1971 Season Formula 1

Canada

MOSPORT PARK, near Toronto, is the alternate venue for the Canadian Grand Prix. Its surface is bumpy and wavy and can be relied on to sort out any suspension weaknesses. In addition to this built-in hazard, the 1971 Canadian G.P. was held in pouring rain which resulted in the distance being reduced from 80 laps to 64. As the rain eased off later in the race, heavy mist became an equal hazard.

Jackie Stewart won in these miserable conditions but he was strongly challenged by Ronnie Peterson who led for 13 laps until he touched a back marker, knocked his nose wing to one side and spoiled the handling of his car. Although B. R. M. fielded no less than five cars, their luck was out as was Ferrari's and the first seven places were taken by Ford-engined cars.

The race got off to a late start because of a serious crash in a preceding event and the rain was falling in earnest as the flag dropped. Even though ultimate wet tyres were the order of the day, the cars were spinning like tops on the glassy surface. Regazzoni had crashed and a broken wire sparked off a fire in the car. Andretti was troubled by fuel pump bothers and had to drive using the auxiliary electric pump. Graham Hill had scraped the fence for the second time and broke an oil tank which caused his retirement.

Up in front, Stewart was being heavily pursued by Peterson who seemed to be throwing caution to the winds in his efforts to take the lead. He finally made it on the 18th lap and it was not until lap 31 that Stewart retook first place. Peterson had nudged Eaton's B. R. M. and knocked his nose cone off centre, thus upsetting the car's handling and making it impossible - even for the redoubtable Peterson - to drive at anything like full stretch. By this time, the rain had almost stopped but mist rising from the damp track was making visibility poor.

An emergency decision was taken and the chequered flag came out on the 64th lap to the surprise and relief of the drivers.

French

HELD at the new Paul Ricard 'safety' circuit, the French Grand Prix was a walkaway win for Jackie Stewart, a decisive second place for Francois Cevert in the second Tyrrell-Ford and the first of the year's doubles for Ken Tyrrell.

In contrast to the dismally wet Dutch, the French G.P. was held in magnificent weather and the 23 cars on the grid got away to a perfect start. Jackie Stewart, Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni were in a tight bunch but Stewart was first through the esses and by the end of the first lap had built up a commanding lead!

By the end of the third lap, he had a lead of over five second and the chances of being caught by a Ferrari were further reduced by Ickx's retirement in the fifth lap. By lap 8, Stewart was an incredible 10 seconds ahead of Regazzoni, himself almost 7 seconds in front of Rodriguez.

It was obvious that Stewart could not be caught unless his car gave trouble and the even, crystal-clear howl of the engine more or less ruled out power failure. Not so for Ferrari when on lap 21, Regazzoni vanished from the scene after spinning on a patch of oil left by Ronnie Peterson's blown up engine and breaking a wheel on the guard rail.

Rodriguez was now in second place and, creeping up on him, came Cevert in the second Tyrrell driving his best F.I race to date and giving his 35,000 fellow-countrymen a big morale boost. At half distance, the B.R.M. suddenly failed as a coil collapsed and this left Stewart an enormous 40 seconds ahead of Cevert. Such was his lead that he eased off to a mere 9,500 r.p.m. and toured along, giving his engine the best possible chances for survival.

Fittipaldi in the Lotus had taken third place after Rodriguez's retirement but it seemed unlikely he would be able to pass Cevert. And then, on lap 49 - just six before the end - Cevert's car began to emit a flat, harsh bellow that sounded ominous in the extreme.

But the Frenchman's lap times continued unaltered and the noise was nothing more alarming than a broken exhaust pipe. And so it ended with a walkaway victory for the Tyrrells and an item of information that caused a great deal of soul-searching among Ferrari, B.R.M., Matra and March who had been experimenting with an Alfa Romeo engine.

The timing gear at the circuit had shown that Stewart's Tyrrell-Ford was the fastest of the lot and it was the most reliable. These facts, coupled with Stewart's genius, suddenly made the chances for Ferrari look much slimmer. . .

South Africa

THE first round of the 1971 season was the South African Grand Prix at the Kyalami circuit. Main interest was centred on the Ferrari team of Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni' who looked like toppling the all conquering Cosworth-Ford engine from its perch. At least, the sizzling performance of the Ferraris towards the end of the previous year suggested that 1971 could be the year of the twelves but practice times caused some last-minute rethinks.

