1975 French Grand Prix
# 1975 French Grand Prix

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 5.8-kilometre (3.6 mi) circuit for a race distance of 313 kilometres (194 mi).

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. | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 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 | |
| Ret | 8 | Carlos Pace | Brabham-Ford | 26 | Transmission | 5 | |
| Ret | 6 | Jacky Ickx | Lotus-Ford | 17 | Brakes | 19 | |
| Ret | 30 | Wilson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | 14 | Engine | 23 | |
| Ret | 9 | Vittorio Brambilla | March-Ford | 6 | Chassis | 8 | |
| Ret | 11 | Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari | 6 | Engine | 9 | |
| Ret | 28 | Mark Donohue | Penske-Ford | 6 | Transmission | 18 | |
| Ret | 16 | Tom Pryce | Shadow-Ford | 2 | Transmission | 6 | |
| DNS | 20 | François Migault | Williams-Ford | 0 | Non Starter | 24 | |
| Source: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Niki Lauda | 47 |
| 2 | Carlos Reutemann | 25 |
| 3 | Emerson Fittipaldi | 24 |
| 4 | James Hunt | 22 |
| 5 | Carlos Pace | 18 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Ferrari | 50 |
| 2 | Brabham-Ford | 36 (38) |
| 3 | McLaren-Ford | 30.5 |
| 4 | Hesketh-Ford | 22 |
| 5 | Tyrrell-Ford | 20 |
| Source: |||

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 6 results from the first 7 races and the best 6 results from the last 7 races counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
