Dutch GP 1974

Dutch GP, 1974

There was controversy even before the Dutch Grand Prix with the Trojan team being refused an entry for the third consecutive race. The team complained the British national sporting authority and the international sporting federation then announced that race organizers had to accept however many entries materialized. Thus Trojan was allowed to enter and there was a field of 27 cars at Zandvoort. There had been changes int he driver lineup with Shadow having signed up Tom Pryce as second driver, following Brian Redman's decision not to continue. Arturo Merzario was back in action with Williams (which rented the second car Gijs Van Lennep) and Hans Stuck had recovered from his broken thumb and was back in the March team. Surtees was down to one car as Carlos Pace had left the team after a dispute with John Surtees. He was not replaced.

Qualifying resulted in an all-Ferrari front row with Niki Lauda once again beating Clay Regazzoni. The second row featured the McLarens of Emerson Fittipaldi (Marlboro) and Mike Hailwood (Yardley) while Jody Scheckter's Tyrrell was fifth, sharing the third row with James Hunt's Hesketh. The fourth row featured Jean-Pierre Jarier's Shadow and the second Tyrrell, driven by Patrick Depailler while the top 10 was completed by Denny Hulme (McLaren) and Ronnie Peterson, who was a little off form having been knocked unconscious in a pre-race testing accident in his Lotus. Jacky Ickx had another disappointing qualifying in the second Lotus, lining up 18th while Pryce impressed with 11th place in his Shadow. Also doing well was Guy Edwards's Lola which was 14th on the grid.

In the race Lauda took the lead while Hailwood took second with Regazzoni third and Depailler fourth. Hunt made a poor start and then collided with Pryce at the first corner, putting both men out.

On the second lap Regazzoni overtook Hailwood, while further back Fittipaldi took fifth place from Scheckter. In the lap that followed little changed, although Hailwood drifted behind Depailler and Fittipaldi. At mid-distance Fittipaldi worked his way ahead of Depailler, the Frenchman struggling with oversteer. This resulted in him falling behind both Hailwood and Scheckter. The top six then remained the same for the last 30 laps with Ferrari scoring its second 1-2 finish of the year. Fittipaldi managed to hold on to his lead in the World Championship with third place but Lauda was only a point behind with Regazzoni two points behind him.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
12 Niki Lauda Ferrari 312B3 75 1h43m00.350s  
11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 312B3 75 1h43m08.600s  
Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Cosworth M23 75 1h43m30.620s  
33 Mike Hailwood McLaren-Cosworth M23 75 1h43m31.640s  
Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Cosworth 007 75 1h43m34.630s  
Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Cosworth 007 75 1h43m51.870s  
28 John Watson Brabham-Cosworth BT42 75 1h44m14.300s  13 
Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Cosworth 72E 73  10 
Rikky von Opel Brabham-Cosworth BT44 73  23 
10 10 Vittorio Brambilla March-Cosworth 741 72  15 
11 Jacky Ickx Lotus-Cosworth 72E 71  18 
12 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Cosworth BT44 71  12 
dq 22 Vern Schuppan Ensign-Cosworth N174 69 Tire Change Outside Pits 17 
Denny Hulme McLaren-Cosworth M23 65 Ignition 
37 Francois Migault BRM P201 60 Gear Linkage 25 
20 Arturo Merzario Iso Marlboro-Cosworth FW 54 Gearbox 21 
27 Guy Edwards Lola-Cosworth T370 36 Fuel System 14 
17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Cosworth DN3 27 Clutch 
14 Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM P201 18 Gearbox 16 
26 Graham Hill Lola-Cosworth T370 16 Clutch 19 
15 Henri Pescarolo BRM P160E 15 Handling 24 
19 Jochen Mass Surtees-Cosworth TS16 Cv Joint 20 
24 James Hunt Hesketh-Cosworth 308 Suspension/ Accident 
Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Cosworth 741 Accident 22 
16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Cosworth DN3 Accident 11 
nq 23 Tim Schenken Trojan-Cosworth T103   26 
nq 21 Gijs van Lennep Iso Marlboro-Cosworth FW   27