Jackie Stewart in his S.1I Cosworth engined Tyrrell Ford put up some lap times that made everything else look slow. His car had been completely wrecked after the throttle had jammed open.

During practice, the fiery Regazzoni put in the best Ferrari times with Andretti close behind him and Ickx well back in third place. Grid positions were: Stewart, Amon and Regazzoni in the first three; Andretti and Fittipaldi next; Surtees, Hulme and Ickx third with Cevert and Rodriguez after them.

The start was a mix-up.

Graham Hill's Brabham would not start and he had to be push started when the grid had cleared. Stewart dropped his clutch in a shade too smartly and Chris Amon made a poor start due to lack of urge from his engine. Regazzoni made a copy-book start and roared off with Fittipaldi, Ickx and Hulme right behind him. Stewart and Amon were holding up the other side of the grid with a frantic Peter Gethin putting all four wheels into the dirt to get past the blocking cars.

As early as lap 2, Regazzoni had pulled a clear 50 yards ahead of Fittipaldi and Hulme which seemed to indicate the 12-cylinder engine had the legs of the vee-eights. Jacky Ickx was having gearbox trouble and, was losing ground rapidly. The mix-up at the grid was sorting itself out and Denny Hulme had passed Fittipaldi, in the Lotus to take second spot behind the flying Regazzoni.

Jackie Stewart's new engine was just not performing properly and he could not pass Pedro Rodriguez's B.R.M. but John Surtees, in his new car for the first time, was beginning to come up. He passed Fittipaldi, then Andretti, and Stewart to close, up on Rodriguez to pass him on Lap 17 and occupy third place.

With less than a third of the race completed, Hulme was out in front pulling steadily away from Regazzoni who was in danger from Surtees. Behind these three came Rodriguez, Stewart, Andretti and Siffert.

By Lap 23, Surtees' car was smoking slightly and he had lost power to his rear brakes but he showed no signs of slowing. Andretti had burst away from the quartet and was starting to catch up with Surtees.

Jo Siffert's B.R.M. engine had died on him while Rodriguez's engine began to sound off tune. After another couple of laps, he came in with rusty orange streaks on his car's wing - the engine had overheated and blown up.

Hulme was well ahead of the field with Regazzoni a full five seconds on Lap 37 and was all set to take Hulme when an oil pipe to the gearbox burst and the lubricant began to drain out. By Lap 44, Andretti passed him and, Surtees slowed even more.

Hulme was still well in the lead followed by Andretti with Regazzoni third although his Ferrari was sounding more and more sick every minute. Stewart had passed Surtees for fourth place and John had to retire finally with his gears jammed in first.

Andretti began to close up behind Hulme whose five second lead was steadily clipped, but Hulme held the gap then last-minute disaster struck.

A rear radius arm began to pull loose and the McLaren's handling deteriorated until the arm, became, completely detached and Andretti pulled past Hulme to win.

The first race of the season won by a Ferrari: Was it an indication of the shape of things to come?

Italian

MONZA was a field-day for B.R.M. who won for the second time in quick succession - this time with Peter Gethin at the wheel. To the huge disappointment of the mercurial Italian spectators, both Ferraris retired and Tyrrell was confirmed as winner of the Manufacturer's Championship.

The start was a ragged one and the roar from the 100,000 spectators drowned the howl of the exhausts! Regazzoni just held the lead with Siffert's B.R.M. right on his tail. Siffert caught, but could not pass, and the next lap had the Ferrari and B.R.M. side by side with Stewart, Peterson, Ickx and Ganley in another B.R.M. right behind the two leaders. The six took and lost the lead constantly and, eventually, there was a huge block of 13 cars gaggling up for the lead.

It was too hot a pace to last and, on the 14th lap. Ickx and Siffert were dropping back and then Stewart, Ickx and Regazzoni all vanished - as did many of the spectators when they realised the Ferraris were out. Another five cars had retired leaving Cevert temporarily in the lead.

Peterson took over and Siffert, who had slowed now began to catch up again and took third place. Lying seventh in position but well up with the leading cars, Peter Gethin began to close the gap while Chris Amon took over the lead. Siffert was falling behind again with his B.R.M. jammed in fourth gear and bad luck then struck Amon whose visor had ripped off and he was left without any eye protection at race speeds of 150 m.p.h.

