1975 Dutch Grand Prix

Results from the 1975 Formula One Dutch Grand Prix held at Circuit Zandvoort on June 22, 1975.

Race summary

Niki Lauda dominated practice, with teammate Clay Regazzoni joining him on the front row. Jean-Pierre Jarier had a crash and the Maki team's weekend ended abruptly in a cloud of smoke from engine problems. James Hunt had a storming practice to take third place on the grid. On Saturday afternoon, weather conditions meant practice teams would not improve, so Hunt was sent out to get some extra testing - during which something in the metering unit broke. This was fortunate as the Dutch Grand Prix did not have Sunday morning practice, so had it not been for those extra laps, the mechanical problems would have occurred during the race itself.

The race was delayed by rainstorms as the teams persuaded the organizers to let them run on wet tyres. Lauda led from Jody Scheckter whilst Vittorio Brambilla and Patrick Depailler collided. Jochen Mass was having metering unit troubles and Jacky Ickx had an exploded engine. Meanwhile Hunt had changing onto dry tyres, taking half a minute for the pit stop, but gaining time rapidly on the drying surface to take the lead by lap 15 and built up a lead over Jarier and Lauda,the Austrian finding overtaking a very difficult prospect indeed.
Emerson Fittipaldi dropped out with engine problems whilst John Watson broke a wing support and Carlos Reutemann passed Tom Pryce suffering from brake problems.

On lap 43, Jarier spun when a tyre burst. Lauda now pursued Hunt desperately for over 20 laps, putting him under immense pressure. Hunt had cracked under similar pressure in Buenos Aires, but this time he resisted. The Ferrari managed to gain on the slow corners, but Hunt pulled ahead on the fast corners and down the straight. The TV directors were so confused that the captions showed 3 laps left to go when a massive roar from the grandstands signalled it was all over. Hunt became the first Englishman since Peter Gethin to win a Grand Prix.

Classification

Notes

*Pole position: Niki Lauda - 1:20.29cite book | last = Lang | first = Mike | title = Grand Prix! Vol 3 | publisher = Haynes Publishing Group | date = 1983 | pages = p83 | isbn = 0-85429-380-9]
*Fastest lap: Niki Lauda - 1:21.54 on lap 55cite book | last = Lang | first = Mike | title = Grand Prix! Vol 3 | publisher = Haynes Publishing Group | date = 1983 | pages = p84 | isbn = 0-85429-380-9]

References

"Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from cite web | title = The Official Formula 1 website | url = http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1975/465/ | accessdate = 2007-06-15

F1 race report
Name_of_race = Dutch Grand Prix
Year_of_race = 1975
Previous_race_in_season = 1975 Swedish Grand Prix
Next_race_in_season = 1975 French Grand Prix
Previous_year's_race = 1974 Dutch Grand Prix
Next_year's_race = 1976 Dutch Grand Prix