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  The 1975 Dutch Grand Prix, officially named the XXII Grote Prijs van Nederland, was the eighth round of the 1975 FIA Formula One World Championship staged at the Circuit Park Zandvoort on the 22nd June, 1975.[1] Having taken pole in qualifying, victory was expected to go to Niki Lauda, the star of 1975, although a wet start to the race allowed young pretender James Hunt to duel with the Austrian racer for an unlikely victory for Hesketh.[1]

Qualifying had been dominated by Lauda across Friday and Saturday, the Austrian topping three of the four sessions en-route to pole position.[1] Ferrari teammate Clay Regazzoni completed the front row, while Hunt claimed an impressive third ahead of Jody Scheckter.[1]

A wet race morning meant the circuit was damp for the start, although that did little to affect Lauda's confidence as the Austrian shot into the lead.[1] Teammate Regazzoni was not so lucky, losing out to a fast starting Scheckter, while Hunt was blocked by the slithering Swiss racer into the first corner.[1]

A stalemate soon emerged at the front of the field, although with the circuit drying faster than anyone expected, the time to switch to slicks was coming ever closer.[1] Hunt was the first to blink in fourth, a swift stop getting him out at the perfect time, with Jean-Pierre Jarier another to stop early, soon followed by the rest of the field.[1]

After a hectic few laps in the pits the order on track stood with Hunt leading from Jarier, while Lauda was running in third.[1] The Austrian steadily drew onto the back of the Shadow, snatching second place from the Frenchman moments before Jarier's rear left tyre failed and pitched him into the sand.[1]

Lauda's charge carried him onto the back of Hunt with fifteen laps to go, although the Brit proved to be even more stubborn than Jarier.[1] An excellent defensive drive from Hunt ultimately earned him a maiden victory for himself and Hesketh, leaving Lauda to be satisfied with second place.[1]

Regazzoni completed the podium after a race long duel with Scheckter, until the South African racer retired after his engine failed.[1] Carlos Reutemann, Carlos Pace and Tom Pryce completed the points.

Background[]

Little had changed at the Circuit Park Zandvoort ahead of F1's annual trip to the seaside in 1975, with the dunes sweeping aside to reveal the Netherland's best known race circuit.[2] This lack of change worried the majority of the field after the Ferrari domination the previous year, although tyre supplier Goodyear did not bring their "quali" tyres for anyone, meaning the playing field was more balanced than usual.[2] The entry list, meanwhile, had had some revisions, with a couple of notable absentees and returnees among the usual runners.[2]

The biggest changes came among the lower orders, as Alan Jones joined the Hill effort as his sponsors ended their deal to run one of the Heskeths.[2] The Australian was slotted into the second of the Hills, partnering Tony Brise in place of Vern Schuppan, while his Hesketh sat in a garage somewhere in England.[2] Indeed, Jones' switch meant there was only one Hesketh in action in Zandvoort, run for James Hunt, with the third car most recently used by Torsten Palm acting as Hesketh Racing's spare once again.[2]

Elsewhere, the Williams shuffle of drivers had drawn Ian Scheckter and Jacques Laffite together for the weekend, the latter returning after another clash in Sweden with his Formula Two commitments.[2] As he returned another driver disappeared, the Parnelli of Mario Andretti absent as the American effort had an important race in the U.S.A.C., although their rivals Penske were in attendance with regular runner Mark Donohue.[2] Ensign returned to the paddock with Gijs van Lennep as their driver, although the car was not ready to run in Zandvoort.[2] Maki, meanwhile, finally arrived at a race they had entered, fielding Japanese ace Hiroshi Fushida in a very European looking creation, the F101.[2]

Into the more reliable section of the field, and Ferrari were unchanged after their recent run of triumphs, Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni expected to dominate once again.[2] Nearest rivals Brabham were likewise unchanged, although both Carlos Reutemann and Carlos Pace were concerned that their Ford Cosworth engines would struggle against the Ferrari V12s.[2] They did, at least, have their heads around their cars, unlike defending Champions McLaren and their disillusioned duo of Emerson Fittipaldi and Jochen Mass.[2]

