1973 Swedish Grand Prix

The 1973 Grand Prix of Sweden was a Formula One motor race held at the Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp on 17 June 1973. It was race 7 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.[2] The 80-lap race was won by McLaren driver Denny Hulme after he started from sixth position. Ronnie Peterson finished second for the Lotus team and Tyrrell driver François Cevert came in third.

1973 Swedish Grand Prix
Race details
Date 17 June 1973
Official name IV Hitachi Grand Prix of Sweden
Location Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp, Sweden
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.018[1] km (2.497 miles)
Distance 80 laps, 321.440[1] km (199.734 miles)
Pole position
Driver
Lotus-Ford
Time 1:23.810
Fastest lap
Driver New Zealand Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford
Time 1:26.146 on lap 7
Podium
First
McLaren-Ford
Second
Lotus-Ford
Third
Tyrrell-Ford
Lap leaders

Ronnie Peterson's success with John Player Team Lotus was the catalyst for a Swedish Grand Prix and the race was held for the first time, at World Championship level, at the grandly-named Scandinavian Raceway in 1973.[3][4]

Background

Entry

A total of 29 F1 cars were entered for this event, however only 22 arrived for the race. The field was smaller than usual as there was no time for teams to repair damaged cars after the Monaco, as they had to be transported 1,200 miles from Monaco to Anderstorp.[3][5]

A number of drivers were missing from action; Arturo Merzario (Scuderia Ferrari), Chris Amon (Martini Racing Team Tecno), Andrea de Adamich (Ceramica Pagnossin Brabham)., David Purley (LEC Refrigeration Racing March) and James Hunt (Hesketh Racing March). Meanwhile, Nanni Galli had decided to retire, so Frank Williams Racing Cars entered Danish driver, Tom Belsø, however it became clear that there was no funding available from his sponsors for the race. Swedish driver, Reine Wisell had rented LEC's March 731.[3][6][7]

Qualifying

Ronnie Peterson did not disappoint his fans in qualifying, taking pole in his Lotus 72E from Tyrrell's François Cevert. Cevert came close to taking pole, but Peterson took it by just 0.089 of a second. The World Championship contenders shared the second row, with Jackie Stewart ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi, while Carlos Reutemann and Denny Hulme made the third row.[3][8][9]

Qualifying classification
Pos No Driver Team Time
1 2 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:23.810
2 6 France François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 1:23.899
3 5 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 1:23.912
4 1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 1:24.084
5 10 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 1:24.489
6 7 New Zealand Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 1:24.625
7 8 United States Peter Revson McLaren-Ford 1:24.937
8 3 Belgium Jacky Ickx Ferrari 1:25.604
9 20 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 1:25.738
10 23 United Kingdom Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 1:25.776
11 25 New Zealand Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 1:25.800
12 19 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni BRM 1:25.995
13 11 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 1:26.127
14 27 Sweden Reine Wisell March-Ford 1:26.187
15 21 Austria Niki Lauda BRM 1:26.211
16 24 Brazil Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 1:26.255
17 17 United Kingdom Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 1:26.305
18 12 United Kingdom Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 1:26.382
19 16 United States George Follmer Shadow-Ford 1:26.632
20 14 France Jean-Pierre Jarier March-Ford 1:26.874
21 15 United Kingdom Mike Beuttler March-Ford 1:28.580
22 26 Denmark Tom Belsø Iso-Marlboro-Ford 1:28.972
Source:[10]

Race

The race was held over 80 laps of the Scandinavian Raceway circuit, in front of a crowd of over 50,000 spectators. There was a delayed start caused by the Grand Prix Drivers' Association complaining about photographers in dangerous places around the circuit.[5][3][9]

Emerson Fittipaldi made the best start and grabbed second behind local hero, Ronnie Peterson. The Tyrrell 006 of François Cevert was third with teammate Jackie Stewart behind him. Carlos Reutemann and Denny Hulme completed the top six, although by lap four, the McLaren of Hulme had moved ahead of the Brabham. The order remained stable until Stewart passed Cevert and began to chase the two JPS Lotuses. By this time, Cevert was having trouble with his tyres and dropped back and was overtaken by Hulme on lap 62. Hulme then started close in on Stewart.[3]

For 70 laps it looked like this was going to be a one-two for John Player Team Lotus with Peterson first and reigning World Champion, Fittipaldi second. However disaster struck when Fittipaldi retired with gearbox failure. With just three laps to go, Hulme overtook Stewart, when the Scot suffered a rear brake failure. Hulme quickly closed the gap on the leader, Peterson having major trouble with tyre wear and fighting to stay on the track.[3][4]

On the 79th and penultimate lap Hulme was able to pass the local hero to snatch victory, the New Zealander's decision to run harder tyres on his McLaren-Cosworth M23 having paid off. Peterson was powerless to defend and eventually finished four seconds adrift in second place, that was as close as any Swede came to winning on home soil. Hulme expressed sadness to "have taken that away from Ronnie." Cevert was a further 10.6 seconds behind Peterson.[3][4]

Race classification
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 7 New Zealand Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 80 1:56:46.049 6 9
2 2 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 80 + 4.039 1 6
3 6 France François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 80 + 14.667 2 4
4 10 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 80 + 18.068 5 3
5 5 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 80 + 25.998 3 2
6 3 Belgium Jacky Ickx Ferrari 79 + 1 Lap 8 1
7 8 United States Peter Revson McLaren-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 7  
8 15 United Kingdom Mike Beuttler March-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 21  
9 19 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni BRM 77 + 3 Laps 12  
10 24 Brazil Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 16  
11 25 New Zealand Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 11  
12 1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 76 Gearbox 4  
13 21 Austria Niki Lauda BRM 75 + 5 Laps 15  
14 16 United States George Follmer Shadow-Ford 74 + 6 Laps 19  
Ret 20 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 57 Engine 9  
Ret 17 United Kingdom Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 50 Suspension 17  
Ret 23 United Kingdom Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 41 Tyre 10  
Ret 14 France Jean-Pierre Jarier March-Ford 38 Throttle 20  
Ret 12 United Kingdom Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 16 Ignition 18  
Ret 11 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 0 Accident 12  
DNS 27 Sweden Reine Wisell March-Ford Suspension 14  
DNS 26 Denmark Tom Belsø Iso-Marlboro-Ford Car Raced by Ganley 22  
Sources:[11][3][12]

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

References
  1. "The Swedish Grand Prix". Motorsport: 735–737. July 1973. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  2. "1973 Swedish Grand Prix Entry list".
  3. "Grand Prix Results: Swedish GP, 1973". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  4. "Swedish Grand Prix – WOI Encyclopedia Italia". Wheelsofitaly.com. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  5. "GP Sweden 1973". Racing Sports Cars. 17 June 1973. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  6. "Tom Belsø – Biography". f1rejects.com. 31 October 2004. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  7. "GP Sweden 1973 – Entry List". Racing Sports Cars. 17 June 1973. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  8. "GP Sweden 1973 – Qualifying Results". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  9. "1973 Swedish GP: Last-lap heartbreak for Peterson at home". F1 Fanatic. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  10. "Sweden 1973 - Qualifications". statsf1.com. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  11. "1973 Swedish Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  12. "GP Sweden 1973 – Race Results". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  13. "Sweden 1973 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
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