United States GP 1971
OCTOBER 3, 1971
United States GP, 1971
There had been a considerable amount of safety work done at Watkins Glen with a new pit complex and an extension to the track. The field was much as it had been in Canada two weeks earlier although Rolf Stommelen was out of action because of a jaw problem. The second Surtees (a third was being run for Mike Hailwood) was entered for Sam Posey and Gijs van Lennep, the faster of the two (Posey) getting into the race. Tyrrell expanded to three cars with Peter Revson returning to F1 after seven years away. BRM continued to run five cars but George Eaton was replaced in the fifth by Formula 5000 driver John Cannon. Mark Donohue was again in the second McLaren but was sharing the car with David Hobbs as he had to fly backwards and forwards to Trenton, where a delayed USAC race was taking place. Mario Andretti decided not to bother and so Ferrari ran only two cars.
Jackie Stewart took pole position for Tyrrell with Emerson Fittipaldi's Lotus and Denny Hulme's McLaren alongside. The second row featured Clay Regazzoni in the fastest of the Ferraris and Francois Cevert in the second Tyrrell. Jo Siffert (BRM), Jacky Ickx (Ferrari) and Chris Amon (Matra) shared the third row.
Stewart took the lead from Hulme at the start with Cevert jumping up to third place, followed by Regazzoni and Siffert. Fittipaldi made a poor start and was eighth. On the seventh lap Cevert was able to pass Hulme for second place and on lap 14 he moved ahead of Stewart, who was suffering from bad oversteer. Hulme was also having handling problems and he began to drop back, being overtaken by Ickx (who had passed Siffert). Stewart also fell victim to the Ferrari and then Siffert as well. Ickx stalked Cevert until lap 40 when the Ferrari began to fall back with an alternator problem which led to the Belgian's retirement. This moved Siffert to second place and Peterson (who had passed Stewart) to take third. Howden Ganley (BRM) was fourth with Stewart fifth.
It was Cevert's first World Championship victory and with the Mexican GP having been canceled it was the last World Championship race of the 1971 season.
POS | NO | DRIVER | ENTRANT | LAPS | TIME/RETIREMENT | QUAL POS |
1 | 9 | Francois Cevert | Tyrrell-Cosworth 002 | 59 | 1h43m51.991s | 5 |
2 | 14 | Jo Siffert | BRM P160 | 59 | 1h44m32.053s | 6 |
3 | 25 | Ronnie Peterson | March-Cosworth 711 | 59 | 1h44m36.061s | 11 |
4 | 16 | Howden Ganley | BRM P160 | 59 | 1h44m48.740s | 12 |
5 | 8 | Jackie Stewart | Tyrrell-Cosworth 003 | 59 | 1h44m51.994s | 1 |
6 | 5 | Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari 312B2 | 59 | 1h45m08.417s | 4 |
7 | 22 | Graham Hill | Brabham-Cosworth BT34 | 58 | 18 | |
8 | 12 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | Matra Simca-Matra MS120B | 58 | 10 | |
9 | 15 | Peter Gethin | BRM P160 | 58 | 21 | |
10 | 31 | David Hobbs | McLaren-Cosworth M19A | 58 | 22 | |
11 | 27 | Andrea de Adamich | March-Alfa Romeo 711 | 57 | 26 | |
12 | 11 | Chris Amon | Matra Simca-Matra MS120B | 57 | 8 | |
13 | 17 | Helmut Marko | BRM P160 | 57 | 16 | |
14 | 28 | John Cannon | BRM P153 | 56 | 24 | |
15r | 20 | Mike Hailwood | Surtees-Cosworth TS9 | 54 | Puncture/ Accident | 14 |
16r | 29 | Jo Bonnier | McLaren-Cosworth M7C | 54 | Out Of Fuel | 28 |
17 | 18 | John Surtees | Surtees-Cosworth TS9 | 54 | 13 | |
nc | 33 | Skip Barber | March-Cosworth 711 | 52 | 25 | |
nc | 2 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Lotus-Cosworth 72D | 49 | 2 | |
nc | 30 | Peter Lovely | Lotus-Cosworth 69 | 49 | 29 | |
r | 4 | Jacky Ickx | Ferrari 312B | 49 | Mechanical | 7 |
r | 7 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-Cosworth M19A | 47 | Accident | 3 |
r | 23 | Tim Schenken | Brabham-Cosworth BT33 | 41 | Engine | 15 |
r | 24 | Chris Craft | Brabham-Cosworth BT33 | 30 | Suspension | 27 |
r | 21 | Henri Pescarolo | March-Cosworth 711 | 23 | Engine | 20 |
r | 19 | Sam Posey | Surtees-Cosworth TS9 | 15 | Engine | 17 |
r | 26 | Giovanni Galli | March-Cosworth 711 | 11 | Wheel | 23 |
r | 3 | Reine Wisell | Lotus-Cosworth 72D | 5 | Brakes/ Accident | 9 |
r | 10 | Peter Revson | Tyrrell-Cosworth 001 | 1 | Clutch | 19 |
ns | 6 | Mario Andretti | Ferrari 312B2 | Raced Elsewhere | 30 | |
ns | 31 | Mark Donohue | McLaren-Cosworth M19A | Raced Elsewhere | 31 | |
ns | 19 | Gijs van Lennep | Surtees-Cosworth TS9 | Car Raced By Posey | 32 |