| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Non-Championship Race in the 1971 Formula One season | ||
 | ||
| Date | March 28, 1971 | |
| Official name | Questor Grand Prix | |
| Location | Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California | |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 5.14 km (3.194 mi) | |
| Distance | 2 heats of 32 laps laps, 2 X 164.48 km (2 X 102.208 mi) | |
| Weather | Warm and sunny | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Jackie Stewart
|
Tyrrell-Ford |
| Time | 1:41.257 | |
| Podium | ||
| First |  Mario Andretti
|
Ferrari |
| Second | Jackie Stewart
|
Tyrrell-Ford |
| Third |  Denny Hulme
|
McLaren-Ford |
The Questor Grand Prix was a motor race held on March 28, 1971 at Ontario Motor Speedway. Intended as a practice run for a possible second United States Grand Prix, the announced attendance of 55,000 was a disappointment for the organizers, and the second Grand Prix in the United States was not held until 1976 in Long Beach.
The management at Ontario wanted to hold events for all four of the top racing series at the time, Indy cars, NASCAR, NHRA and Formula One. But at the time FIA rules required that a rehearsal event be held before championship status could be granted. The only available date for Ontario was the weekend of March 26-28, but that conflicted with two other events, Formula One's traditional Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, and a USAC race at Phoenix International Raceway.
To compensate, the organizers posted a prize fund of roughly $275,000, an unheard of sum at the time. Despite the distance from Europe, and the conflicting events, the event attracted an entry of 18 Formula One cars. In addition, 15 Formula A/Formula 5000 cars showed up.
Classification[]
Qualifying[]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Jackie Stewart
|
Tyrrell 001-Cosworth 3.0 | 1:41.257 | |
| 2 | 10 | Chris Amon
|
Matra-Simca MS120 3.0 | 1:41.275 | +0.018 |
| 3 | 4 |  Jacky Ickx
|
Ferrari 312B 3.0 | 1:41.531 | +0.274 |
| 4 | 6 | Denny Hulme
|
McLaren M19-Cosworth 3.0 | 1:42.458 | +1.201 |
| 5 | 12 |  Pedro Rodríguez
|
BRM P160 3.0 | 1:42.473 | +1.216 |
| 6 | 19 | Graham Hill
|
Brabham BT34-Cosworth 3.0 | 1:42.763 | +1.506 |
| 7 | 26 | Mark Donohue
|
Lola T192-Chevy 5.0** | 1:43.211 | +1.954 |
| 8 | 14 |  Jo Siffert
|
BRM P160 3.0 | 1:43.350 | +2.093 |
| 9 | 2 |  Emerson Fittipaldi
|
Lotus 72C-Cosworth 3.0 | 1:43.358 | +2.101 |
| 10 | 27 | George Follmer
|
Lotus 71-Ford 5.0** | 1:43.474 | +2.217 |
| 11 | 3 |  Reine Wisell
|
Lotus 72C-Cosworth 3.0 | 1:43.535 | +2.278 |
| 12 | 5 | Mario Andretti
|
Ferrari 312B 3.0 | 1:43.542 | +2.285 |
| 13 | 18 |  Henri Pescarolo
|
March 711-Cosworth 3.0 | 1:43.709 | +2.452 |
| 14 | 20 |  Tim Schenken
|
Brabham BT33-Cosworth 3.0 | 1:43.772 | +2.515 |
| 15 | 30 | Sam Posey
|
Surtees TS8-Chevy 5.0** | 1:44.128 | +2.871 |
| 16 | 25 |  John Cannon
|
March 701-Cosworth 3.0 | 1:44.231 | +2.974 |
| 17 | 21 | Ronnie Peterson