Tyrrell arrived in Zandvoort hoping for better race pace after a strong show in qualifying in Sweden, Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler using their usual chargers.[2] Rising stars Shadow also arrived in a cloud of optimism, with Jean-Pierre Jarier and Tom Pryce hoping to challenge for the podium once again after some strong showings recently.[2] Fallen giants Lotus likewise arrived with an optimistic outlook, although no one appeared to have told Ronnie Peterson and Jacky Ickx as their old 72Es were unloaded at the circuit.[2]

Completing the field would be the usual assortment of single car entries, with Bob Evans and John Watson driving for BRM and Surtees respectively.[2] Wilson Fittipaldi completed the field with his self-entered Fittipaldi team, although he would bring two cars to try around the dunes.[2]

Victory for a third race in a row in Sweden had put Lauda in command of the Championship at the halfway point, the Austrian leaving with a ten point lead. Reutemann had moved into second after his podium finish, passing Fittipaldi, while Pace remained in fourth. Jody Scheckter retained fifth, while Regazzoni had climbed further up the order to sixth.

Ferrari had claimed the lead in the International Cup for Manufacturers after Lauda's Swedish victory, level on points with Brabham-Ford Cosworth until dropped scores were applied. That fact left the British squad two points behind the Italians, while McLaren-Ford Cosworth slipped to third, six and a half points further back. Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth had secured fourth ahead of Hesketh-Ford Cosworth, while Penske-Ford Cosworth, Parnelli-Ford Cosworth and Hill-Ford Cosworth were all on the board for the first time in their collective histories.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entreat Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi United Kingdom Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren M23 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
2 Germany Jochen Mass United Kingdom Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren M23 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
3 South Africa Jody Scheckter United Kingdom Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 007 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
4 France Patrick Depailler United Kingdom Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 007 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
5 Sweden Ronnie Peterson United Kingdom John Player Team Lotus Lotus 72E Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
6 Belgium Jacky Ickx United Kingdom John Player Team Lotus Lotus 72E Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Martini Racing Brabham BT44B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
8 Brazil Carlos Pace United Kingdom Martini Racing Brabham BT44B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla United Kingdom Beta Team March March 751 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
10 Italy Lella Lombardi United Kingdom Lavazza March March 751 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
11 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 312T Ferrari 015 3.0 F12 G
12 Austria Niki Lauda Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 312T Ferrari 015 3.0 F12 G
14 United Kingdom Bob Evans United Kingdom Stanley BRM BRM P201 BRM P200 3.0 V12 G
16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce United States UOP Shadow Racing Team Shadow DN5 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier United States UOP Shadow Racing Team Shadow DN5 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
18 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom Team Surtees Surtees TS16 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
20 South Africa Ian Scheckter United Kingdom Frank Williams Racing Cars Williams FW Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
21 France Jacques Laffite United Kingdom Frank Williams Racing Cars Williams FW04 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
22 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Embassy Racing with Graham Hill Hill GH1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
23 United Kingdom Tony Brise United Kingdom Embassy Racing with Graham Hill Hill GH1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
24 United Kingdom James Hunt United Kingdom Hesketh Racing Hesketh 308 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
28 United States Mark Donohue United States Penske Cars Penske PC1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
30 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Brazil Copersucar-Fittipaldi Fittipaldi FD02 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
31 Netherlands Gijs van Lennep United Kingdom HB Bewaking Team Ensign Ensign N174 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
35 Japan Hiroshi Fushida Japan Maki Engineering Maki F101C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 F
Source:[3]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Four, one and a half hour long sessions were scheduled for practice/qualifying ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, with Friday and Saturday given over to practice.[2] Both days would be bathed in sunshine throughout, although a strong head-wind down the start/finish straight in all four sessions meant top speeds were down on previous years.[2] As such, the circuit record of 1:18.31, set by Niki Lauda en-route to pole in 1974, looked set to remain.[2]

Report[]

