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1971 South African Grand Prix

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1971 South African Grand Prix
The Kyalami Circuit (1967–1985)
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 miles)
Distance 79 laps, 324.216 km (201.458 miles)
Weather Sunny, Hot, Dry
Pole position
Driver Tyrrell-Ford
Time 1:17.8
Fastest lap
Driver United States Mario Andretti Ferrari
Time 1:20.3 on lap 73
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Tyrrell-Ford
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders

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 Formula One race until 1976.[2]

Report

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It was expected the 12-cylinder cars would be dominant over the V8 Ford-Cosworths as 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.[citation needed]

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

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Qualifying

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

Race

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

Notes

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  • This was the Formula One World Championship debut for New Zealand driver Howden Ganley.
  • This race marked the 200th podium finish for a British driver.
  • This race saw the first podium finish for British constructor Tyrrell.

Championship standings after the race

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

References

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  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. ^ a b "South Africa 1971 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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1970 Mexican Grand Prix
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1971 season
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