1974 French Grand Prix
# 1974 French Grand Prix

The 1974 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Dijon-Prenois near Dijon, France on 7 July 1974. It was race 9 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.

The 80-lap race was won by Ronnie Peterson, driving a Lotus-Ford. Niki Lauda finished second in a Ferrari, having started from pole position, with teammate Clay Regazzoni third. Until the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, this was the only World Championship Grand Prix in which lap times of less than one minute were set, by 12 drivers during qualifying, including pole position starter Lauda.

## Qualifying

### Qualifying classification

| Pos. | Driver | Constructor | Time | Grid |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Niki Lauda | Ferrari | 0:58.79 | 1 |
| 2 | Ronnie Peterson | Lotus-Ford | 0:59.08 | 2 |
| 3 | Tom Pryce | Shadow-Ford | 0:59.11 | 3 |
| 4 | Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari | 0:59.13 | 4 |
| 5 | Emerson Fittipaldi | McLaren-Ford | 0:59.20 | 5 |
| 6 | Mike Hailwood | McLaren-Ford | 0:59.22 | 6 |
| 7 | Jody Scheckter | Tyrrell-Ford | 0:59.32 | 7 |
| 8 | Carlos Reutemann | Brabham-Ford | 0:59.36 | 8 |
| 9 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell-Ford | 0:59.43 | 9 |
| 10 | James Hunt | Hesketh-Ford | 0:59.51 | 10 |
| 11 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-Ford | 0:59.54 | 11 |
| 12 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Shadow-Ford | 0:59.59 | 12 |
| 13 | Jacky Ickx | Lotus-Ford | 1:00.00 | 13 |
| 14 | John Watson | Brabham-Ford | 1:00.02 | 14 |
| 15 | Arturo Merzario | Iso-Marlboro-Ford | 1:00.16 | 15 |
| 16 | Vittorio Brambilla | March-Ford | 1:00.26 | 16 |
| 17 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | BRM | 1:00.36 | 17 |
| 18 | Jochen Mass | Surtees-Ford | 1:00.48 | 18 |
| 19 | Henri Pescarolo | BRM | 1:00.67 | 19 |
| 20 | Guy Edwards | Lola-Ford | 1:00.68 | 20 |
| 21 | Graham Hill | Lola-Ford | 1:00.73 | 21 |
| 22 | François Migault | BRM | 1:00.86 | 22 |
| 23 | Vern Schuppan | Ensign-Ford | 1:01.24 | — |
| 24 | Carlos Pace | Brabham-Ford | 1:01.35 | — |
| 25 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Iso-Marlboro-Ford | 1:01.52 | — |
| 26 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | March-Ford | 1:01.60 | — |
| 27 | José Dolhem | Surtees-Ford | 1:01.70 | — |
| 28 | Rikky von Opel | Brabham-Ford | 1:01.79 | — |
| 29 | Leo Kinnunen | Surtees-Ford | 1:03.15 | — |
| 30 | Gérard Larrousse | Brabham-Ford | 1:03.27 | — |

*Positions with a pink background indicate drivers that failed to qualify

## Race

### Race summary

To honor the 80th birthday of the ACF, a parade of vintage cars was organized with a selection of great drivers from the 20s and 30s up to the present day. The race itself was largely uneventful. Tom Pryce put in a superb performance to be 3rd on the grid behind Ronnie Peterson and Niki Lauda. However, he was slow off the start and was hit by Carlos Reutemann, ending his race. James Hunt and Henri Pescarolo were also taken out in the ensuing accident. Lauda led convincingly from Peterson and Clay Regazzoni with Emerson Fittipaldi up to 4th by lap 15. Lauda dropped back with handling problems on lap 16, and was passed by Peterson, who led to the flag. He was followed by Lauda and Regazzoni, who came home 3rd despite vibration problems. Regazzoni had been challenged strongly by Fittipaldi, but just as the McLaren driver was preparing to pass, Fittipaldi's engine exploded, ending his race. Jody Scheckter was fourth, less than a second behind Regazzoni.

### Classification

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | Ronnie Peterson | Lotus-Ford | 80 | 1:21:55.02 | 2 | 9 |
| 2 | 12 | Niki Lauda | Ferrari | 80 | + 20.36 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | 11 | Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari | 80 | + 27.84 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 3 | Jody Scheckter | Tyrrell-Ford | 80 | + 28.11 | 7 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 | Jacky Ickx | Lotus-Ford | 80 | + 37.54 | 13 | 2 |
| 6 | 6 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-Ford | 80 | + 38.14 | 11 | 1 |
| 7 | 33 | Mike Hailwood | McLaren-Ford | 79 | + 1 Lap | 6 | |
| 8 | 4 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell-Ford | 79 | + 1 Lap | 9 | |
| 9 | 20 | Arturo Merzario | Iso-Marlboro-Ford | 79 | + 1 Lap | 15 | |
| 10 | 14 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | BRM | 79 | + 1 Lap | 17 | |
| 11 | 10 | Vittorio Brambilla | March-Ford | 79 | + 1 Lap | 16 | |
| 12 | 17 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Shadow-Ford | 79 | + 1 Lap | 12 | |
| 13 | 26 | Graham Hill | Lola-Ford | 78 | + 2 Laps | 21 | |
| 14 | 37 | François Migault | BRM | 78 | + 2 Laps | 22 | |
| 15 | 27 | Guy Edwards | Lola-Ford | 77 | + 3 Laps | 20 | |
| 16 | 28 | John Watson | Brabham-Ford | 76 | + 4 Laps | 14 | |
| Ret | 5 | Emerson Fittipaldi | McLaren-Ford | 27 | Engine | 5 | |
| Ret | 7 | Carlos Reutemann | Brabham-Ford | 24 | Handling | 8 | |
| Ret | 19 | Jochen Mass | Surtees-Ford | 4 | Clutch | 18 | |
| Ret | 16 | Tom Pryce | Shadow-Ford | 1 | Collision | 3 | |
| Ret | 15 | Henri Pescarolo | BRM | 1 | Clutch | 19 | |
| Ret | 24 | James Hunt | Hesketh-Ford | 0 | Collision | 10 | |
| DNQ | 22 | Vern Schuppan | Ensign-Ford | | | | |
| DNQ | 8 | Rikky von Opel | Brabham-Ford | | | | |
| DNQ | 34 | Carlos Pace | Brabham-Ford | | | | |
| DNQ | 21 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Iso-Marlboro-Ford | | | | |
| DNQ | 9 | Hans Joachim Stuck | March-Ford | | | | |
| DNQ | 18 | José Dolhem | Surtees-Ford | | | | |
| DNQ | 23 | Leo Kinnunen | Surtees-Ford | | | | |
| DNQ | 43 | Gérard Larrousse | Brabham-Ford | | | | |
| Source: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Niki Lauda | 36 |
| 2 | Clay Regazzoni | 32 |
| 3 | Emerson Fittipaldi | 31 |
| 4 | Jody Scheckter | 26 |
| 5 | Ronnie Peterson | 19 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Ferrari | 45 |
| 2 | McLaren-Ford | 43 (45) |
| 3 | Tyrrell-Ford | 30 |
| 4 | Lotus-Ford | 22 |
| 5 | Brabham-Ford | 10 |
| Source: |||

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 7 results from the first 8 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.