Fears that the weekend would be dominated by the two scarlet Ferraris looked to have been proved during the first session, as Lauda and Clay Regazzoni quickly got down into the 1:20.00s.[2] Regazzoni proved to be the quickest on Friday morning, a 1:20.57 ousting teammate Lauda by just a hundredth of a second, with almost half a second to the next car.[2] Indeed, the only hopes of a challenge to the Ferraris seemed to be in the form of James Hunt, who was the only other driver to record a sub-1:21.00 lap with a 1:20.97.[2]

For the rest of the field the first session was about finding a reliable setup, although the rapid pace of Ferrari caused more murmurs of discontent amongst the Ford Cosworth runners.[2] Otherwise, the session lacked much interest, most of the field managing to record ten laps or more before the lunch break.[2] The exception to this was new boy Hiroshi Fushida, whose only Cosworth engine in the Maki was destroyed after a couple of laps having dumped all its oil.[2]

The afternoon session on Friday saw the head-wind down the start/finish straight drop slightly, allowing the Cosworth cars to close the gap to the scarlet duo out front.[2] Indeed, with Regazzoni and Lauda focusing on their race setups, Hunt, Jody Scheckter and Carlos Reutemann were able to beat the slower of the pair, although they were still behind Regazzoni's morning pace.[2] Lauda, meanwhile, would improve to a 1:20.34 to claim provisional pole overnight.

Elsewhere, the pace was generally improving as time wore on, with less than a second covering Emerson Fittipaldi in fifth to fourteenth placed Patrick Depailler at the end of Friday's running.[2] Of these the standout performer was Tony Brise, who ended the day just behind defending World Champion Fittipaldi, and one-lap specialist Jean-Pierre Jarier.[2] Reliability-wise Friday afternoon passed without issue, although the Maki team were already packing up as their sole Cosworth unit proved to be beyond repair.[2]

Saturday proved to be a marginally warmer day than Friday, although the head-wind down the start/finish straight had strengthened, meaning it would be difficult to challenge Lauda's provisional pole time.[2] That said, overnight perfections to setups did allow a couple more drivers to sneak into the 1:20.00s, with Fittipaldi and Brise joining the "aces" at the top of the field.[2] Indeed, those two were the only drivers other than the Ferrari pilots to get into the 1:20.00s on Saturday morning, as the majority inched their way closer to the mark.[2]

Surprisingly, most of the mechanical dramas on Saturday morning appeared to be in the Ferrari pits, with Lauda suffering from a break in his suspension while Regazzoni was running in a new engine.[2] Indeed, the latter's session would come to a premature end after a collision with Scheckter, caused by miscommunication when the Swiss racer attempted to blast past the South African.[2] Scheckter received near identical front-end damage from Regazzoni's swipe, although both were quick to move on from the incident as the final session loomed.[2]

Ultimately, the afternoon session would be a glorified parade for Lauda, with the Austrian flying around Zandvoort to record a 1:20.29 to underline his dominance in the Netherlands.[2] Regazzoni had to use his spare car but retained second on the grid, while Hunt, Scheckter and Reutemann focused on race pace that afternoon and so could not improve.[2] Fortunately for them, Fittipaldi was the only man other than Lauda to record a sub-1:21.00 time that afternoon, but had failed to improve upon his morning pace.[2]

