1972 United States Grand Prix

The 1972 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 8, 1972, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 12 of 12 in both the 1972 World Championship of Drivers and the 1972 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 59-lap race was won by Tyrrell driver Jackie Stewart after he started from pole position. His teammate François Cevert finished second and McLaren driver Denny Hulme came in third. This was the debut race of the future world champion Jody Scheckter.

1972 United States Grand Prix
Race details
Date	October 8, 1972
Official name	XV United States Grand Prix
Location	Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course Watkins Glen, New York
Course	Permanent road course
Course length	5.435 km (3.377 miles)
Distance	59 laps, 320.67 km (199.24 miles)
Weather	Sunny at start, brief showers late
Pole position
Driver	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford
Time	1:40.481
Fastest lap
Driver	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford
Time	1:41.644 on lap 33
Podium
First	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford
Second	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford
Third	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders

Summary

Jackie Stewart, having just lost his World Champion's crown to Emerson Fittipaldi, asserted his intentions to get it back, as he dominated the entire weekend with pole, win and fastest lap and completed a sweep of the North American races. It was the twenty-second victory of the Scot's career, and his fourth in 1972. Teammate François Cevert completed the one-two finish for Tyrrell, five seconds ahead of Denny Hulme's McLaren.

The then-staggering amount of $275,000 in prize money attracted 31 entries for the last race of the year. Rain and cold winds harried the drivers in qualifying, and Friday's times determined the grid. Stewart took the pole with a time of 1:40.481, ahead of the McLarens of American Peter Revson and Hulme. A third McLaren, driven by South African Jody Scheckter in his F1 debut, was eighth.

The Goodyear teams seemed to be enjoying quite an advantage, some saying as much as one and a half to two seconds per lap in qualifying. Firestone had intended to close its European Racing Division, and their teams were using up old stock that had been produced some time before. Rob Walker said that his team's tires had been manufactured for the Austrian Grand Prix, one of the hottest races of the year, and he was not surprised that they would not work in the 40-degree temperatures at The Glen! After practice, however, a telegram was received from Firestone HQ in Akron saying that, because of all the letters they had received begging them to continue, they would be racing in the following season.

Sunday began bright and sunny, but by the time the cars assembled on the grid, the skies were threatening rain. Stewart jumped quickly off the grid and immediately began to pull away from the rest of the field. Mario Andretti charged from his tenth place grid position up the inside of the first corner in his Ferrari, and banged wheels with Carlos Reutemann's Brabham and Revson's McLaren. Andretti continued, to the delight of the crowd, now in seventh behind the Ferraris of Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni. Reutemann followed in eighth with a broken nose, while Revson pitted at the end of the lap to have his front wing straightened.

Stewart was three seconds clear of Hulme after one lap, and five seconds up after two. Fittipaldi, up to third after the first lap, immediately knew that his car was not right. His right rear tire began deflating on lap five, and when two replacements quickly did the same thing, the team realized that a misaligned suspension was the problem, and he retired. On lap 20, Stewart's lead was 20 seconds, and it was clear that any battle on this day would be for second place.

With Fittipaldi out and Reutemann forced to stop for a new nose cone, the second Tyrrell of François Cevert was now in third and closing on Hulme. Scheckter was comfortably ahead of Ickx, but the Belgian was quickly being caught by Ronnie Peterson. On Saturday, in the rain, Peterson had crashed his March heavily, and the mechanics initially said that it was unrepairable. They decided to attempt to rebuild it in time for the race, and after starting in 26th position, Peterson was now the most impressive driver on the track, apart from race-leader Stewart.

At about half-distance, Cevert got by Hulme for second place, and Peterson passed Ickx for fifth. On lap 40, a brief shower suddenly soaked Turn one. Scheckter, running marvellously in fourth place, was caught out by the slippery surface in the downhill, 90-degree right-hander and spun his McLaren up onto the bank. Ickx, in the meantime, repassed Peterson to take the position vacated by Scheckter. Andretti had been struggling with the performance of his tires, but now found them better on the wet track and increased his pace.

On the last lap, with Stewart coasting home 40 seconds ahead of Cevert, Ickx's Ferrari began trailing smoke. Peterson pulled alongside him and signalled frantically at the back of the car. The Swede's gamesmanship worked, as Peterson beat the Ferrari to the line by just over half a second to take fourth place!

Revson had passed both Andretti and Mike Hailwood on consecutive laps for sixth place, but with five laps remaining, an ignition wire parted and his brilliant drive ended. When Hailwood was unable to avoid the spinning Marches of Mike Beuttler and Niki Lauda just three laps from the flag, Andretti inherited sixth place and the final point.

