1973 British Grand Prix

The 1973 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone Circuit on July 14, 1973.

The race is known for the first lap pile-up which ultimately caused eleven cars to retire. The accident happened when Jody Scheckter spun out of fourth place and into the center of the track coming out of Woodcote (the final corner), causing many other cars to collide and crash. The race was stopped at the end of the second lap, because of the pile-up, and restarted over the original distance. Andrea de Adamich retired from the sport after this race due to injuries received in the first lap accident.

On the first start, a swift start by Jackie Stewart brought him from fourth to first in less than half a lap. At Becketts corner (which was the third out of eight corners on the original Silverstone circuit) Stewart out-braked race leader Ronnie Peterson and took the lead. Unfortunately for Stewart, the massive pile-up at the end of the first lap caused the race to be restarted and he had to start from fourth again. This time it was Niki Lauda who had an excellent start and moved up behind Peterson into second. On lap six Stewart tried again to pass Peterson for the lead, but the Swedish driver shut the door; Stewart lost control of his Tyrrell and spun off into the thick grass. Although he was able to continue, Stewart recorded his worst finish of the season: 10th place out of 13 finishers.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Constructors' Championship standings


 * 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.