The final session also saw the midfield pack to condense even further, with just half a second covering Jochen Mass in eighth, and Ronnie Peterson in sixteenth.[2] Much of this closeness was due to Zandvoort's relatively simple layout, although the lack of favouritism by Goodyear and Cosworth had had an obvious impact.[2] Behind Peterson there was a half-second gap back to seventeenth placed Alan Jones, with the back end of the field similarly spaced.[2]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
1 12 Austria Niki Lauda Italy Ferrari 1:20.58 1:20.34 1:20.59 1:20.29
2 11 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Italy Ferrari 1:20.57 1:20.97 1:20.96 1:21.93 +0.28s
3 24 United Kingdom James Hunt United Kingdom Hesketh-Ford Cosworth 1:20.97 1:20.70 1:22.23 1:21.55 +0.41s
4 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 1:21.18 1:20.74 1:21.19 1:21.04 +0.45s
5 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Brabham-Ford Cosworth 1:23.20 1:20.87 1:21.74 1:22.35 +0.58s
6 1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi United Kingdom McLaren-Ford Cosworth 1:21.61 1:21.04 1:20.91 1:20.95 +0.62s
7 23 United Kingdom Tony Brise United Kingdom Hill-Ford Cosworth 1:22.88 1:21.24 1:20.94 1:21.16 +0.65s
8 2 West Germany Jochen Mass United Kingdom McLaren-Ford Cosworth 1:21.28 1:21.48 1:21.01 1:22.36T +0.72s
9 8 Brazil Carlos Pace United Kingdom Brabham-Ford Cosworth 1:23.92 1:21.68 1:21.19 1:21.06 +0.77s
10 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier United States Shadow-Ford Cosworth 1:21.44 1:21.15 1:21.10 1:21.39T +0.81s
11 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla United Kingdom March-Ford Cosworth 1:21.31 1:21.25 1:21.14 1:22.28 +0.85s
12 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce United States Shadow-Ford Cosworth 1:21.62 1:21.70 1:21.16 1:21.82 +0.87s
13 4 France Patrick Depailler United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 1:24.75 1:21.79 1:21.31 1:21.20 +0.91s
14 18 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom Surtees-Ford Cosworth 1:21.68 1:21.32 1:21.23 1:21.79 +0.94s
15 21 France Jacques Laffite United Kingdom Williams-Ford Cosworth 1:21.75 1:21.32 1:22.62 1:22.17 +1.03s
16 5 Sweden Ronnie Peterson United Kingdom Lotus-Ford Cosworth 1:22.22 1:22.48 1:21.90 1:21.46 +1.17s
17 22 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Hill-Ford Cosworth 1:22.77 1:22.55 1:22.01 1:22.70 +1.72s
18 28 United States Mark Donohue United States Penske-Ford Cosworth 1:23.83 1:22.74 1:22.33 1:24.06 +2.04s
19 20 South Africa Ian Scheckter United Kingdom Williams-Ford Cosworth 1:23.93 1:24.39 1:22.82 1:22.92 +2.53s
20 14 United Kingdom Bob Evans United Kingdom BRM 1:24.00 1:23.53 1:22.97 1:23.80T +2.68s
21 6 Belgium Jacky Ickx United Kingdom Lotus-Ford Cosworth 1:23.20 1:23.76 1:23.26 1:23.34 +2.91s
22 31 Netherlands Gijs van Lennep United Kingdom Ensign-Ford Cosworth 1:24.33 1:23.30 1:24.73 1:23.42 +3.01s
23 10 Italy Lella Lombardi United Kingdom March-Ford Cosworth 1:23.99 1:24.75 1:24.17 1:25.05 +3.70s
24 30 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth 1:24.48 1:24.62 1:24.68 1:24.15 +3.86s
25* 35 Japan Hiroshi Fushida Japan Maki-Ford Cosworth 1:33.37 +13.08s
Source:[2][4]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
  • Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
  • * Fushida was unable to run after the first session and would not start the race.

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 ______________ 1
2 Niki Lauda
Clay Regazzoni ______________
Row 2 ______________ 3
4 James Hunt
Jody Scheckter ______________
Row 3 ______________ 5
6 Carlos Reutemann
Emerson Fittipaldi ______________
Row 4 ______________ 7
8 Tony Brise
Jochen Mass ______________
Row 5 ______________ 9
10 Carlos Pace
Jean-Pierre Jarier ______________
Row 6 ______________ 11
12 Vittorio Brambilla
Tom Pryce ______________
Row 7 ______________ 13
14 Patrick Depailler
John Watson ______________
Row 8 ______________ 15
16 Jacques Laffite
Ronnie Peterson ______________
Row 9 ______________ 17
18 Alan Jones
Mark Donohue ______________
Row 10 ______________ 19
20 Ian Scheckter
Bob Evans ______________
Row 11 ______________ 21
22 Jacky Ickx
Gijs van Lennep ______________
Row 12 ______________ 23
24 Lella Lombardi
Wilson Fittipaldi ______________
Row 13 ______________ 25
26 Hiroshi Fushida*
______________
  • * Fushida was unable to run after the first session and would not start the race.

