1975 Austrian Grand Prix

Results from the 1975 Formula One Austrian Grand Prix held at Österreichring on August 17, 1975. The race was shortened by heavy rain, meaning that only half points were awarded.

Race summary

Niki Lauda delighted his home crowd by claiming his seventh pole position of the year. Rolf Stommelen returned after his crash in Spain, Chris Amon had returned for Ensign and Brett Lunger qualified well in his début for Hesketh.Practice was marred by a series of accidents, Brian Henton crashing his Lotus when he hit an oil patch and Wilson Fittipaldi breaking two bones in his hand. During the final practice session, Mark Donohue crashed on a flat out curve. The catch fencing balled up under the car, catapulting it into an advertising hoarding. Two marshals died in the accident, and a resulting brain hemorrhage would kill Donohue three days later.

As the grid formed up, there were reports of rain at the far side of the track. Thunderclouds were forming ominously and the cars were returned to the pits to change to wet tyres.

After 45 minutes, the grid reformed.Lauda led off the start from James Hunt and Patrick Depailler who had shot up from the fourth row. Mario Andretti spun off, whilst Bob Evans retired the BRM.
Vittorio Brambilla had shot through the spray to gain a magnificent third place, with Ronnie Peterson leaping from 10th to 4th.

By lap 12, it was obvious that Lauda's car wasn't set up fully to cope with wet conditions and by lap 15 Hunt stormed by to lead for the fifth time this season. However, this was to be shortlived. The Hesketh's engine was running on only seven cylinders and Brambilla was clambering all over the back of the car. Ahead of them Lunger was driving carefully in his first wet race and could not see the leaders approaching him. Brambilla seized the lead and it took a further two laps for Hunt to finally pass his team-mate. Peterson had to pit to replace a faulty visor, whilst the Brabham drivers found they had been racing with one of their own rear tyres and one of their team-mates'. Jochen Mass spun out of third place, and soon there was frantic activity between the Grand Prix Drivers' Association and the race officials as to whether the race should continue-it was brought to a halt on lap 29.

As Brambilla took the flag, he crashed into the barriers and the March team celebrated a historic victory. However, behind the scenes, there was confusion. Some teams were preparing for a restart, but as the race had been stopped with a chequered flag only, this could not happen. The race results would stand, but with only half points awarded. Brambilla, the oldest man in the field at 37, had won his first Grand Prix.

Classification

Notes

* Scheduled for 54 laps, but stopped early because of rain. Half points were awarded.
*Pole position: Niki Lauda - 1:34.85cite book | last = Lang | first = Mike | title = Grand Prix! Vol 3 | publisher = Haynes Publishing Group | year = 1983 | pages = p93 | isbn = 0-85429-380-9]
*Fastest lap: Vittorio Brambilla - 1:53.9cite book | last = Lang | first = Mike | title = Grand Prix! Vol 3 | publisher = Haynes Publishing Group | year = 1983 | pages = p95 | isbn = 0-85429-380-9]
*Mark Donohue was involved in a crash in practice, which he survived, only to later succumb to a brain hemorrhage.

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/1975/469/ | accessdate = 2007-06-15

F1 race report
Name_of_race = Austrian Grand Prix
Year_of_race = 1975
Previous_race_in_season = 1975 German Grand Prix
Next_race_in_season = 1975 Italian Grand Prix
Previous_year's_race = 1974 Austrian Grand Prix
Next_year's_race = 1976 Austrian Grand Prix