Just three laps before the end of the race, Gethin had taken over the lead to lose it to Peterson on the very last lap. Peterson, Cevert and Gethin all arrived at the final corner in a tight bunch and roared into it together. Emerging from the bend in tightly-controlled slides, the extra power of the B.R.M. under acceleration. made that tiny difference and Gethin flashed across the line just .01 of a second before Peterson. Cevert was 0.8 of a second behind him and it would be difficult to ask for a closer finish than that!

German

THE German Grand Prix was outstanding on two main accounts. The first was the 1-2 win for Stewart and Cevert in their Tyrrell-Fords. The other was the failure of the B. R. M. due to the coil breaking loose - the third time this has happened in the season.

Back at the Nurburgring after a two-year absence while safety measures costing; it was said, three-quarters of a million, the race attracted the staggering number of 250,000 spectators. Practice resulted in exceptionally high lap speeds and Stewart, Ickx and Siffert were the fastest drivers.

Ickx made his usual immaculate start but it did not take more than a couple of miles for Stewart to catch and pass him, driving in such style that he broke the lap record on the standing, first, lap! And he had also built up a five-second lead over the Ferrari.

On the second lap, Ickx overcooked things and went off the road to retire. Regazzoni spun badly and lost some time but managed to gain second place with Cevert third. By the end of the fifth lap, Stewart had a 34 second lead - an incredible business! Jo Siffert was holding a good fourth place but began to slow and finally retired with the same coil trouble as had hit B.R.M. twice before.

Cevert was driving extra ordinarily well to begin to catch Regazzoni while Stewart remorselessly established record after record as the laps rolled under his wheels. Vic Elford, in a B.R.M., also pulled in with coil trouble and what he and Siffert had to say about this is probably best left to the imagination.

Cevert eventually passed Regazzoni' and, in so doing, put up the fastest lap of the day - beating even Stewart in the process. Jackie Stewart was easing off by now and the gap between him and Cevert closed to an extent. The Tyrrell twins finished first and second with two Ferraris beaten in a straightforward battle.

There was another victory for Stewart, too. It was his 17th Grand Prix which brought him above Stirling Moss and third in the list with Fangio and Jim Clark (24 and 25 respectively) in front of him. With 51 points in his hand, Stewart was certain for the championship with his German win.

British

SILVERSTONE was the venue for the British Grand Prix last year and a rare day out it was, too. Something like a record crowd (for Britain) of 58,000 spectators turned up; the weather was glorious and Jackie Stewart won again. His victory more or less settled his position as World Champion and it also put paid finally to the idea that the four-year old Cosworth-Ford was due for the Montagu Motor Museum.

The start was anything but inspiring. Dave Charlton's Lotus was puffing out great clouds of smoke and the starter muffed dropping the flag. Regazzoni had already started to ease forward and stopped when he realised his mistake; Fittipaldi and Ickx had got under way before the rest of the field had started while Jack Oliver, coming through from the back of the grid, banged into the back of Graham Hill's Brabham and both cars were too badly damaged to use. Screams of rage followed and the unfortunate Oliver, by no means all guilty, was fined £50.

Regazzoni had craftily got away first and his Ferrari was screaming out in front with team-'mate Jacky Ickx right behind with the all-conquering Stewart in third slot. The old fashioned Ford vee-eight engine was going well enough for Stewart to pass Ickx followed by some spectacular driving on the grass to pass Regazzoni with Jo Siffert in the B.R.M. right behind him.

In typical Stewart fashion, a lead of three seconds was established after a couple of laps. He continued to increase his lead until, by lap 20, he had a clear 13 seconds over Siffert whose engine was misfiring. Regazzoni re-passed Siffert and the B.R.M. then cleared itself and Siffert took Regazzoni again. The trouble was the coil again - it was wobbling loose on its mountings and was earthing itself at intervals. Siffert eventually had to stop to have the coil fixed and this cost him two whole laps - a bitter disappointment after doing so well.

Jacky Ickx had to pull in with tyre trouble and Regazzoni had to do the same. While this was being done, it was noticed that the car's oil pressure was falling at a dangerous rate and Regazzoni retired. Another bit of bad luck.

Then it was Iekx's turn and he had to retire with a broken oil pipe. By now there were only four cars left on the leading lap and the flying Stewart was half a minute ahead of Ronnie Peterson who had driven an exceptional race into second place. Tim Schenken, in the Brabham, was third and pulling out all the stops to pass Peterson. He overdid it and his gearbox began to give trouble.