Race[]

Although Sunday had dawned bright and warm, continental showers soon gathered over the dunes, soaking the circuit shortly before the 2:15p.m. start time.[2] The organisers were forced to cancel the morning warm-up at the peak of the downpour, although they did allow the drivers a ten minute session to tryout the conditions once the rain had stopped.[2] Most drivers opted for dry tyres as a result, although a second downpour prompted a late switch to the wets as the field prepared to leave the grid for the parade lap.[2]

Report[]

With the circuit soaked there was little surprise when the two Ferraris on the front row spun up their rear wheels, allowing Jody Scheckter to get alongside them with two wheels skating along the grass.[2] Momentum carried the South African racer past Clay Regazzoni, and would have taken him past Niki Lauda had the Austrian not suddenly found grip and shot away from the field.[2] Regazzoni would find purchase too late and slipped to third, with the rest of the field enveloped in spray as they swept into Tarzan.[2]

In the middle of the spray it seemed inevitable that someone would hit trouble, and so there was little surprise when two cars emerged out of the back of the cloud carrying damage.[2] In the midst of the spray Patrick Depailler had misjudged turn in point and clobbered the left rear of Vittorio Brambilla, smashing the Italian's suspension and puncturing his own front right tyre.[2] Brambilla was out on the spot, managing to reverse his ruined March backwards into the pits, while Depailler limped round to have his front tyre changed.[2]

The rest of the field, meanwhile, would split into two during the opening tour, with Lauda leading an equally spaced top ten while Ronnie Peterson led the second pack from eleventh.[2] The spray meant that most drivers were reluctant to run to close to the car ahead, although that did not stop the two Brabham boys from taking the out-of-form Emerson Fittipaldi towards the end of the lap.[2] Another man rather ignoring the spray was Bob Evans, although that was because he was already fighting a rear-guard action in the BRM from Wilson Fittipaldi and Lella Lombardi at the back of the field.[2]

The opening laps passed by far quicker than anyone expected, for the track was drying at an almost alarming rate.[2] By lap five a distinct "dry-line" had emerged, prompting James Hunt to dive into the pits two laps later from fourth.[2] A sub thirty-second stop from the Hesketh crew got the Brit back out on the drying circuit in nineteenth, with Jochen Mass the only man to follow him in on that tour.[2]

It would take some time for Hunt and Mass' pace to be revealed on their slick tyres, although Carlos Reutemann would dive into the pits at the end of lap eight and ultimately emerge further behind both.[2] This was the beginning of a trickle of drivers into the pits, with Emerson Fittipaldi, sweeping in at the end of the following lap.[2] Jean-Pierre Jarier, John Watson and Wilson Fittipaldi were in next, as race leader Lauda began to drive off-line to keep his wet tyres cool.[2]

At that time the wet and the dry tyres seemed to be evenly matched, for Emerson Fittipaldi had emerged just ahead of Hunt despite having trailed him by a few seconds before the Brit's stop.[2] However, the Hesketh had now brought its tyres up to temperature, and with the circuit continuing to dry, the balance of pace soon tipped towards the slick shod minority.[2] Hunt's move on Fittipaldi prompted a bigger flurry of activity in the pits at the end of lap eleven, leading to an unfortunate accident when the Ferrari team coordinator leapt into the path of Peterson's departing Lotus.[2] The Ferrari man was pulled away from the scene and put into a medical tent with a broken leg, while Peterson's undamaged Lotus continued on after a brief check-up.[2]

Lauda carried on until the thirteenth lap, leaving Regazzoni in the lead as one of the last stoppers.[2] However, the damage had been done, for the Austrian would emerge behind Jarier's Shadow, which had moved ahead of Fittipaldi as attention focused Peterson's pitstop confusion.[2] That meant that Hunt inherited the lead when Regazzoni dived into the pits, leaving Lauda without a rear-gunner as he attempted to regain the lead.[2]