|
March 701-Cosworth 3.0 | 1:44.360 | +3.103 |
| 18 | 15 | Howden Ganley
|
BRM P160 3.0 | 1:44.739 | +3.482 |
| 19 | 17 | Derek Bell
|
March 711-Cosworth 3.0 | 1:44.977 | +3.720 |
| 20 | 7 | Peter Gethin
|
McLaren M14-Cosworth 3.0 | 1:45.310 | +4.053 |
| 21 | 37 | Lou Sell
|
Lola T192-Chevy 5.0** | 1:45.397 | +4.140 |
| 22 | 29 | Ron Grable
|
Lola T192-Chevy 5.0** | 1:45.402 | +4.145 |
| 23 | 35 | Bob Bondurant
|
Lola T192-Chevy 5.0** | 1:45.528 | +4.371 |
| 24 | 31 | Peter Revson
|
Surtees TS8-Chevy 5.0** | 1:45.668 | +4.411 |
| 25 | 34 | Tony Adamowicz
|
Lola T192-Chevy 5.0** | 1:47.831 | +6.574 |
| 26 | 33 | Al Unser
|
Lola T192-Chevy 5.0** | 1:48.172 | +6.925 |
| 27 | 38 | Bobby Unser
|
Lola T190-Chevy 5.0** | 1:48.512 | +7.255 |
| 28 | 36 | Gus Hutchinson
|
ASD American-Chevy 5.0** | 1:50.954 | +9.697 |
| 29 | 32 | Swede Savage
|
Eagle 69/511-Plymouth 5.0** | 1:51.509 | +10.252 |
| 30 | 28 | A.J. Foyt
|
McLaren M10B-Chevy 5.0** | 1:52.229 | +10.972 |
| RES | 40 | David Hobbs
|
McLaren M10B-Chevy 5.0** | 1:45.331 | +4.074 |
| RES | 23 | Pete Lovely
|
Lotus 49/69-Cosworth 3.0 | 1:47.269 | +6.012 |
| RES | 39 | Jack Byars
|
T190-Chevy 5.0** | 1:54.468 | +13.211 |
Heat One[]
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Time/Retired |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Andretti
|
Ferrari | 56:03.05 |
| 2 | Jackie Stewart
|
Tyrrell-Cosworth | +3.00 |
| 3 | Jo Siffert
|
BRM | +42.33 |
| 4 | Denny Hulme
|
McLaren-Cosworth | |
| 5 | Jacky Ickx
|
Ferrari |
Heat Two[]
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Time/Retired |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Andretti
|
Ferrari | 55:45.36 |
| 2 | Jackie Stewart
|
Tyrrell-Cosworth | +12.30 |
| 3 | Chris Amon
|
Matra | +12.58 |
| 4 | Pedro Rodriguez
|
BRM | |
| 5 | Denny Hulme
|
McLaren-Cosworth |
Aggregate[]
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Time/Retired | Points | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Andretti
|
Ferrari | 1:51:48.41 | 80 | $39,400 |
| 2 | Jackie Stewart
|
Tyrrell-Cosworth | +15.91 | 70 | $25,250 |
| 3 | Denny Hulme
|
McLaren-Cosworth | +1:28.57 | 58 | $17,400 |
| 4 | Chris Amon
|
Matra | +1:40.27 | 58 | $14,350 |
| 5 | Tim Schenken
|
Brabham-Cosworth | +1 lap | 50 | $13,550 |
| 6 | Jo Siffert
|
BRM | 50 | $13,550 | |
| 7 | Ron Grable
|
Lola-Chevy | 45 | $8,000 | |
| 8 | Peter Gethin
|
McLaren-Cosworth | 43 | $11,850 | |
| 9 | Howden Ganley
|
BRM | 43 | $11,350 | |
| 10 | Pedro Rodríguez
|
BRM | 41 | $12,150 | |
| 11 | Jacky Ickx
|
Ferrari | 39 | $11,250 | |
| 12 | John Cannon
|
March-Cosworth | 38 | $6,250 | |
| 13 | Lou Sell
|
Lola-Chevy | 36 | $6,000 | |
| 14 | Mark Donohue
|
Lola-Chevy | 34 | $5,750 | |
| 15 | Derek Bell
|
March-Cosworth | 32 | $9,850 | |
| 16 | Bobby Unser
|
Lola-Chevy | 32 | $5,250 | |
| 17 | Tony Adamowicz
|
Lola-Chevy | 50 | $5,000 | |
| 18 | Ronnie Peterson
|
March-Cosworth | 30 | $9,100 | |
| 19 | Gus Hutchinson
|
ASD American-Chevy | 29 | $4,500 |