It was Stewart all the way and he won the race with that accomplished ease which is his trade-mark. Organised by the Woolmark corporation, Stewart walked on to a brand new yellow carpet to receive his award from Jack Brabham and reflect happily on his 42 points in the championship series.

Dutch

A FIELD-DAY for the twelves is about the best summing-up for the Dutch Grand Prix of 1971 and it could also be the swan-song for the event because the Zandvoort circuit has been blacked by racing drivers until a number of safety measures have been taken.

The town of Zandvoort, near Amsterdam, is as typical a seaside town as Margate, Weston-super-Mare or any other British seaside town. And like similar towns, it is pleasant in fine weather and super-miserable in bad weather. From a racing point of view, the circuit poses special problems caused by sand blowing over the surface and winds can change direction, strength and character in a matter of minutes. The sand can play havoc with tyres and can also do an engine a powerful mischief if it is induced into it.

Following two dry seasons, the weather misbehaved itself badly as it did at Monaco but, with the optimism displayed by people the world over, just about everybody concerned with the race thought the sun would shine as usual. Goodyears supplied a special 'dry' type with a mix designed to ward off the collection of oil and sand that is a force to be reckoned with while the Tyrrells had special high air intakes designed to keep sand out as far as possible.

These, and other, precautions all came to naught with practice day as wet as the infamous 1968. The second day of practice was just as wet but things improved later on and the track. began to dry out. This good news was smartly cancelled out by a complete change of wind direction which upset all the gear ratios selected on for the previous, following, wind.

The weather forecast for- the Sunday promised fine weather and sunshine but the Dutch regard their forecasters with deeper suspicion than even the British and there are grounds for this because the rain was roaring down just before the meeting started. The downpour eased off to a brisk drizzle which finally stopped as the cars made a few cautious opening laps and the possibility of a dry surface presented quite a problem for the team managers who had to select the tyres.

A last-minute resumption of the rain settled in some frantic wheel-chariging on the grid with Mario Andretti not even starting because of a faulty fuel pump. The pack set off with Ickx and Rodriguez in the lead but they were in the minority. Soler-Reig spun almost immediately and Siffert nudged Surtees before going into a spin. Amon and Stewart joined the waltzers and, generally, the race presented a picture of confusion.

Except at the front where Rodriguez and Ickx were battling furiously for the lead. Rodriguez held first place for some time but, as the rain eased off and the track began to dry out, the extra power of the Ferrari could be used and Ickx took the lead.

By the halfway mark, Ickx had a commanding lead over the B.R.M. and the only other car in the lap was the Ferrari of Regazzoni which was a full minute behind. Nobody else was in the picture and Ickx took the flag without too much trouble.

USA

LAST of the season's events was the United States Grand Prix because the unbelievable shambles of the 1970 Mexican Grand Prix resulted in the very proper cancellation of the race.

Hero of the U. S. race was Francois Cevert who took his Tyrrell-Ford to victory with Jo Siffert second in the B.R.M. Cevert's victory brought him third in the World Championship stakes just three points behind Ronnie Peterson and it earned the Tyrrell team a handsome 50,000 dollar prize.

At one time it seemed as if the heavy, clinging, mist at the Watkins Glen venue might repeat the dreadful weather conditions of the Canadian G.P. but the sun broke through some time before the start and soaked up the mist. The start saw Stewart take the lead and the now-familiar scene of the Tyrrell out in front at the end of the first lap was re-enacted. Hulme was next with Cevert, Regazzoni, Ickx and Siffert following.

By the 13th lap, a mere second spanned Stewart, Cevert, Hulme and Ickx but one lap later saw Cevert in the lead and Stewart fell behind Ickx to be challenged by Siffert whose engine was misfiring. He passed Stewart on the 24th lap and it was obvious that the Tyrrell's steering was giving trouble.

Ickx was pressing Cevert hard and was only two seconds behind. him. It looked as though the Ferrari would take the lead on lap 44 but, suddenly, he swerved. Five laps later Ickx had lost 10 seconds and then he pulled into the pits with the alternator hanging loose and oil dribbling from the gearbox. Denny Hulme hit the oil patch and slid off into the guard rail while Cevert nearly came to the same end. His car just touched the rail, luckily without causing any damage.

All the five B.R.M.s were still running with Siffert a distant second and then all the cars began to suffer from fuel troubles. Siffert weaved from side to side to keep the petrol sloshing about in his tank while Ganley's engine cut and he pulled into the pits. It restarted and off he went again!

