The 1972 Formula One season was the 26th season of the FIA's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 23rd World Championship of Drivers, the 15th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, and numerous non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship commenced on 23 January and ended on 8 October after twelve races.
Emerson Fittipaldi, driving for Lotus, won his first World Championship, becoming the youngest World Champion to date at 25 years. This record stood for 33 years until Fernando Alonso won his first title in 2005 at the age of 24. Fittipaldi won five races (more than any other driver during the season) and clinched the title by virtue of winning the Italian Grand Prix with two races to spare. Reigning champion Jackie Stewart came second in the championship, while Denny Hulme placed third. The Lotus team, still reeling from the death of their 1970 champion Jochen Rindt, had fallen to a disappointing fifth in the standings at the end of , but kept developing their innovative Lotus 72 "wedge" design to take a surprise championship victory. The car sported a striking black and gold livery for their sponsor Imperial Tobacco had introduced a new brand of John Player Special cigarettes.
The British Racing Motors (BRM) team took its last victory when Jean-Pierre Beltoise won the rain-affected 1972 Monaco Grand Prix in a BRM P160.
Six-times 350cc/500cc champions and 1964 World Championship John Surtees retired after the end of season.
Drivers and constructors The following teams and drivers contested the 1972 World Championship.
Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre Driver Rounds Motor Racing Developments Brabham-Ford BT33BT34BT37 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Graham Hill All Carlos Reutemann 1–2, 5–12 Wilson Fittipaldi 3–12 Marlboro BRM España Marlboro BRM Austria Marlboro BRM BRM P160BP153P180P160C BRM P142 3.0 V12 Howden Ganley 1–6, 8–12 Reine Wisell 1, 3–4, 6, 8, 10 Peter Gethin 1–7, 9–12 Alex Soler-Roig 1, 3 Helmut Marko 1–2, 4–6 Jean-Pierre Beltoise 2–12 Vern Schuppan 5 Jackie Oliver 7 Bill Brack 11 Brian Redman 12 Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 312B2 Ferrari 001/1 3.0 F12 Jacky Ickx All Clay Regazzoni 1–5, 8–12 Mario Andretti 1–3, 10, 12 Nanni Galli 6 Arturo Merzario 7–8 John Player Team Lotus World Wide Racing Lotus-Ford 72D Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Emerson Fittipaldi All David Walker 1–9, 12 Reine Wisell 11–12 STP March Racing Team March-Ford 721721X721G Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Ronnie Peterson All Niki Lauda All Équipe Matra Sports Matra MS120CMS120D Matra MS72 3.0 V12 Chris Amon All Yardley Team McLaren McLaren-Ford M19AM19C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Denny Hulme All Peter Revson 1–3, 5, 7, 9–12 Brian Redman 4, 6, 8 Jody Scheckter 12 Brooke Bond Oxo - Rob Walker Team Surtees Ceramica Pagnossin Team Surtees Flame Out Team Surtees Team Surtees Surtees-Ford TS9BTS14 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Tim Schenken All Andrea de Adamich All Mike Hailwood 2–10, 12 John Surtees 10, 12 Elf Team Tyrrell Elf Tyrrell-Ford 003002004005006 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Jackie Stewart 1–4, 6–12 François Cevert All Patrick Depailler 6, 12 Team Williams Motul March-FordPolitoys-Ford 711721FX3 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Henri Pescarolo All Carlos Pace 2–12 Team Eifelland Caravans Eifelland-Ford 21 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Rolf Stommelen 2–9 Lucky Strike Racing Lotus-Ford 72D Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Dave Charlton 2, 6–8 Team Gunston Surtees-Ford TS9 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 John Love 2 Brabham-Ford BT33 William Ferguson 2 Clarke-Mordaunt-Guthrie Racing March-Ford 721G Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Mike Beuttler 3–12 Martini Racing Tecno PA123/3 Tecno Series-P 3.0 F12 Nanni Galli 5, 7, 9–10 Derek Bell 6, 8, 10–12 Darnval Connew Racing Team Connew-Ford PC1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 François Migault 7, 9 Gene Mason Racing March-Ford 711 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Skip Barber 11–12 Champcarr Inc. Surtees-Ford TS9B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Sam Posey 12
Team and driver changes
BRM hired Reine Wisell from Lotus and Jean-Pierre Beltoise from Matra. The team had lost Jo Siffert when he died during the 1971 World Championship Victory Race at Brands Hatch. Still, they were a popular outfit and managed to field no less than five cars in the opening race of the championship. After a collaboration with McLaren in , Alfa Romeo had worked with March in . Both campaigns were unsuccessful and the Italian firm pulled out of the sport. (They would return with Brabham in .) March promoted their Formula Two driver Niki Lauda to the F1 team, while the Austrian kept racing in F2 as well. At Lotus, Emerson Fittipaldi was joined by David Walker, while McLaren signed 1971 Can-Am champion Peter Revson. They had previously worked together for the 1971 Indianapolis 500. Matra reduced their operations to just one car, after Beltoise moved to BRM. The Surtees team signed Tim Schenken from Brabham and Andrea de Adamich from March. Mike Hailwood was promoted to a full-time drive while still driving in Formula Two. He would actually win the F2 title this year. Owner John Surtees would shift focus to his management role and retired from racing at the end of the season. Brabham, in the hands of new managing director Bernie Ecclestone, promoted their F2 driver Carlos Reutemann to race besides veteran Graham Hill. Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior paid his way to a third Brabham seat. Starting his third year as a team owner in F1, Frank Williams gained sponsorship from French oil company Motul, with which he was able to buy a new March 721 for his driver Henri Pescarolo. He also promoted his F2 driver Carlos Pace to the team, giving him previous year's March 711. The Williams team tried out with a Politoys FX3, but the car's steering failed on the first run, during the British Grand Prix, and the chassis was heavily damaged.