After the finish, the two leading Tyrrells, plus Patrick Depailler's seventh place sister car, entered the pit lane together in a show of strength, having earned team owner Ken Tyrrell a then-record reward of $97,500.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.	No	Driver	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell–Ford	1:40.481
2	20	Peter Revson	McLaren–Ford	+0.046
3	19	Denny Hulme	McLaren–Ford	+0.603
4	2	François Cevert	Tyrrell–Ford	+0.964
5	29	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham–Ford	+1.211
6	8	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	+1.470
7	18	Chris Amon	Matra	+1.498
8	21	Jody Scheckter	McLaren–Ford	+1.577
9	10	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus–Ford	+1.919
10	9	Mario Andretti	Ferrari	+2.001
11	3	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell–Ford	+2.040
12	7	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	+2.116
13	30	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham–Ford	+2.285
14	23	Mike Hailwood	Surtees–Ford	+2.723
15	27	Carlos Pace	March–Ford	+2.838
16	12	Reine Wisell	Lotus–Ford	+3.062
17	16	Howden Ganley	BRM	+3.594
18	17	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	+3.759
19	25	Andrea de Adamich	Surtees–Ford	+3.798
20	33	Skip Barber	March–Ford	+3.799
21	6	Mike Beuttler	March–Ford	+3.888
22	26	Henri Pescarolo	March–Ford	+3.952
23	34	Sam Posey	Surtees–Ford	+4.044
24	15	Brian Redman	BRM	+4.444
25	24	John Surtees1	Surtees–Ford	+4.751
26	5	Niki Lauda	March–Ford	+4.809
27	4	Ronnie Peterson	March–Ford	+5.661
28	28	Graham Hill	Brabham–Ford	+5.832
29	14	Peter Gethin	BRM	+6.118
30	31	Derek Bell	Tecno	+6.542
31	11	David Walker	Lotus–Ford	+10.119
32	24	Tim Schenken	Surtees–Ford	+17.193
Source:

• ^1 – Surtees vacated his seat for Tim Schenken prior to the race.

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	59	1:41:45.354	1	9
2	2	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	59	+ 32.268 s	4	6
3	19	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	59	+ 37.528 s	3	4
4	4	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	59	+ 1:22.516	26	3
5	7	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	59	+ 1:23.119	12	2
6	9	Mario Andretti	Ferrari	58	+ 1 Lap	10	1
7	3	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	58	+ 1 Lap	11
8	8	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	58	+ 1 Lap	6
9	21	Jody Scheckter	McLaren-Ford	58	+ 1 Lap	8
10	12	Reine Wisell	Lotus-Ford	57	+ 2 Laps	16
11	28	Graham Hill	Brabham-Ford	57	+ 2 Laps	27
12	34	Sam Posey	Surtees-Ford	57	+ 2 Laps	23
13	6	Mike Beuttler	March-Ford	57	+ 2 Laps	21
14	26	Henri Pescarolo	March-Ford	57	+ 2 Laps	22
15	18	Chris Amon	Matra	57	+ 2 Laps	7
16	33	Skip Barber	March-Ford	57	+ 2 Laps	20
17	23	Mike Hailwood	Surtees-Ford	56	Collision	14
18	20	Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford	54	Electrical	2
NC	5	Niki Lauda	March-Ford	49	Not Classified	25
Ret	27	Carlos Pace	March-Ford	48	Fuel System	15
Ret	14	Peter Gethin	BRM	47	Engine	28
Ret	16	Howden Ganley	BRM	44	Engine	17
Ret	11	Dave Walker	Lotus-Ford	44	Engine	30
Ret	30	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham-Ford	43	Engine	13
Ret	17	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	40	Ignition	18
Ret	15	Brian Redman	BRM	34	Engine	24
Ret	29	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	31	Engine	5
Ret	25	Andrea de Adamich	Surtees-Ford	25	Collision	19
Ret	24	Tim Schenken	Surtees-Ford	22	Suspension	31
Ret	10	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	17	Suspension	9
Ret	31	Derek Bell	Tecno	8	Engine	29
DNS	24	John Surtees	Surtees-Ford		Driven by Schenken
Source:

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for South African driver and future World Champion Jody Scheckter.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	61
	2	Jackie Stewart	45
	3	Denny Hulme	39
	4	Jacky Ickx	27
	5	Peter Revson	23
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

	Pos	Constructor	Points
	1	Lotus-Ford	61
1	2	Tyrrell-Ford	51
1	3	McLaren-Ford	47 (49)
	4	Ferrari	33
	5	Surtees-Ford	18
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 5 results from the first 6 rounds and the best 5 results from the last 6 rounds counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

Further reading

• Doug Nye (1978). The United States Grand Prix and Grand Prize Races, 1908-1977. B. T. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-1263-1
• Rob Walker (February, 1973). "14th U.S. Grand Prix: Stewart Again". Road & Track, 94-98.