The race soon became a battle of the stopwatch, with Lauda slowly reeling in the two cars ahead as Hunt was gradually seeing Jarier grow closer in the mirrors.[2] Intriguingly, Lauda's progress was not being made down the start/finish straight, where the V12 Ferrari engine was supposedly superior, but instead coming on the long sweeping run from Hondenvlak.[2] The top three were by far the fastest trio on track, with a huge gap back to fourth placed Scheckter and the rest of the runners.[2]

As the race out front steadily developed, the first reports of retirements were beginning to filter back to the pits.[2] First out was Jacky Ickx, the Belgian just getting back to pits having lost his engine at the back of the circuit before the field had even begun to consider dry tyres.[2] Evans was out with the BRM after a drive unit failure, while Mass was soon to drop with a jamming throttle in the second McLaren.[2]

As the race thundered past half distance, Lauda could be seen on the back of Jarier's Shadow, and was attempting to use the most reliable overtaking manoeuvre at Zandvoort: A dive into Tarzan.[2] Unfortunately for him, Jarier was a veteran F1 racer, and so knew exactly where to place his car when the Austrian tried to dive past him on the brakes into the tightening hairpin.[2] Three failed attempts from Lauda resulted, before a better run through the final corner allowed him to elbow his way past the Shadow to start the 44th lap.[2]

The Lauda/Jarier duel had briefly allowed Hunt to rebuild the eight second lead he had held after the final stops for slicks, although Lauda was soon carving his way into having cleared Jarier.[2] Jarier himself had not allowed Lauda to simply disappear up the road, but the Shadow would only last another lap before a spectacular rear tyre failure pitched Jarier into a spin through Scheivlak.[2] The Shadow was briefly stranded in the middle of the track before Jarier could drag it out of the firing line to retire.[2]

The order was now Hunt leading from an charging Lauda, who quickly cut the gap in half, before a huge gap back to Scheckter and Regazzoni who were on the verge of duelling for third.[2] Next came Reutemann, promoted after Fittipaldi retired with a ruined gearbox, although the Argentine was being pressed by an enthusiastic Peterson who was enjoying the less-than-perfect conditions.[2] Tom Pryce was next in a lonely seventh, and worrying about his brakes, while Carlos Pace toured around without too much to shout about as the last man on the lead lap.[2]

Dutch Grand Prix 1975 I

James Hunt gets Tom Pryce in the perfect position to block a charging Niki Lauda.

All eyes were on Hunt and Lauda as the latter drew ever closer to the back of the former, and on lap 57 the Austrian seemed to be in a position to pounce.[2] However, before the #12 Ferrari could pounce, Hunt dived up the inside of Pryce to lap the Shadow, which moved across in front of Lauda to temporarily halt his charge.[2] The pair were back together again in a matter of moments, but an identical move by Hunt when lapping the limping Mass two laps later kept the Austrian a frustrated second.[2]

The two former Formula 3 rivals were now running nose to tail, with the Hesketh stubbornly remaining ahead of the scarlet Ferrari in spite of the latter's superior pace.[2] Hunt was putting together one of the best defensive drives in years, placing his car perfectly while using the backmarkers strategically to block any move by Lauda with frightening reliability.[2] As the race entered its final throes, it seemed as if the Austrian would never get past.[2]

Ultimately, it was Hunt who would win the Dutch Grand Prix of 1975, the white Hesketh charging out of the final corner to the delight of the Hesketh team.[2] Lauda was a second behind in second, while Regazzoni had moved into third when Scheckter suffered an engine failure two laps from home.[2] Peterson was another late retiree having just moved into fourth, leaving Reutemann, Pace and Pryce as the final scorers, all a lap down.[2]

Results[]

