1971 Austrian Grand Prix

1971 Austrian Grand Prix
The Österreichring (in 1971)
Race details
Date	15 August 1971
Official name	IX Großer Preis von Österreich
Location	Österreichring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.911 km (3.673 miles)
Distance	54 laps, 317.347 km (198.686 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Jo Siffert	BRM
Time	1:37.44
Fastest lap
Driver	Jo Siffert	BRM
Time	1:38.47
Podium
First	Jo Siffert	BRM
Second	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford
Third	Tim Schenken	Brabham-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1971 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on 15 August 1971. It was race 8 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.^[1] The 54-lap race was won by BRM driver Jo Siffert after he started from pole position. Emerson Fittipaldi finished second for the Lotus team and Brabham driver Tim Schenken came in third. This was the debut race of the future world champion Niki Lauda.

Race report

Jo Siffert took a surprise pole position from Jackie Stewart and led away at the start from Clay Regazzoni and Jacky Ickx. The front two drew away from the pack, where Regazzoni was duelling with François Cevert and Ickx was dropping back with mechanical problems. On lap 21, Stewart with a poorly handling car allowed Cevert through so he could chase Siffert. Further down the field, there were two Brabham-Lotus battles, with Tim Schenken duelling with Emerson Fittipaldi and Reine Wisell trading places with Graham Hill. By lap 32, Ickx had retired with a spark plug problem, Regazzoni had an engine blow up and Fittipaldi had passed Schenken and set about catching Stewart.

On lap 36, Stewart's race ended with a violent accident - his left rear driveshaft broke and the wheel was torn off. He emerged unhurt to be greeted as World Champion following Ickx's retirement. Cevert was chasing down Siffert, but with 12 laps to go his gearbox exploded.

Fittipaldi was now carving chunks out the BRM's lead, due to a left-rear puncture for the Swiss. However he managed to nurse the ailing car home for a popular victory by 4 seconds. Schenken was 3rd, with Wisell pipping Hill for 4th place - the Englishman was another to suffer a puncture in the dying stages and Henri Pescarolo finished 6th in his March. Stewart won the Drivers' Championship with 3 races left to go.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	14	Jo Siffert	BRM	1:37.44	—
2	11	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	1:37.65	+0.21
3	12	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	1:37.86	+0.42
4	5	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	1:37.90	+0.46
5	2	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	1:37.90	+0.46
6	4	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:38.27	+0.83
7	8	Tim Schenken	Brabham-Ford	1:38.64	+1.20
8	7	Graham Hill	Brabham-Ford	1:38.70	+1.26
9	9	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	1:38.80	+1.36
10	3	Reine Wisell	Lotus-Ford	1:38.95	+1.51
11	17	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	1:39.01	+1.57
12	24	Rolf Stommelen	Surtees-Ford	1:39.08	+1.64
13	25	Henri Pescarolo	March-Ford	1:39.09	+1.65
14	15	Howden Ganley	BRM	1:39.46	+2.02
15	19	Nanni Galli	March-Alfa Romeo	1:39.54	+2.10
16	23	Peter Gethin	BRM	1:39.67	+2.23
17	16	Helmut Marko	BRM	1:39.80	+2.36
18	22	John Surtees	Surtees-Ford	1:40.37	+2.93
19	27	Mike Beuttler	March-Ford	1:41.46	+4.02
20	28	Jo Bonnier	McLaren-Ford	1:41.66	+4.22
21	26	Niki Lauda	March-Ford	1:43.68	+6.24
22	10	Jackie Oliver	McLaren-Ford	1:44.22	+6.78
Source:[2]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	14	Jo Siffert	BRM	54	1:30:23.91	1	9
2	2	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	54	+ 4.12	5	6
3	8	Tim Schenken	Brabham-Ford	54	+ 19.77	7	4
4	3	Reine Wisell	Lotus-Ford	54	+ 31.87	10	3
5	7	Graham Hill	Brabham-Ford	54	+ 48.43	8	2
6	25	Henri Pescarolo	March-Ford	54	+ 1:24.51	13	1
7	24	Rolf Stommelen	Surtees-Ford	54	+ 1:37.42	12
8	17	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	53	+1 Lap	11
9	10	Jackie Oliver	McLaren-Ford	53	+1 Lap	22
10	23	Peter Gethin	BRM	52	+2 Laps	16
11	16	Helmut Marko	BRM	52	+2 Laps	17
12	19	Nanni Galli	March-Alfa Romeo	51	+3 Laps	15
NC	27	Mike Beuttler	March-Ford	47	Not Classified	19
Ret	12	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	42	Engine	3
Ret	11	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	35	Halfshaft	2
Ret	4	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	31	Engine	6
Ret	26	Niki Lauda	March-Ford	20	Handling	21
Ret	22	John Surtees	Surtees-Ford	12	Engine	18
Ret	5	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	8	Engine	4
Ret	15	Howden Ganley	BRM	5	Ignition	14
Ret	9	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	4	Engine	9
DNS	28	Jo Bonnier	McLaren-Ford	0	Fuel Leak	20
Source:[3]

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for future World Champion Niki Lauda.
• This was the first and only podium finish for Australian driver Tim Schenken.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jackie Stewart 51 2 Jacky Ickx 19 3 Ronnie Peterson 17 3 4 Emerson Fittipaldi 16 7 5 Jo Siffert 13 Source:[4]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Tyrrell-Ford 51 2 Ferrari 32 2 3 BRM 21 4 Lotus-Ford 19 2 5 March-Ford 18 Source:[4]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References