Formula One 1975 Season

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Regulations:

Engine: 1500 cc (supercharged / turbocharged), 3000 cc (normally aspirated)
Cylinders: 12 (maximum)
Weight:
575 kg (minimum)
Points - Driver & Constructors: 1st: 9, 2nd: 6, 3rd: 4, 4th: 3, 5th: 2, 6th: 1

Ronnie Peterson's John Player Special Lotus 72
Emerson Fittipaldi's McLaren M23 won the Argentine GP after Reutemann and Hunt had dropped back.

The end of the 1975 John Player British GP
The end of the 1975 John Player British GP. Twelve cars, including most of the leaders, were eliminated on the 56th lap. The race had been dogged by foul weather, necessitating as many as four tire changes. The race was abandoned after Emerson Fittipaldi completed his 56th lap, but it took another 3 days for officials to establish the finishing order.

Mark Donohue
Mark Donohue was one of the nicest people in motorsport - and many mourned when he was killed during practice for the 1975 Austrian GP. An experienced development engineer, Donohue had been Trans-Am Champion in 1968, 1969 and 1970 in Roger Penske's Camaro, Can-Am Champion in a Porsche 917 in 1973 and Indianapolis winner in 1972.

Tony Brise
Tony Brise, who was killed in a senseless air crash at the end of the 1975 season, along with Graham Hill.

Graham Hill
Graham Hill, killed in an air crash at the end of the 1975 season, along with Tony Brise and four other team members - the team was then disbanded.

Lord Hesketh and James Hunt with the 1975 Hesketh 308C
Lord Hesketh and James Hunt with the 1975 Hesketh 308C. The car was very low, apart from the cockpit, and featured rubber springing. After the demise of the racing team from Easton Neston, the Frank Williams equipe took over the project.

The Constructors



All Ferrari's earlier promise finally netted the results in 1975 and Niki Lauda took the world championship away from the Ford-powered cars for the first time since 1968, once more fuelling the longstanding pronostications that the DFV's reign was over. The introduction of the Ferrari 312T marked the beginning of a long run of successes for the Maranello marque. The outstanding feature of the 312T was its use of a transversely mounted gearbox, yet another variation on the low polar moment theme, but this time one that worked.

One other car that looked as though it was on the road to success was the latest Shadow, the DN5; a sterling performance in Argentina, in practice, and another in the Brazilian race were highspots in an otherwise frustrating season. New cars appeared from Lola, Ensign, Frank Williams and the Brazilian Copersucar team, formed by Wilson Fittipaldi. The return of Lola to F I was not a successful one and before the end of the season the Hill team, which was running their cars, had built their own contender.

However the potential of the team was never fully realised as the key personnel, including Hill and the designer Andy Smallman, were killed in a flying accident in November 1975. The Hesketh team's swansong was the 308C which made its debut in Italy. The car featured an extremely shallow monocoque tub with the fuel load carried centrally, and low line air intakes which anticipated the 1976 rules, which banned high air boxes.

Project 34



The Hesketh team were to be disbanded at the end of 1975 and the car was never developed to the extent it deserved. Before the end of the 1975 season, Tyrrell dropped a bombshell when he revealed his new car - known then as Project 34 - to a disbelieving world; Project 34 had six wheels. Far from being the publicity grabber that many dubbed it, P34 was developed over the closed season and the early part of 1976 to be among the top three competitors.

Gardner's thinking in providing the car with four mini-sized front wheels was to maintain - or even improve - the tire contact area and consequently braking and steering power, with a reduction in frontal area to give a higher top speed. When early brake-cooling and setting-up problems had been overcome the car showed that its major advantage was that the narrow front track allowed the drivers to go much deeper into the corners before turning in, allowing them to brake a little later and harder.

Perspex windows in the cockpit sides, to allow the drivers to see the tiny wheels, also let spectators in on the fact that the six-wheeler was something of a handful to drive. Whether P34 would have been quicker than a newly developed conventional Tyrrell is a matter for conjecture but several other teams were rumoured to be thinking along similar lines.
1975 Grand Prix Calendar
Date
Grand Prix Circuit
Pole Position
Winner
January 12th, 1975
Argentina
Argentine GP Buenos Aires Jean-Pierre Jarier Emerson Fittipaldi
January 26th, 1975
Brazil
Brazilian GP Interlagos Jean-Pierre Jarier Carlos Pace
March 1st, 1975
South Africa
South African GP Kyalami
Carlos Pace Jody Scheckter
April 27th, 1975
Spain
Spanish GP Montjuich Park Niki Lauda Jochen Mass
May 11th, 1975
Monaco
Monaco GP Monte Carlo Niki Lauda Niki Lauda
May 25th, 1975
Belgum
Belgian GP Zolder Niki Lauda Niki Lauda
June 8th, 1975
Sweden
Swedish GP Anderstorp Vittorio Brambilla Niki Lauda
June 22nd, 1975
Netherlands
Dutch GP Zandvoort Niki Lauda James Hunt
July 6th, 1975
France
French GP Paul Ricard Niki Lauda Niki Lauda
July 19th, 1975
Great Britain
British GP Silverstone Tom Pryce Emerson Fittipaldi
August 3rd, 1975
Germany
German GP Nürburgring Niki Lauda Carlos Reutemann
August 17th, 1975
Austria
Austrian GP Osterreichring Niki Lauda Vittorio Brambilla
September 7th, 1975
Italy
Italian GP Monza Niki Lauda Clay Regazzoni
October 5th, 1975
United States
United States GP Watkins Glen Niki Lauda Niki Lauda
1975 F1 Drivers
Championship
Position
Driver
Points
C
Niki Lauda
64.5
2
Emerson Fittipaldi
45
3
Carlos Reutemann
37
4
James Hunt
33
5
Clay Regazzoni
25
6
Carlos Pace
24
7
Jody Scheckter
20
8
Jochen Mass
20
1975 F1 Constructors
Championship
Position
Manufacturer
Points
C
Ferrari / Ferrari
72.5
2
Brabham / Ford
54
3
McLaren / Ford
53
4
Hesketh / Ford
33
5
Tyrrell / Ford
25
6
Shadow / Ford
9.5
7
Lotus / Ford
9
8
March / Ford
7.5
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