The full results for the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 24 United Kingdom James Hunt United Kingdom Hesketh-Ford Cosworth 75 1:46:57.40 3 9
2 12 Austria Niki Lauda Italy Ferrari 75 +1.06s 1 6
3 11 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Italy Ferrari 75 +55.06s 2 4
4 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Brabham-Ford Cosworth 74 +1 Lap 5 3
5 8 Brazil Carlos Pace United Kingdom Brabham-Ford Cosworth 74 +1 Lap 9 2
6 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce United States Shadow-Ford Cosworth 74 +1 Lap 12 1
7 23 United Kingdom Tony Brise United Kingdom Hill-Ford Cosworth 74 +1 Lap 7
8 28 United States Mark Donohue United States Penske-Ford Cosworth 74 +1 Lap 18
9 4 France Patrick Depailler United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 73 +2 Laps 13
10 31 Netherlands Gijs van Lennep United Kingdom Ensign-Ford Cosworth 71 +4 Laps 22
11 30 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth 71 +4 Laps 24
12 20 South Africa Ian Scheckter United Kingdom Williams-Ford Cosworth 70 +5 Laps 19
13 22 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Hill-Ford Cosworth 70 +5 Laps 17
14 10 Italy Lella Lombardi United Kingdom March-Ford Cosworth 70 +5 Laps 23
15* 5 Sweden Ronnie Peterson United Kingdom Lotus-Ford Cosworth 69 Fuel injection 16
16* 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 67 Engine 4
Ret 21 France Jacques Laffite United Kingdom Williams-Ford Cosworth 65 Engine 15
Ret 2 West Germany Jochen Mass United Kingdom McLaren-Ford Cosworth 61 Accident 8
Ret 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier United States Shadow-Ford Cosworth 44 Accident 10
Ret 18 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom Surtees-Ford Cosworth 43 Wing 14
Ret 1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi United Kingdom McLaren-Ford Cosworth 40 Engine 6
Ret 14 United Kingdom Bob Evans United Kingdom BRM 23 Differential 20
Ret 6 Belgium Jacky Ickx United Kingdom Lotus-Ford Cosworth 6 Engine 21
Ret 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla United Kingdom March-Ford Cosworth 0 Accident 11
DNS 35 Japan Hiroshi Fushida Japan Maki-Ford Cosworth
Source:[5]
  • * Peterson and Jody Scheckter were still classified despite retiring as they had completed 90% of the race distance.

Milestones[]

  • First entry for Hiroshi Fushida.
    • This marks the first time a Japanese driver has entered a Formula One race weekend.
  • Niki Lauda started his 50th Grand Prix.
  • Brabham had a chassis entered for the 150th time.
  • Thirteenth pole position for Lauda.
  • Maiden victory for James Hunt.
  • First and only victory by a Hesketh chassis.

Standings[]

Despite missing out on victory, Championship leader Niki Lauda was able to extend his lead in the title hunt, moving thirteen points clear of second placed Carlos Reutemann. The Argentine himself was now four points ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi, who was in a miserable run of form, with Carlos Pace closing the gap to the top three to just three points. Clay Regazzoni, meanwhile, had moved into the top five, level on points with race winner James Hunt.

Ferrari managed to draw their lead out to five points in the International Cup for Manufacturers standings in Zandvoort, with Brabham-Ford Cosworth remaining their closest challengers. McLaren-Ford Cosworth remained in third ahead of Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth, neither having scored, while Hesketh-Ford Cosworth closed the gap to the pair of them with Hunt's win. Lotus-Ford Cosworth slipped further behind their rivals after another non-score, while Shadow-Ford Cosworth moved back ahead of Parnelli-Ford Cosworth to be the best of the American constructors.

Drivers' World Championship
Pos. Driver Pts +/-
1 Austria Niki Lauda 38
2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann 25
3 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi 21
4 Brazil Carlos Pace 18
5 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni 16 ▲1
6 United Kingdom James Hunt 16 ▲3
7 South Africa Jody Scheckter 15 ▼2
8 France Patrick Depailler 11 ▼1
9 West Germany Jochen Mass 10.5 ▼1
10 Belgium Jacky Ickx 3
11 Sweden Ronnie Peterson 3
12 United States Mario Andretti 3
13 United States Mark Donohue 2
14 United Kingdom Tom Pryce 2 ▲1
15 France Jean-Pierre Jarier 1.5 ▼1
16 Italy Vittorio Brambilla 1
17 United Kingdom Tony Brise 1
18 Italy Lella Lombardi 0.5
International Cup for Manufacturers
Pos. Team Pts +/-
1 Italy Ferrari 41
2 United Kingdom Brabham-Ford Cosworth 36 (38)
3 United Kingdom McLaren-Ford Cosworth 26.5
4 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 19
5 United Kingdom Hesketh-Ford Cosworth 16
6 United Kingdom Lotus-Ford Cosworth 6
7 United States Shadow-Ford Cosworth 3.5 ▲1
8 United States Parnelli-Ford Cosworth 3 ▼1
9 United States Penske-Ford Cosworth 2
10 United Kingdom March-Ford Cosworth 1
11 United Kingdom Hill-Ford Cosworth 1