Cevert had the distinction of winning the last F.l event of the season and being the first Frenchman to win such an event since 1958. Coupled with the 50,000 dollars prize money, Cevert must have been a very happy man!

Spanish

THE Spanish Grand Prix is held at the Jarana circuit hear Madrid one year and at the Montjuich track in Barcelona the next. For 1971, it was the turn of the Montjuich circuit which is generally reckoned to be the better venue being very much a driver's circuit demanding, in addition, the ultimate in brake reliability and traction.

Ferrari were in an optimistic mood after the South African win and Regazzoni and Ickx put in the fastest practice times. The B.R.M. camp were equally happy after their runaway wins at Oulton Park while Amon and Beltoise with their Matras were quietly confident. It was in the Ford powered camp that matters were slightly downcast because of engine maintenance and rebuild problems. The March team, in particular, were in serious trouble and had to field one car whose engine was known to have a cracked crankshaft.

Jackie Stewart was one of the few Ford men to feel reasonably secure as he was using a modified Cosworth engine that had been treated for reliability rather thaI) power. John Surtees experienced the worst possible luck when one of his engines blew up and gear-ratio problems kept him off the practice circuit. When he eventually managed to get some time in, a wet track held down his speed!

Race day dawned bright and sunny and the field got away with Ickx, Regazzoni and Stewart in a tight bunch. On the very first bend, Graham Hill was boxed in and his car was heavily side-swiped while John Surtees and Jo Siffert suffered fairly extensive damage to their cars. Hill, in fact, had to retire in the fourth lap as a result of steering damage.

Ickx made a tiny error of judgement on the fifth lap and the watchful Stewart took advantage of his lapse to pass on what is an unusually difficult" circuit for overtaking. Once in front and Stewart was up and away leaving the raging Ickx to deal with Chris Amon who was unpleasantly close behind him. Behind him came Andretti and Hulme who had passed Beltoise but Regazzoni's Ferrari was also beginning to smoke and he had to drop four places and call into the pits to check the low fuel pressure. It was here that it was dramatically discovered the smoke was not caused by oil but petrol dripping on to the hot exhausts. The fault was made alarmingly obvious by the flames licking round the leaking fuel pump. . .

The Montjuich circuit sorts out! braking systems because there is not enough clear running space to allow the brakes to cool down and Jackie Stewart said his brakes performance varied from lap to lap. John Surtees was suffering from brake trouble and had to stop at the pits for a check. Andretti's Ferrari fire finally caused his retirement.

Stewart's lead was being challenged by Ickx and, oddly enough, he was helped to an extent by Stewart's team-mate, Cevert, who was dicing with Beltoise and holding the boss back. In trying to pass Cevert,Stewart's car actually touched but not hard enough to cause any damage. He was then stuck between Cevert and Beltoise for a while before managing to fight his way out and this holdup allowed Ickx to close to within 100 yards of the Tyrrell.

In his attempt to catch the Scot, Ickx actually put in the fastest lap of the day and established a new record. Passing on the Barcelona circuit is not easy and it boiled down to Stewart having to make a mistake to allow Ickx to take him - and Jackie Stewart does not make mistakes easily. In fact, it was Ickx who overcooked things just one second between them. He ran wide at the first- hairpin and almost stopped before regaining control and Stewart drove home to win a treble. It was his first F.I win of the year; the first F.I win of the year for Ford engines and the first-ever F.I win for Tyrrell.

Austrian

AT last B.R.M. and Jo Siffert achieved the victory they so richly deserved. In a race run in sweltering heat. before a crowd of 125,000 spectators, Siffert led from start to finish even though a slow puncture in a back tyre slowed him in the last part of the race. Although Jackie Stewart had to retire with transmission trouble, the earlier retirement of Jacky Ickx gave him an unbeatable lead in the Championship series.

As the flag dropped, Siffert was first off the mark and stayed there although Jackie Stewart was uncomfortably close behind him and there was only a second between the two by lap 4. Immediately behind the two leaders, Regazzoni and Cevert passed Ickx whose Ferrari was off tune. It was not Ferrari's day because Regazzoni' retired on lap 9 with a broken piston and Ickx had fallen so far behind that he no longer offered any threat.

The Tyrrells of Stewart and Cevert were holding the B.R.M. and it seemed quite possible that there would be yet another 1-2 for Tyrrell bearing in mind the series of infuriating ignition faults B.R.M. had suffered. But this time nothing went wrong. Nothing, that. is, except Stewart was losing out on speed while Cevert was maintaining his and, as a result, closing up on Stewart.

