1972 Formula One season

The 1972 Formula One season was the 26th season of the FIA 's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 23rd World Championship of Drivers , the 15th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers , and numerous non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship commenced on 23 January and ended on 8 October after twelve races.

Emerson Fittipaldi , driving for Lotus , became the youngest World Champion to date at 25 years. [ 1 ] This record would stand until Fernando Alonso 's title in 2005 . Reigning champion Jackie Stewart came second in the championship. The Lotus team had finished fifth in the standings of 1971 , but kept developing their innovative Lotus 72 "wedge" design to take a surprise championship victory. [ 2 ] The car sported a striking black and gold livery for their sponsor Imperial Tobacco had introduce...

The British Racing Motors (BRM) team took its last victory when Jean-Pierre Beltoise won the rain-affected 1972 Monaco Grand Prix in a BRM P160 .

The following teams and drivers contested the 1972 World Championship.

Safety was becoming a serious talking point in F1. Since 1969 , circuits had started installing some safety features. 1972 was the first season in which all the visited tracks were up to the mandatory safety standards. The official Circuit Safety Criteria were published, including, for example, specifications on debris fences. [ 5 ] [ 6 ]

The first Drivers' Code of Conduct was published. [ 5 ] [ 6 ]

When Formula One returned to Argentina for the first time since 1960 , it was local driver Carlos Reutemann who made his debut and immediately scored pole position for Brabham . Reigning champion Jackie Stewart started second in his Tyrrell and Peter Revson lined up in third for his first race with McLaren . At the start, Stewart took the lead off of Reutemann, but the Argentine driver kept on his tail. Behind them, Emerson Fittipaldi overtook Denny Hulme for third place, while Revson had fallen...

Stewart secured pole position for the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami , ahead of Regazzoni and Fittipaldi. Hulme got off the line remarkably well: from his fifth position on the grid, he moved up to shortly take the lead, before Stewart relegated him back to second. Regazzoni fell back into the midfield. Veteran Mike Hailwood , driving for Surtees , started fourth but passed Fittipaldi and, later, the overheating McLaren of Hulme, before actually challenging Stewart for the lead. However, on...

In Spain , Emerson Fittipaldi was joined on the grid by his brother Wilson , marking the first time two brothers raced simultaneously. Wilson had replaced Carlos Reutemann after the Swiss driver injured his ankle in a Formula 2 race a week earlier. On the Jarama circuit , the Belgian Jacky Ickx took a dominant pole position, seven tenths ahead of Denny Hulme and Emerson Fittipaldi. Stewart started in fourth. On race day, Hulme had another mighty get-away and took the lead, before, like in South ...

This showed again during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix , where Fittipaldi took pole position ahead of the Ferraris of Ickx and Regazzoni. Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Peter Gethin started a surprising fourth and fifth for BRM . Before the race, it had started raining and the cars took off in a cloud of spray. Fittipaldi got away slowly, so Ickx jumped ahead, but Beltoise surprised everyone, pulling off a dive to the inside of the first corner and coming out on top. The Marlboro -sponsored BRM...

In the drivers' championship, Emerson Fittipaldi ( Lotus ) led with 19 points, ahead of Jacky Ickx ( Ferrari and Denny Hulme ( McLaren ). Reigning champion Jackie Stewart ( Tyrrell ) was in fourth. In the manufacturers' championship, Lotus, McLaren and Ferrari all shared the top spot with 19 points.

Jackie Stewart was a notable absence in the Belgian Grand Prix . His gruelling schedule of racing in F1, Can-Am and touring cars , as well as promotional events for sponsors Elf and Ford , and a side job as sports commentator on United States television on top of that, resulted in

a case of gastritis . Under doctor 's orders, he rested for three weeks and severely restricted his activities after that. Championship leader Emerson Fittipaldi qualified on pole position in the Lotus , ahead of Clay Regazzoni in the Ferrari and Denny Hulme in the McLaren . Regazzoni's teammate Jacky Ickx , second in the championship, lined up in fourth, with Francois Cevert , the primary Tyrrell driver for this race, in fifth. At the start, Regazzoni took the lead, but saw Fittipaldi come back...

