1971 South African Grand Prix

  1971 South African Grand Prix

Race details
Race 1 of 11 in the 1971 Formula One season
The Kyalami Circuit (1967–1985)
Date	6 March 1971
Official name	XVII South African Grand Prix
Location	Kyalami, Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.104 km (2.550 mi)
Distance	79 laps, 324.216 km (201.458 mi)
Weather	Sunny, Hot, Dry
Pole position
Driver	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford
Time	1:17.8
Fastest lap
Driver	Mario Andretti	Ferrari
Time	1:20.3 on lap 73
Podium
First	Mario Andretti	Ferrari
Second	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford
Third	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari

The 1971 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on 6 March 1971. The race, which was the first round of the 1971 Formula One season, was won by Mario Andretti who was driving for the Ferrari team.

Report

It was expected the 12-cylinder cars would be dominant over the V8 Ford Cosworths – Ferrari had won four out of the last five Grands Prix in 1970, and with a strong line-up of Mario Andretti, Clay Regazzoni and Jacky Ickx seemed a certain bet for the title.

Jackie Stewart took pole in the Tyrrell with a superb lap time to join Chris Amon and Regazzoni on the front row. Denny Hulme was suffering with a new suspension that was behaving very strangely.

At the start, Regazzoni led the field away at the start – both Stewart and Amon suffering slow starts. Emerson Fittipaldi managed to hold off Hulme until lap three when he dived through to chase the Ferraris. On lap 17, he squeezed through dramatically under braking and the orange McLaren once again led a race. Pedro Rodríguez was forced to retire from fourth place when his bodywork started to melt and the hot air began burning his feet. The heat also took its toll on Jo Siffert, whose engine overheated and Howden Ganley who was taken ill with heat exhaustion. On lap 37, John Surtees who had steadily been moving up the field, managed to pass Regazzoni. Surtees however, suffered a gearbox failure on lap 57. Andretti took his first career victory, driving a Ferrari; his teammate Regazzoni finished in third place behind Stewart.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No.	Driver	Constructor	Lap	Gap
1	9	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	1:17.8	—
2	19	Chris Amon	Matra	1:18.4	+0.6
3	5	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	1:18.7	+0.9
4	6	Mario Andretti	Ferrari	1:19.0	+1.2
5	2	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	1:19.1	+1.3
6	20	John Surtees	Surtees-Ford	1:19.1	+1.3
7	11	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	1:19.1	+1.3
8	4	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:19.2	+1.4
9	10	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	1:19.2	+1.4
10	16	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1:19.3	+1.5
11	12	Peter Gethin	McLaren-Ford	1:19.6	+1.8
12	15	Dave Charlton	Brabham-Ford	1:19.8	+2.0
13	7	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	1:19.9	+2.1
14	3	Reine Wisell	Lotus-Ford	1:19.9	+2.1
15	21	Rolf Stommelen	Surtees-Ford	1:20.1	+2.3
16	17	Jo Siffert	BRM	1:20.2	+2.4
17	28	Brian Redman	Surtees-Ford	1:20.2	+2.4
18	22	Henri Pescarolo	March-Ford	1:20.2	+2.4
19	14	Graham Hill	Brabham-Ford	1:20.5	+2.7
20	25	Jackie Pretorius	Brabham-Ford	1:21.7	+3.9
21	24	John Love	March-Ford	1:21.9	+4.1
22	8	Andrea de Adamich	March-Alfa Romeo	1:22.2	+4.4
23	23	Jo Bonnier	McLaren-Ford	1:22.3	+4.5
24	27	Howden Ganley	BRM	1:23.7	+5.9
25	26	Alex Soler-Roig	March-Ford	1:25.8	+8.0

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Mario Andretti	Ferrari	79	1:47:35.5	4	9
2	9	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	79	+20.9	1	6
3	5	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	79	+31.4	3	4
4	3	Reine Wisell	Lotus-Ford	79	+ 1:09.4	14	3
5	19	Chris Amon	Matra	78	+ 1 Lap	2	2
6	11	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	78	+ 1 Lap	7	1
7	28	Brian Redman	Surtees-Ford	78	+ 1 Lap	17
8	4	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	78	+ 1 Lap	8
9	14	Graham Hill	Brabham-Ford	77	+ 2 Laps	19
10	7	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	77	+ 2 Laps	13
11	22	Henri Pescarolo	March-Ford	77	+ 2 Laps	18
12	21	Rolf Stommelen	Surtees-Ford	77	+ 2 Laps	15
13	8	Andrea de Adamich	March-Alfa Romeo	75	+4 Laps	22
Ret	2	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	58	Engine	5
Ret	20	John Surtees	Surtees-Ford	56	Gearbox	6
Ret	10	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	45	Accident	9
Ret	27	Howden Ganley	BRM	42	Physical	24
Ret	16	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	33	Overheating	10
Ret	15	Dave Charlton	Brabham-Ford	31	Engine	16
Ret	17	Jo Siffert	BRM	31	Overheating	12
Ret	24	John Love	March-Ford	30	Differential	21
Ret	25	Jackie Pretorius	Brabham-Ford	22	Engine	20
Ret	12	Peter Gethin	McLaren-Ford	7	Fuel Leak	11
Ret	23	Jo Bonnier	McLaren-Ford	5	Suspension	23
Ret	26	Alex Soler-Roig	March-Ford	5	Engine	25

Notes

• First Grand Prix win for Mario Andretti, and the only one he would win with Ferrari
• First Start: Alex Soler-Roig

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Mario Andretti 9 2 Jackie Stewart 6 3 Clay Regazzoni 4 4 Reine Wisell 3 5 Chris Amon 2

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 9 2 Tyrrell-Ford 6 3 Lotus-Ford 3 4 Matra 2 5 McLaren-Ford 1

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

• "The Official Formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1971/514/. Retrieved 2008-01-18. 

• "chicanef1.com". Archived

from the original on 2009-07-21. http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1971&gp=South%20African%20GP&r=1. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 

Previous race: 1970 Mexican Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 1971 season	Next race: 1971 Spanish Grand Prix
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