1974 German Grand Prix

1974 German Grand Prix
Race details
Date	4 August 1974
Official name	XXXVI Großer Preis von Deutschland
Location	Nürburgring, Nürburg, West Germany
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	22.835 km (14.189 mi)
Distance	14 laps, 319.690 km (198.646 mi)
Weather	Overcast, showers
Pole position
Driver	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
Time	7:00.80[1][2]
Fastest lap
Driver	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford
Time	7:11.10[3] on lap 11
Podium
First	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
Second	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford
Third	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford
show Lap leaders

The 1974 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring on 4 August 1974. It was race 11 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 36th German Grand Prix and the 33rd to be held at the Nürburgring complex of circuits. The race was won by Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni driving a Ferrari 312B3. Regazzoni led every lap on the way to his second Grand Prix victory, some four years after his debut victory at the 1970 Italian Grand Prix. South African driver Jody Scheckter was second driving a Tyrrell 007 ahead of Argentine driver Carlos Reutemann (Brabham BT44).

Since the 1973 event the main straight had been widened and resurfaced. In response to new FIA regulations stating that all FIA-mandated races must have safety walls, the organizers replaced the bushes lining the straight with Armco and placed sandy surface where grass could grow on both sides of the straight. Regazzoni's win, coupled with Niki Lauda's first lap crash, put the Swiss Ferrari driver back into the lead of the championship he had previous held earlier in the year. Lauda crashed his Ferrari 312B3 attempting to pass Scheckter. Emerson Fittipaldi also was an early retirement after making a very slow start in his McLaren M23 and was struck by his teammate Denny Hulme putting out both cars within a lap. Hulme attempted to restart the race in a spare car and was disqualified for doing so. Mike Hailwood was another to crash, having a large accident on the second last lap at Pflanzgarten in his McLaren M23. The former motorcyclist received a badly broken leg in the accident which became a career-ending injury. Occasional showers fell during the race, contributing to the accident toll which also claimed Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell 007), Jacques Laffite (Williams FW02) and John Watson (Brabham BT44). Just 14 cars finished the race, although Hailwood would also be classified as a finisher, out of the 26 starters. There was six cars who failed to qualify including Chris Amon (Amon AF101) who pulled out due to illness.

Howden Ganley also suffered a serious accident during Friday's practice. The rear suspension failed on the Maki at Hatzenbach and he swerved right into the Armco barrier, ripping off the nose section of the car. Ganley's legs were dangling out the front of the car. He got out by himself but he collapsed when he got to the fence, his ankles seriously injured. This led to Ganley's retirement from Formula 1.

Regazzoni moved into a three-point lead in the championship over Scheckter. Former points leader Lauda dropped to third, six points behind his Ferrari teammate and just one ahead of Fittipaldi. Ferrari moved eight points clear of McLaren in the constructor's standings.

Classification[]

Qualifying[]

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	12	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	7:00.80	—
2	11	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	7:01.10	+0.30
3	5	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Ford	7:02.30	+1.50
4	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford	7:03.40	+2.60
5	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	7:06.20	+5.40
6	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	7:07.20	+6.40
7	6	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	7:08.80	+8.00
8	1	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	7:09.00	+8.20
9	2	Jacky Ickx	Lotus-Ford	7:09.10	+8.30
10	19	Jochen Mass	Surtees-Ford	7:09.80	+9.00
11	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow-Ford	7:09.90	+9.10
12	33	Mike Hailwood	McLaren-Ford	7:10.10	+9.30
13	24	James Hunt	Hesketh-Ford	7:10.40	+9.60
14	28	John Watson	Brabham-Ford	7:10.51	+9.71
15	14	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	7:10.53	+9.73
16	20	Arturo Merzario	Iso-Marlboro-Ford	7:11.20	+10.40
17	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Ford	7:12.70	+11.90
18	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow-Ford	7:14.90	+14.10
19	26	Graham Hill	Lola-Ford	7:15.50	+14.70
20	9	Hans-Joachim Stuck	March-Ford	7:16.00	+15.20
21	21	Jacques Laffite	Iso-Marlboro-Ford	7:17.60	+16.80
22	22	Vern Schuppan	Ensign-Ford	7:20.81	+20.01
23	10	Vittorio Brambilla	March-Ford	7:20.88	+20.08
24	15	Henri Pescarolo	BRM	7:20.90	+20.10
25	18	Derek Bell	Surtees-Ford	7:22.00	+21.20
26	32	Ian Ashley	Token-Ford	7:24.60	+23.80
27	37	François Migault	BRM	7:26.30	+25.50
28	23	Tim Schenken	Trojan-Ford	7:29.10	+28.30
29	27	Guy Edwards	Lola-Ford	7:31.50	+30.70
30	30	Larry Perkins	Amon-Ford	7:36.20	+35.40
31	30	Chris Amon	Amon-Ford	8:26.20	+1:25.40
32	25	Howden Ganley	Maki-Ford	—	—

*Positions with a pink background indicate drivers that failed to qualify. Ashley failed to qualify, but started at the back of the grid.

Race[]

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	11	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	14	1:41:35.0	2	9
2	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford	14	+ 50.7	4	6
3	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	14	+ 1:23.3	6	4
4	1	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	14	+ 1:24.2	8	3
5	2	Jacky Ickx	Lotus-Ford	14	+ 1:25.0	9	2
6	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow-Ford	14	+ 2:18.1	11	1
7	9	Hans Joachim Stuck	March-Ford	14	+ 2:58.7	20
8	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow-Ford	14	+ 3:25.9	18
9	26	Graham Hill	Lola-Ford	14	+ 3:26.4	19
10	15	Henri Pescarolo	BRM	14	+ 4:17.7	24
11	18	Derek Bell	Surtees-Ford	14	+ 5:17.7	25
12	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Ford	14	+ 6:26.3	17
13	10	Vittorio Brambilla	March-Ford	14	+ 8:43.1	23
14	32	Ian Ashley	Token-Ford	13	+ 1 Lap	26
15	33	Mike Hailwood	McLaren-Ford	12	Accident	12
Ret	19	Jochen Mass	Surtees-Ford	10	Engine	10
Ret	24	James Hunt	Hesketh-Ford	10	Gearbox	13
Ret	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	5	Accident	5
Ret	20	Arturo Merzario	Iso-Marlboro-Ford	5	Throttle	16
Ret	14	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	4	Fuel system	15
Ret	22	Vern Schuppan	Ensign-Ford	4	Gearbox	22
Ret	5	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Ford	2	Suspension	3
Ret	21	Jacques Laffite	Iso-Marlboro-Ford	2	Suspension	21
Ret	28	John Watson	Brabham-Ford	1	Suspension	14
Ret	12	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	0	Accident	1
DSQ	6	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	0	Disqualified[4]	7
DNQ	37	François Migault	BRM
DNQ	23	Tim Schenken	Trojan-Ford
DNQ	27	Guy Edwards	Lola-Ford
DNQ	30	Larry Perkins	Amon-Ford
DNQ	30	Chris Amon	Amon-Ford
DNQ	25	Howden Ganley	Maki-Ford		Practice Accident
Source:[5]

Championship standings after the race[]

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Clay Regazzoni 44 2 Jody Scheckter 41 3 Niki Lauda 38 4 Emerson Fittipaldi 37 5 Ronnie Peterson 22 Source: [6]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 57 2 McLaren-Ford 49 (51) 3 Tyrrell-Ford 45 4 Lotus-Ford 29 5 Brabham-Ford 15 Source: [6]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 7 results from the first 8 races and the best 6 results from the last 7 races counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References[]