The F1 circus moved down to France , where the French Grand Prix was held at the Circuit de Charade , a twisty and undulating 5.1 mi (8.2 km) stretch of public roads. While Stewart was back in his car, but his teammate Cevert was comfortably fastest in practice. He drove a new-spec Tyrrell chassis, until he crashed into the guard rail, injured his hand, and was left with the old-spec spare car. He would not be the last driver to spin or crash out, trying to get to grips with the challenging circ...

Coming to Brands Hatch for the British Grand Prix , Denny Hulme, third in the championship, was recovering from a high-speed crash in the Can-Am race of the week before. He did drive but qualified down in eleventh. Stewart and Amon, heroes of the last race, both crashed in practice and qualified in their spare cars, fourth and seventeenth, respectively. Jacky Ickx got pole position ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi and Peter Revson . At the start, Jean-Pierre Beltoise jumped up to third but quickly st...

In the drivers' championship, Emerson Fittipaldi ( Lotus ) led with 43 points, ahead of Jackie Stewart ( Tyrrell ) with 27 and Denny Hulme ( McLaren ) with 21. The manufacturers' championship saw Lotus in the lead with 43 points, ahead of Tyrrell with 33 and McLaren with 27.

The Austrian Grand Prix was held in really hot and sunny conditions. Fittipaldi scored pole position ahead of Regazzoni and Stewart. At the start of the race, they went three-wide into the first corner and it was Stewart who took the lead. Fittipaldi fell back to third but overtook Regazzoni when the Ferrari's engine sputtered. The Brazilian gradually closed up to the leader. On lap 23, the lead changed hands and Denny Hulme was challenging for second. Stewart's Tyrrell looked to have trouble wi...

The European leg of the season concluded with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza . The circuit had been slowed down by two chicanes, so for once this year, earlier lap records would not be challenged. Jacky Ickx delighted the crowd with a pole position for Ferrari, just 0.04 seconds ahead of Chris Amon in the Matra . Stewart started third, Fittipaldi in sixth. However, seconds after the start, Stewart lost all drive from his engine and had to retire. Ickx and Amon had a trouble-free getaway, while ...

With an unsurmountable lead of 30 points over his nearest rival, Emerson Fittipaldi clinched the 1972 Drivers' Championship. At the age of 25, he was the youngest-ever World Champion, a record that would stand until 2005 . Denny Hulme ( McLaren ) had overtaken Jackie Stewart ( Tyrrell ) in the championship, standing on 31 points compared to 27. Lotus secured the Manufacturers' Championship since McLaren and Tyrrell were now too far back.

The McLaren drivers were already familiar with the Mosport International Raceway , host of the Canadian Grand Prix , thanks to their experience in Can-Am . They managed to secure a 1–2 on the grid, Peter Revson ahead of Denny Hulme , with a surprising Ronnie Peterson in third. And it was the Swede that actually reached the first corner first, while Hulme fell back when dirt clogged up his throttle . Coming to complete the first lap, Peterson almost crashed out, and after another mistake a few la...

Coming to the final race of the championship, the United States Grand Prix , Stewart was determined to show that the loss of the title did not mean a loss of form, and it would be one of the most convincing wins of his career, achieving a hat-trick of pole position, fastest lap and victory. Revson and Hulme started second and third for McLaren. At the start, Revson was caught up in a collision with Regazzoni and Reutemann , so Hulme was up to second and Fittipaldi up to third. Future champion Jo...

Emerson Fittipaldi finished on top of the standings with 61 points, ahead of Jackie Stewart with 45 and Denny Hulme with 39. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Lotus were first with 61 points. Tyrrell were now second (51), having just overtaken McLaren (47).

Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers. The International Cup for F1 Manufacturers only counted the points of the highest-finishing driver for each race. For both the Championship and the Cup, the best five results from rounds 1-6 and the best five results from rounds 7-12 were counted.

Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:

Other Formula One races were also held in 1972, which did not count towards the World Championship.