The 1975 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 6 July 1975. It was race 9 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 53rd French Grand Prix and the third to be held at Paul Ricard. The race was held over 54 laps of the circuit for a race distance of .
The race was won from pole position by Austrian driver Niki Lauda, driving a Ferrari. Lauda led every lap and survived late charges from British driver James Hunt in the Hesketh-Ford and West German driver Jochen Mass in the McLaren-Ford, who finished 1.6 and 2.3 seconds behind respectively. It was Lauda's fourth win of the season, enabling him to extend his lead in the Drivers' Championship to 22 points over Brabham driver Carlos Reutemann.
Race summary
Despite suffering from flu, Niki Lauda still took pole position. Jean-Pierre Jarier brought a smile to French faces by setting Friday's quickest time. Jody Scheckter driving the new lightweight Tyrrell 007 set a record through the speed trap of 190 mph.
On the start line, Tom Pryce was left without a clutch and retired shortly afterwards. Lauda led from Scheckter, James Hunt and Jochen Mass. Clay Regazzoni had moved up to second before his engine exploded, Scheckter taking over the position before Hunt passed him on lap eight. Lauda and Hunt maintained first and second whilst Scheckter, struggling with handling issues, had to concede to Mass and Emerson Fittipaldi.
Jarier made a superb pass on him and made a brave bid to catch Fittipaldi, but rev-limiter problems caused him to fall back with erratic power. Mario Andretti and Patrick Depailler were performing brilliantly, advancing from eleventh to fifth and 19th to sixth respectively.
Alan Jones was duelling with Ronnie Peterson and Carlos Reutemann when he spun into the catch fencing. Reutemann suffered from tyre problems and lost a lap, whilst John Watson suffered excess power and took to the escape road. Vittorio Brambilla retired with a damper problem, Wilson Fittipaldi blew his engine, and Jacky Ickx, Mark Donohue and Carlos Pace all broke their driveshafts. Mass was in rapid pursuit of Hunt and Lauda – by the last lap he was only 2.4 seconds behind them. However, a superb lapping manoeuvre gave Hunt the space he needed. On the last corner, Lauda slid offline, but held on to win by 1.6 seconds.
Classification
Qualifying classification Pos.NoDriverConstructorTimeGap 1 12 Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:47.82 2 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 1:48.22 +0.40 3 24 James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 1:48.25 +0.43 4 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 1:48.44 +0.62 5 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 1:48.48 +0.66 6 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 1:48.48 +0.66 7 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:48.54 +0.72 8 9 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1:48.56 +0.74 9 11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:48.68 +0.86 10 1 Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 1:48.75 +0.93 11 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 1:48.85 +1.03 12 23 Tony Brise Hill-Ford 1:49.21 +1.39 13 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:49.31 +1.49 14 18 John Watson Surtees-Ford 1:49.70 +1.88 15 27 Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 1:49.72 +1.90 16 21 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 1:49.72 +1.90 17 5 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:50.04 +2.22 18 28 Mark Donohue Penske-Ford 1:50.15 +2.33 19 6 Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 1:50.94 +3.12 20 22 Alan Jones Hill-Ford 1:51.02 +3.20 21 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Tyrrell-Ford 1:51.06 +3.24 22 31 Gijs van Lennep Ensign-Ford 1:51.21 +3.39 23 30 Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:51.64 +3.82 24 20 François Migault Williams-Ford 1:51.82 +4.00 25 14 Bob Evans BRM 1:51.85 +4.03 26 10 Lella Lombardi March-Ford 1:52.97 +5.15
Race classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 12 Niki Lauda Ferrari 54 1:40:18.84 1 9 2 24 James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 54 + 1.59 3 6 3 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 54 + 2.31 7 4 4 1 Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 54 + 39.77 10 3 5 27 Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 54 + 1:02.08 15 2 6 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:07.40 13 1 7 23 Tony Brise Hill-Ford 54 + 1:09.61 12 8 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 54 + 1:19.78 4 9 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:31.68 2 10 5 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 54 + 1:36.02 17 11 21 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 54 + 1:36.77 16 12 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:37.13 21 13 18 John Watson Surtees-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 14 14 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 11 15 31 Gijs van Lennep Ensign-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 22 16 22 Alan Jones Hill-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 20 17 14 Bob Evans BRM 52 + 2 Laps 25 18 10 Lella Lombardi March-Ford 50 + 4 Laps 26 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 26 Transmission 5 6 Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 17 Brakes 19 30 Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 14 Engine 23 9 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 6 Chassis 8 11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 6 Engine 9 28 Mark Donohue Penske-Ford 6 Transmission 18 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 2 Transmission 6 20 François Migault Williams-Ford 0 Non Starter 24
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda* 47 2 Carlos Reutemann* 25 3 Emerson Fittipaldi* 24 1 4 James Hunt* 22 1 5 Carlos Pace* 18Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari* 50 2 Brabham-Ford* 36 (38) 3 McLaren-Ford* 30.5 1 4 Hesketh-Ford* 22 1 5 Tyrrell-Ford* 20Source:
Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
References