.070
20	12	Andrea de Adamich	Surtees	1:18.660
21	23	George Follmer	Shadow	1:18.820
22	26	Eddie Keizan	Tyrrell	1:18.920
23	24	Mike Beuttler	March	1:20.370
24	20	Jackie Pretorius	Williams	1:20.540
25	4	François Cevert	Tyrrell	No time

Saturday morning check-up session

Early running and final checks exposed further work: Revson’s gearbox required attention, Reutemann needed a rear-suspension bearing replaced and Beltoise’s BRM received another engine. Tyrrell had worked overnight to repair Stewart’s damaged car for Cevert, reverting several components to the older specification.

What happened in the 1973 South African Grand Prix?

Hulme led early, but a third-lap collision involving Hailwood, Regazzoni and Charlton left the BRM burning. Hailwood returned to help rescue the trapped Regazzoni even after his own overalls caught fire. His actions were later recognised with the George Medal. Debris punctured Hulme’s tyre, handing the lead to Scheckter.

Stewart climbed rapidly through the field and passed Scheckter to take control. McLaren protested that he had overtaken under warning flags during the accident response; the stewards reprimanded him but upheld his victory. Scheckter later lost ground with tyre trouble, while Revson emerged as the main challenger behind the leader.

Stewart won comfortably, with Revson holding off a late charge from Fittipaldi for second. Merzario finished fourth, Hulme recovered to fifth and Follmer scored a point on Shadow’s debut. Stewart’s first win of the season narrowed Fittipaldi’s championship lead, but the rescue and the disputed overtaking remained central to the aftermath.

After the race, Emerson Fittipaldi headed the drivers’ standings with 22 points, followed by Jackie Stewart on 19. Lotus – Ford led the constructors’ table on 22, with Tyrrell – Ford on 21.

1973 South African Grand Prix race results

The 1973 South African Grand Prix was held on 3 March 1973, with a scheduled start of 15:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	3	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	79	1:43:11.07	9
2	6	Peter Revson	McLaren	79	+ 24.55	6
3	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus	79	+ 25.06	4
4	9	Arturo Merzario	Ferrari	78	+ 1 Lap	3
5	5	Denny Hulme	McLaren	77	+ 2 Laps	2
6	23	George Follmer	Shadow	77	+ 2 Laps	1
7	18	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham	77	+ 2 Laps	0
8	12	Andrea de Adamich	Surtees	77	+ 2 Laps	0
9	7	Jody Scheckter	McLaren	75	Engine	0
10	21	Howden Ganley	Iso-Marlboro	73	+ 6 Laps	0
11	2	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus	73	+ 6 Laps	0
Ret	11	Carlos Pace	Surtees	69	Accident	0
NC	26	Eddie Keizan	Tyrrell	67	+ 12 Laps	0
NC	14	Jean-Pierre Jarier	March	66	+ 13 Laps	0
NC	4	François Cevert	Tyrrell	66	+ 13 Laps	0
NC	24	Mike Beuttler	March	65	+ 14 Laps	0
Ret	19	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham	52	Gearbox	0
Ret	20	Jackie Pretorius	Iso-Marlboro	35	Overheating	0
Ret	17	Niki Lauda	BRM	26	Engine	0
Ret	22	Jackie Oliver	Shadow	14	Engine	0
Ret	16	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	4	Clutch	0
Ret	25	Dave Charlton	Lotus	3	Accident	0
Ret	15	Clay Regazzoni	BRM	2	Accident	0
Ret	8	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	2	Accident	0
Ret	10	Mike Hailwood	Surtees	2	Accident	0

1973 South African Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus	76	1:17.100

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 South African Grand Prix.

1973 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Brazilian	Lotus	22
2	Jackie Stewart	British	Tyrrell	19
3	Denny Hulme	New Zealander	McLaren	8
4	Peter Revson	American	McLaren	6
5	François Cevert	French	Tyrrell	6
6	Arturo Merzario	Italian	Ferrari	6
7	Jacky Ickx	Belgian	Ferrari	5
8	Clay Regazzoni	Swiss	BRM	1
9	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brazilian	Brabham	1
10	George Follmer	American	Shadow	1
–	Howden Ganley	New Zealander	Iso-Marlboro	0
–	Carlos Reutemann	Argentine	Brabham	0
–	Niki Lauda	Austrian	BRM	0
–	Andrea de Adamich	Italian	Surtees	0
–	Nanni Galli	Italian	Iso-Marlboro	0
–	Jody Scheckter	South African	McLaren	0
–	Mike Beuttler	British	March	0
–	Ronnie Peterson	Swedish	Lotus	0
–	Luiz Bueno	Brazilian	Surtees	0
–	Jean-Pierre Jarier	French	March	0
–	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	French	BRM	0
–	Carlos Pace	Brazilian	Surtees	0
–	Eddie Keizan	South African	Tyrrell	0
–	Mike Hailwood	British	Surtees	0
–	Jackie Pretorius	South African	Iso-Marlboro	0
–	Jackie Oliver	British	Shadow	0
–	Dave Charlton	South African	Lotus	0

1973 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Lotus – Ford	22
2	Tyrrell – Ford	21
3	McLaren – Ford	12
4	Ferrari	9
5	BRM	1
6	Brabham – Ford	1
7	Shadow – Ford	1
—	Iso-Marlboro – Ford	0
—	Surtees – Ford	0
—	March – 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