| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 5 of 14 in the 1975 Formula One season | ||
 | ||
| Date | May 11, 1975 | |
| Official name | XXXIII Gran Prix de Monaco | |
| Location | Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco | |
| Course | Street circuit 3.278 km (2.037 mi) | |
| Distance | 75 laps, 245.850 km (152.764 mi) | |
| Scheduled Distance | 78 laps, 255.684 km (158.874 mi) | |
| Weather | Rain, later drying | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Niki Lauda
|
Ferrari |
| Time | 1:26.40 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver |  Patrick Depailler
|
Tyrrell-Ford |
| Time | 1:28.67 on lap 68 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Niki Lauda
|
Ferrari |
| Second |  Emerson Fittipaldi
|
McLaren-Ford |
| Third | Carlos Pace
|
Brabham-Ford |
The 1975 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held in Monaco on May 11, 1975. It was the fifth race of the 1975 Formula One season. It was the 33rd Monaco Grand Prix since the race was first held in 1929. It was held over 75 of the scheduled 78 laps of the three kilometre street circuit, for a race distance of 245 kilometres.
The race was won by Austrian driver Niki Lauda giving the new Ferrari 312T its first win. The win broke a 20 year drought at Monaco for Ferrari. Lauda dominated the race, only losing the lead during a pitstop. He won by two seconds over the McLaren M23 of Emerson Fittipaldi. Carlos Pace finished third in his Brabham BT44B.
Race summary[]
The future of Grand Prix racing was under scrutiny following the disastrous Spanish Grand Prix held three weeks prior. Actions had to be taken quickly: extra guard rails and catch fences were erected, kerbing moved and the chicane was modified. New measures were introduced: the grid was staggered and in addition would be restricted to just 18 cars. This last change affected Graham Hill's chance to qualify: the five-time Monaco winner had all sorts of practice problems and failed to qualify by 0.377 seconds. John Watson and Clay Regazzoni collided in practice, whilst the Surtees team was ordered to remove pro-Europe political stickers from its cars.
Niki Lauda, on Ferrari, claimed pole position, but sensationally sharing the front row was Tom Pryce, driving a Shadow, who just 12 months earlier had been deemed 'too inexperienced' to compete. Jean-Pierre Jarier and Ronnie Peterson filled the second row.
The race began under rain conditions, so everyone went for wet tyres. Lauda was fastest at the start, while Pryce had a slow start and was passed by Jarier; the Frenchman soon attempted to pass Lauda in an ill-advised overtaking manoeuvre, and hit the barriers at the Mirabeau; his car was damaged in the collision and handled badly, which caused him to hit the wall again at the chicane and then retire. Peterson went into the second place with Vittorio Brambilla third, until Pryce hit the Italian's wheel. Regazzoni stopped to change a tyre and the nosecone of his car, and James Hunt stopped to change onto slick tyres, anticipating a drying of the track surface. However, his team's slow pit work cost him a substantial amount of time.
Ronnie Peterson's victory chances were damaged at his pit stop when a wheel nut was lost under the car. Tom Pryce came in to replace a broken nosecone, and by that time Niki Lauda led by 15 seconds from Emerson Fittipaldi and Carlos Pace. Many accidents happened during the race: Jochen Mass and James Hunt tangled at Mirabeau, and Patrick Depailler got embroiled in their accident; Clay Regazzoni hit the chicane and suffered damage; John Watson spun and stalled the engine of his car; Pryce hit the barrier and had to retire; Mario Andretti entered the pits with his car on fire; Mark Donohue hit the barrier, whilst Alan Jones broke a wheel.
In the last laps Lauda's oil pressure was fading and Fittipaldi was closing. With three laps left the gap was 2.75 seconds, however,the two hour time limit was reached and the race was stopped, with Lauda winning. Ferrari had won their first Monaco Grand Prix in 20 years; the tragedy of the Spanish Grand Prix receded and the championship race was back on. Fittipaldi's second position strengthened his narrow points lead over early season points leader Pace.
Classification[]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Niki Lauda
|
Ferrari | 75 | 2:01:21.31 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 1 | Emerson Fittipaldi
|
McLaren-Ford | 75 | + 2.78 | 9 | 6 |
| 3 | 8 | Carlos Pace
|
Brabham-Ford | 75 | + 17.81 | 8 | 4 |
| 4 | 5 |  Ronnie Peterson
|
Lotus-Ford | 75 | + 38.45 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | 4 | Patrick Depailler
|
Tyrrell-Ford | 75 | + 40.86 | 12 | 2 |
| 6 | 2 |  Jochen Mass
|
McLaren-Ford | 75 | + 42.07 | 15 | 1 |
| 7 | 3 |  Jody Scheckter
|
Tyrrell-Ford | 74 | + 1 Lap | 7 | |
| 8 | 6 |  Jacky Ickx
|
Lotus-Ford | 74 | + 1 Lap | 14 | |
| 9 | 7 |  Carlos Reutemann
|
Brabham-Ford | 73 | + 2 Laps | 10 | |
| Ret | 28 |  Mark Donohue
|
Penske-Ford | 66 | Accident | 16 | |
| Ret | 24 |  James Hunt
|
Hesketh-Ford | 63 | Accident | 11 | |
| Ret | 26 |  Alan Jones
|
Hesketh-Ford | 61 | Wheel | 18 | |
| Ret | 9 |  Vittorio Brambilla
|
March-Ford | 48 | Accident | 5 | |
| Ret | 16 | Tom Pryce
|
Shadow-Ford | 39 | Accident | 2 | |
| Ret | 11 |  Clay Regazzoni
|
Ferrari | 36 | Accident | 17 | |
| Ret | 18 | John Watson
|
Surtees-Ford | 36 | Spun Off | 6 | |
| Ret | 27 | Mario Andretti
|
Parnelli-Ford | 9 | Oil Leak | 13 | |
| Ret | 17 | Jean-Pierre Jarier
|
Shadow-Ford | 0 | Accident | 3 | |
| DNQ | 21 | Jacques Laffite
|
Williams-Ford | ||||
| DNQ | 20 | Arturo Merzario
|
Williams-Ford | ||||
| DNQ | 23 | Graham Hill
|
Hill-Ford | ||||
| DNQ | 14 | Bob Evans
|
BRM | ||||
| DNQ | 31 |  Roelof Wunderink
|
Ensign-Ford | ||||
| DNQ | 25 | Torsten Palm
|
Hesketh-Ford | ||||
| DNQ | 10 | Lella Lombardi
|
March-Ford | ||||
| DNQ | 30 | Wilson Fittipaldi
|
Fittipaldi-Ford |
Notes[]
- The race was originally scheduled for 78 laps, but was stopped after reaching the two hours limit.
- Graham Hill's last race appearance.
Standings after the race[]
|
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References[]
- Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 76–77.
- "The Official Formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1975/462/. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
| Previous race: 1975 Spanish Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1975 season |
Next race: 1975 Belgian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1974 Monaco Grand Prix |
Monaco Grand Prix | Next race: 1976 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by None |
Formula One Promotional Trophy for Race Promoter 1975 |
Succeeded by 1976 United States Grand Prix West |
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This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1975 Monaco Grand Prix. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |