1971 South African Grand Prix

The 1971 South African Grand Prix, formally the Fifth AA Grand Prix of South Africa (Afrikaans: Vyfde AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix[1]), was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on 6 March 1971. It was race 1 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won by Mario Andretti who was driving for the Ferrari team in what was his first Formula One victory, but would not win another race until 1976.[2]

1971 South African Grand Prix
The Kyalami Circuit (1967–1985)
Race details
Date 6 March 1971
Official name Fifth AA Grand Prix of South Africa
Location Kyalami, Midrand, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.104 km (2.550 mi)
Distance 79 laps, 324.216 km (201.458 mi)
Weather Sunny, Hot, Dry
Pole position
Driver
Tyrrell-Ford
Time 1:17.8
Fastest lap
Driver Mario Andretti Ferrari
Time 1:20.3 on lap 73
Podium
First
Ferrari
Second
Tyrrell-Ford
Third
Ferrari

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 they had a strong line-up consisting of Mario Andretti, Clay Regazzoni and Jacky Ickx.

Jackie Stewart took pole in the Tyrrell to join Chris Amon and Regazzoni on the front row. Denny Hulme was suffering with a new suspension that he said 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 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
PosNo.DriverConstructorLapGap
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
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
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  
Source:[3]

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
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
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References
  1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1971". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  2. Leslie, Jack (18 August 2017). "The 5 Drivers with the Biggest Gap between First and Second F1 Wins". wtf1.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  3. "1971 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  4. "South Africa 1971 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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1970 Mexican Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1971 season		 Next race:
1971 Spanish Grand Prix
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1972 South African Grand Prix
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