Mid-season changes
Günther Hennerici, owner of the caravan manufacturing company Eifelland, married Formula Two driver Hannelore Werner. Together, they set up a racing team that competed in the 1971 German Formula Three Championship, before expanding to F1 in 1972. From the second race of the season on, they entered a redesigned March 721 under the Eifelland name and signed Rolf Stommelen from Surtees. Before the season was over, however, they withdrew from the championship and refocussed their efforts on Formula Three. Tecno was a successful Italian karting and racing team. With sponsorship from Martini, they built their own F1 chassis and entered the 1972 championship from the Belgian Grand Prix on. They signed Nanni Galli, coming from the March team. The Connew Racing Team had the intent to enter and compete in the whole 1972 season, but only managed to start the Austrian Grand Prix, with French driver Francois Migault at the wheel. They converted their self-made chassis to meet Formula 5000 regulations for 1973, but at the end of that year, the car was crashed beyond repair and the team folded.
Calendar Round Grand Prix Circuit Date 1 Argentine Grand Prix Autódromo de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 23 January 2 South African Grand Prix Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand 4 March 3 Spanish Grand Prix Circuito Permanente del Jarama, Madrid 1 May 4 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 14 May 5 Belgian Grand Prix Nivelles-Baulers, Nivelles 4 June 6 French Grand Prix Circuit de Charade, Clermont-Ferrand 2 July 7 British Grand Prix Brands Hatch, Kent 15 July 8 German Grand Prix Nürburgring, Nürburg 30 July 9 Austrian Grand Prix Österreichring, Spielberg 13 August 10 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 10 September 11 Canadian Grand Prix Mosport Park, Bowmanville 24 September 12 United States Grand Prix Watkins Glen International, New York 8 October
Calendar changes The Argentine Grand Prix returned to the calendar in 1972, for the first time since . The Autódromo de Buenos Aires would be used again. The Belgian Grand Prix returned as well, after the race was cancelled because of the failure to bring Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps up to mandatory safety standards. The 1972 race was held at the Nivelles-Baulers circuit. The Spanish Grand Prix was moved from Montjuïc to Jarama, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. Likewise, the French Grand Prix was moved from Circuit Paul Ricard to the Circuit de Charade and the British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone to Brands Hatch.
Cancelled rounds F1 intended to organise a second Grand Prix in the United States, dubbed the United States Grand Prix West, at the Ontario Motor Speedway near Los Angeles. It would be the third race on the calendar on 9 April. The FIA demanded the circuit's owners to hold a test event first, but they did not comply and the event was cancelled. The Dutch Grand Prix was originally scheduled for 18 June, between the Belgian and French Grand Prix, but was cancelled because of safety upgrades that were not completed at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in time for the race, due to lack of funds.David Hayhoe, Formula 1: The Knowledge records and trivia since 1950 – 2nd Edition, 2021, page 35. The Mexican Grand Prix was scheduled on 22 October at Autódromo Magdalena Mixhuca, to be the last race of the championship, but it was cancelled after local interest dissipated after the death of Pedro Rodríguez in a sportscar crash in 1971.
Regulation changes
Technical regulations The minimum weight was raised from to . Like it was from to , cars running a compressed engine, for example with a turbocharger, could now have a displacement of . (For the two years in between, it was reduced to .) The maximum displacement for naturally aspirated engines remained at .
Safety measures Safety was becoming a serious talking point in F1. Since , circuits had started installing some safety features. 1972 was the first season in which all the visited tracks were up to the mandatory safety standards. The official Circuit Safety Criteria were published, including, for example, specifications on debris fences.
On the cars, some safety measures were made mandatory as well: the fuel tanks had to be lined with "safety foam", no magnesium sheet could be less than thick, the driver had to have a headrest, minimum dimensions were set for the cockpit, the driver had to be secured by a 6-point harness, a single switch was designed to cut off the electronical components on the car and to set off the fire extinguisher, a 15W red light needed to be installed at the rear of the car.
Sporting regulations The first Drivers' Code of Conduct was published.
Championship report
Rounds 1 to 4
When Formula One returned to Argentina for the first time since , it was local driver Carlos Reutemann who made his debut and immediately scored pole position for Brabham. Reigning champion Jackie Stewart started second in his Tyrrell and Peter Revson lined up in third for his first race with McLaren. At the start, Stewart took the lead off of Reutemann, but the Argentine driver kept on his tail. Behind them, Emerson Fittipaldi overtook Denny Hulme for third place, while Revson had fallen back. Reutemann started struggling on his super-soft Goodyear tyres and, by lap 11, he was down to fourth place. Half-way through the race, he made a pit stop and rejoined a lap down. Stewart dominated the pace and went on to win the race, almost half a minute ahead of Hulme and a full minute ahead of the Ferraris of Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni. Fittipaldi had retired with suspension damage.