Just before the halfway mark, Stewart waved his teammate on. His car was beginning to vibrate badly and he realised that Cevert stood a better chance of catching Siffert. The' chance did not materialise and, by the halfway stage, Siffert had an 11-second lead over the Frenchman. While all this was going on, Ickx pitted to find the cause of his. troubles - a loose plug lead! He returned to the race but the trouble broke out again later on and he finally retired.

Tyre trouble was rife throughout the race and the March team suffered more than most. The vibration on Stewart's car had increased and eventually a drive-shaft collapsed, the rear suspension folded up and a wheel broke loose. Stewart slithered safely to a halt and minutes later he had the mortification of seeing Cevert indicate gearbox trouble followed almost immediately by a. great puff of smoke from the engine as the car slid into the pits to retire.

With only 10 laps to go, Siffert began to slow and Fittipaldi in the Lotus was pulling out all the stops to catch him - and looked like doing so unless Siffert spurted. He did not and finally crossed the line a mere four seconds ahead of Fittipaldi. It turned out that a rear tyre was leaking badly and the car was becoming increasingly difficult to drive and, in fact, Siffert was convinced something had broken. loose at the rear of the B.R.M.

Monaco

OF all the world's racing circuits, Monaco must be the most glamorous. The air of wealth, luxury and international personalities hangs heavy over the tiny country at the start of the season in May. Fine weather is guaranteed while the circuit is a true round-the-houses track.

On the first day of practice, the rain was so heavy that few drivers turned out. The weather was better on the second day but it took some time for the track to dry out and allow lap speeds to rise. Stewart; Ickx and Siffert put in the best times with Stewart equalling Jochen Rindt's best ever lap Andretti, trying out the circuit for the first time, had his engine cut with a defective fuel pump and was stranded in Casino Square.

Everybody expected the last day to be fine and dry - but everybody was wrong and the rain roared down again. It was impossible for poor Andretti second in the championship to get in anything like a fast enough lap and he was out of the race before it started.

The day of the race was cool and overcast when the 18 cars lined up on the grid. Regazzoni's Ferrari was delayed by a fault in the fire-extinguisher system while Amon's Matra refused to start and was pushed out of the way. The field was lead by Stewart, Siffert and Ickx.

Graham Hill, who makes winning the Monaco almost a habit, inexplicably clipped a barrier and spun off to crash into a wall - fortunately without injury but he had to retire later on. After five laps, Stewart was just a couple of seconds ahead of Siffert in the B.R.M. with Ickx equally close behind him. Pedro Rodriguez in another B.R.M. was just in front of Ronnie Peterson in the Lotus.

Tim Schenken stopped with a puncture caused by clouting a kerb when avoiding Cevert's Tyrrell which had cut out and a lap later, Cevert limped in with a broken wheel and retired. The next tyre victim was Rodriguez who stopped again later on suspecting wrongly - there was something amiss with a rear tyre, putting him out of the running.

Peterson, by now, had caught up with Jacky Ickx and passed him. On Lap 3 I, the flying Swede took Siffert's B.R.M. and was second behind Stewart. There was a 18-second gap between the two and the chances of catching Stewart were slim unless the Tyrrell gave trouble.

Jo Siffert's magnificent drive in the B.R.M. came to an abrupt halt in the 59th lap when his engine blew up without warning. Rodriguez's B.R.M. was still going well but he had lost too much time in pit stops to have any hopes of catching up. The third B.R.M., driven by Ganley, did not qualify so the Bourne team had no luck at all.

Jackie Stewart was still putting on the pressure. His lap times became faster and faster until he clipped a full second off the previous record. A few laps before the end of the race, it began to rain and it increased steadily until, on the last lap, Stewart eased up to tour home a comfortable winner, with a full 25 seconds between him and Peterson. Jacky Ickx was not too pleased with the weather because he had - understandably - reckoned on hot weather and fitted his tyres accordingly. And, as things turned out, the Monaco weather turned sour for the first time for many years.

For Ronnie Peterson and March, it had been a splendid day - rain or not. The March 711 had performed magnificently and Peterson's superb handling of it more than justified the slight gamble of making him No. I driver. But it was Stewart's day. He drove a copybook race which proved - once again - what a perfect driver he is. His win totted up 24 points in the world championship with Jacky Ickx next with 10 points.

Author: ArchitectPage

FORMULA ONE SEASON 1971