Grand Prix de Monaco 3 Juni 1973

Ronnie Peterson i sitt 38:e F1 lopp i karriären. De båda Lotusbilarna går mycket bra och efter tidskvalet står Ronnie vid sidan av teamkamraten Emerson Fittipaldi i det första startledet. 

Det blir emellertid Cevert som tar starten, men Ronnie kan redan på det andra varvet överta ledningen. Denna kan han behålla i sex varv, men måste släppa den på det 8:e till Jackie Stewart - som sedan behåller den in i mål. Ronnie har problem med bränsletrycket som faller katastrofalt - motorn förlorar kraft - och han tvingats också släppa till Fittipaldi, som endast är 1,3 sekunder efter segraren i mål. Men Ronnie lyckas ändock bärga tredjeplatsen och tar därmed sina första poäng för säsongen.

Snabbast varv har Fittipaldi med 1.28,1 och loppet ser följande förare i ledning: Cevert 1; Ronnie 2-7; Stewart 8-78.

"Jag körde för allt jag var värd, men bilen ville bara inte mera!" 

...konstaterade Ronnie efter de 80 gatloppsvarven.

Summary in english

Monaco was later than usual and there were big changes to the circuit with a new tunnel section and a new section of track around the new Swimming Pool between Tabac and the a new corner called La Rascasse. This meant that the pits (which were back to their original location after a year down on the waterfront) were much better than they had been.

The field had grown again with the arrival of two new customer March teams: Hesketh Racing, which was running F1 debutante James Hunt, and David Purley's Lec Refrigeration operation under Mike Earle. There were 26 entries but George Follmer seriously damaged his Shadow in a collision with Arturo Merzario's Ferrari on Saturday and so the American had to miss the race.

Pole position went to Jackie Stewart in the Tyrrell with Ronnie Peterson's Lotus alongside. Then came Denny Hulme (McLaren) and Francois Cevert (Tyrrell) on the second row and Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus) and an impressive Niki Lauda (BRM) on the third. Jacky Ickx (Ferrari) and Clay Regazzoni (BRM) shared row four while the top 10 was completed by Wilson Fittipaldi's Brabham and Howden Ganley in the Williams. The Tecno continued to do well with Chris Amon qualifying 12th while Hunt did a good job in 18th position.

At the start Cevert burst through to take the lead but on the second lap he suffered a puncture when he hit a curb and so Peterson went ahead, chased by a quick-starting Regazzoni, Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Lauda, Ickx and the rest. Peterson was able to build a lead and it became clear that Regazzoni was holding up the rest of the field. It was not until the sixth lap that the BRM driver made a mistake and went up the escape road at the chicane. This allowed Stewart to set off after Peterson. The Lotus driver ran into fuel feed trouble and dropped to sixth, leaving Stewart in the lead with Emerson Fittipaldi second, Lauda third, Ickx fourth and Wilson Fittipaldi fifth. On lap 25 Lauda went out with gearbox trouble and on lap 45 Ickx suffered a driveshaft failure and so Wilson Fittipaldi ran third until lap 71 when he began to suffer problems with a fuel leak which forced him to retire. This gave Peterson third place. Cevert, Peter Revson (McLaren) and Hulme completed the points scorers, although the impressive Hunt was ahead of Hulme until he went out in the closing laps with an engine failure.

Stewart's victory (his 25th) equaled Jim Clark's record of victories in the World Championship.

 

Sammanställning Grand Prix Monaco Datum 3 Juni 1973 Bana Monte Carlo Säsong 1973 Deltävling 6 Längd (km) 3.278 Varv 78 Tid 1:57:44.300

Placering Nr Förare Team Tid Grid 1 5 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell 1:57:44.300 1 2 1 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus 1.300 5 3 2 Ronnie Peterson Lotus +1 varv 2 4 6 François Cevert Tyrrell +1 varv 4 5 8 Peter Revson McLaren +2 varv 15 6 7 Denny Hulme McLaren +2 varv 3 7 9 Andrea de Adamich Brabham +3 varv 25 8 23 Mike Hailwood Surtees +3 varv 13 r 27 James Hunt March +5 varv 18 10 17 Jackie Oliver Shadow +6 varv 22 r 11 Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham +7 varv 9 r 14 Jean-Pierre Jarier March +11 varv 14 r 12 Graham Hill Shadow +16 varv 24 r 4 Arturo Merzario Ferrari +20 varv 16 r 10 Carlos Reutemann Brabham +32 varv 19 r 3 Jacky Ickx Ferrari +34 varv 7 r 25 Howden Ganley Williams +37 varv 10 r 20 Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM +39 varv 11 r 18 David Purley March +47 varv 23 r 24 Carlos Pace Surtees +47 varv 17 r 26 Nanni Galli Williams +48 varv 21 r 21 Niki Lauda BRM +54 varv 6 r 22 Chris Amon Tecno +56 varv 12 r 19 Clay Regazzoni BRM +63 varv 8 r 15 Mike Beuttler March +75 varv 20 ns 16 George Follmer Shadow

NC=Not Classified NT=No time set in qualifying R=Retired EX=Excluded from meeting W=Withdrawn DQ=Disqualified NS=Did not start NQ=Did not qualify NPQ=Did not pre-qualify

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