1974 South African Grand Prix

1974 South African Grand Prix
Kyalami Circuit
Race details
Date	30 March 1974
Official name	XX Lucky Strike Grand Prix of South Africa
Location	Midrand, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.104 km (2.550 miles)
Distance	78 laps, 320.112 km (198.908 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
Time	1:16.58
Fastest lap
Driver	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford
Time	1:18.16 on lap 58
Podium
First	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford
Second	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM
Third	Mike Hailwood	McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1974 South African Grand Prix (formally the XX Lucky Strike Grand Prix of South Africa) was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 30 March 1974. It was race 3 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. This was Carlos Reutemann's first win, the first for an Argentinian driver since Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1957 German Grand Prix, and Brabham's first since the 1970 South African Grand Prix.

Pre race notes, practice, and qualifying

It was initially uncertain that the South African Grand Prix would go ahead due to the 1973 oil crisis, but it did so, albeit at the end of March rather than at the start of the month. Lotus stunned the paddock with an innovative car which used four pedals and an electric clutch.

However, practice was overshadowed by an accident which killed Peter Revson. While driving his Shadow-Ford in a test session before the race, Revson suffered a front suspension failure on the outside of Barbecue Bend and crashed heavily into the Armco barrier, the car bursting into flames. Revson died instantly, and the Shadow team withdrew from the race. Niki Lauda took pole by a fraction of a second from Carlos Pace.

Race summary

The two Lotus cars of Ronnie Peterson and Jacky Ickx tangled shortly after the start with the incident also involving Jochen Mass and Henri Pescarolo whilst Tom Belsø's race lasted no more than a few hundred yards due to clutch failure. Lauda led a train of cars consisting of Carlos Reutemann, Clay Regazzoni, Jody Scheckter and James Hunt, whose Hesketh was suffering vibration problems.

Mike Hailwood caught and passed Scheckter when he missed a gear, and then passed Reutemann on lap 9. On lap 75, nearly at the finish, Lauda was forced to retire with ignition problems and low oil pressure, handing the lead to Reutemann. Jean-Pierre Beltoise fought his way up through the field to 2nd, holding off a determined challenge from Hailwood who took the final podium place. Beltoise's 2nd place would turn out to be the last podium finish for a BRM.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.	Driver	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	1:16.58
2	Carlos Pace	Surtees–Ford	+0.05
3	Arturo Merzario	FWRC–Ford	+0.21
4	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham–Ford	+0.22
5	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren–Ford	+0.24
6	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	+0.27
7	Hans-Joachim Stuck	March–Ford	+0.40
8	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell–Ford	+0.41
9	Denny Hulme	McLaren–Ford	+0.53
10	Jacky Ickx	Lotus–Ford	+0.60
11	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	+0.76
12	Mike Hailwood	McLaren–Ford	+0.76
13	James Hunt	Hesketh–Ford	+0.83
14	John Watson	Brabham–Ford	+1.03
15	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell–Ford	+1.17
16	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus–Ford	+1.42
17	Jochen Mass	Surtees–Ford	+1.65
18	Graham Hill	Lola–Ford	+1.67
19	Vittorio Brambilla	March–Ford	+1.71
20	David Charlton	McLaren–Ford	+1.79
21	Henri Pescarolo	BRM	+1.81
22	Ian Scheckter	Lotus–Ford	+1.98
23	Richard Robarts	Brabham–Ford	+2.02
24	Eddie Keizan	Tyrrell–Ford	+2.42
25	François Migault	BRM	+2.56
26	Paddy Driver	Lotus–Ford	+2.91
27	Tom Belsø	FWRC–Ford	+3.22
Source:

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	78	1:42:40.96	4	9
2	14	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	78	+ 33.94	11	6
3	33	Mike Hailwood	McLaren-Ford	78	+ 42.16	12	4
4	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	78	+ 44.19	15	3
5	9	Hans Joachim Stuck	March-Ford	78	+ 46.23	7	2
6	20	Arturo Merzario	Iso-Marlboro-Ford	78	+ 56.04	3	1
7	5	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Ford	78	+ 1:08.39	5
8	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford	78	+ 1:10.54	8
9	6	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	77	+ 1 Lap	9
10	10	Vittorio Brambilla	March-Ford	77	+ 1 Lap	19
11	18	Carlos Pace	Surtees-Ford	77	+ 1 Lap	2
12	26	Graham Hill	Lola-Ford	77	+ 1 Lap	18
13	29	Ian Scheckter	Lotus-Ford	76	+ 2 Laps	22
14	32	Eddie Keizan	Tyrrell-Ford	76	+ 2 Laps	24
15	37	François Migault	BRM	75	+ 3 Laps	25
16	12	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	74	Ignition	1
17	8	Richard Robarts	Brabham-Ford	74	+ 4 Laps	23
18	15	Henri Pescarolo	BRM	72	+ 6 Laps	21
19	23	Dave Charlton	McLaren-Ford	71	+ 7 Laps	20
Ret	11	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	65	Oil Pressure	6
Ret	28	John Watson	Brabham-Ford	54	Fuel System	13
Ret	2	Jacky Ickx	Lotus-Ford	31	Brakes	10
Ret	24	James Hunt	Hesketh-Ford	13	Transmission	14
Ret	19	Jochen Mass	Surtees-Ford	11	Suspension	17
Ret	30	Paddy Driver	Lotus-Ford	6	Clutch	26
Ret	1	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	2	Collision	16
Ret	21	Tom Belsø	Iso-Marlboro-Ford	0	Clutch	27
WD	16	Peter Revson	Shadow-Ford		Fatal Accident
WD	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow-Ford		Entry Withdrawn
WD	22	Rikky von Opel	Ensign-Ford
WD	25	John McNicol	Lotus-Ford
WD	27	Guy Edwards	Lola-Ford
Source:

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Italian driver Vittorio Brambilla and South African driver Ian Scheckter.
• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British constructor Hesketh.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Clay Regazzoni	10
2	Carlos Reutemann	9
3	Emerson Fittipaldi	9
4	Denny Hulme	9
5	Mike Hailwood	9
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	McLaren-Ford	22
2	Ferrari	12
3	Brabham-Ford	9
4	BRM	8
5	Lotus-Ford	4
Source:

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