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: DUTCH GP, 1975', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr258.html, (Accessed 22/11/2017)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 2.35 2.36 2.37 2.38 2.39 2.40 2.41 2.42 2.43 2.44 2.45 2.46 2.47 2.48 2.49 2.50 2.51 2.52 2.53 2.54 2.55 2.56 2.57 2.58 2.59 2.60 2.61 2.62 2.63 2.64 2.65 2.66 2.67 2.68 2.69 2.70 2.71 2.72 2.73 2.74 2.75 2.76 2.77 2.78 2.79 2.80 2.81 2.82 2.83 2.84 2.85 2.86 2.87 2.88 2.89 2.90 2.91 2.92 2.93 D.S.J., 'The Dutch Grand Prix: An Englishman wins', motorsportmagazine.com, (Motor Sport, 01/08/1975), pp.866-8, http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-1975/44/dutch-grand-prix#, (Accessed 22/11/2017)
  3. 'Netherlands 1975: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1975/pays-bas/engages.aspx, (Accessed 19/10/2017)
  4. 'Netherlands 1975: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1975/pays-bas/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 22/11/2017)
  5. 'Netherlands 1975: Results', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1975/pays-bas/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/04/2017)
V T E 1975 Formula One Season
Constructors Brabham • BRM • Ensign • Ferrari • Fittipaldi • Hesketh • Hill • Lola • Lotus • Lyncar • Maki • March • McLaren • Parnelli • Penske • Shadow • Surtees • Tyrrell • Williams
Engines BRM • Ferrari • Ford Cosworth • Matra
Drivers Andretti • Ashley • Brambilla • Brise • Charlton • Crawford • Depailler • Donohue • Ertl • Evans • E. Fittipaldi • W. Fittipaldi • Fushida • Henton • Hill • Hunt • Ickx • Jabouille • Jarier • Jones • Keizan • Laffite • Lauda • Leclère • van Lennep • Lombardi • Magee • Mass • Merzario • Migault • Morgan • Nicholson • Pace • Palm • Peterson • Pryce • Regazzoni • Reutemann • I. Scheckter • J. Scheckter • Schuppan • Stommelen • Stuck • Trimmer • Tunmer • Vonlanthen • Watson • Wilds • Wunderink • Zorzi
Cars Brabham BT44 • BRM P201 • Ensign N174 • Ensign N175 • Ferrari 312B3-74 • Ferrari 312T • Fittipaldi FD01 • Fittipaldi FD02 • Fittipaldi FD03 • Hesketh 308 • Hesketh 308B • Hesketh 308C • Hill GH1 • Lola T370 • Lola T371 • Lotus 72E • Lyncar 006 • Maki F101C • March 741 • March 751 • McLaren M23 • Parnelli VPJ4 • Penske PC1 • Shadow DN3 • Shadow DN5 • Shadow DN7 • Surtees TS16 • Tyrrell 007 • Williams FW • Williams FW04
Tyres Firestone • Goodyear
Races Argentina • Brazil • South Africa • Spain • Monaco • Belgium • Sweden • Netherlands • France • Britain • Germany • Austria • Italy • United States
Non-championship Races Race of Champions • International Trophy • Swiss GP
See also 1974 Formula One Season • 1976 Formula One Season • Category
V T E Netherlands Dutch Grand Prix
Circuits Zandvoort (1948-present)
Zandvoort Circuit vector map
Formula One Races 19521953195419551956-195719581959196019611962196319641965196619671968196919701971197219731974197519761977197819791980198119821983198419851986-201920202021202220232024
Non-Championship Races 19501951
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