1972 Formula One season

The Formula One circus returned to Argentina in January for the first time since 1960. The short No.9 arena configuration of the Buenos Aires city autodrome was used, and Argentine Carlos Reutemann, in his first ever F1 race took pole position in a Brabham-Ford/Cosworth. Reutemann however did not win – defending champion Jackie Stewart of the UK won in a Tyrrell-Ford/Cosworth.

The southern hemisphere tour continued in South Africa at the Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg in March. Denny Hulme won the race in a McLaren-Ford/Cosworth, which was McLaren's first F1 victory since 1969.

With the cancellation of the United States Grand Prix West at the Ontario Motor Speedway near Los Angeles, Formula One started its 4-month European tour in Spain at the Jarama circuit near Madrid. The Lotus 72, improved after suspension revisions to the chassis to make the car better suited to slick tires won in the hands of Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi – winning his 2nd ever F1 race.

The Monaco Grand Prix in 1972 was run in atrocious conditions – it poured down all throughout race day. The circuit had been changed to move the pits away from the start-finish line, which proved to be too narrow to fit a wide-enough start-finish line and wide-enough pits. The pits for the first and only time were moved next to the harbor straight after where the chicane is, and the chicane was moved further forward towards Tabac. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Beltoise won his only championship F1 race after producing a stirring drive in his BRM.

There was some controversy when the F1 troupe arrived at the Nivelles circuit just outside Brussels. A lot of people were unhappy with the replacement of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which Formula One stopped racing at because of safety issues with the circuit. But the racing continued, and Fittipaldi won again in his John Player Lotus 72D.

There was a 4-week break between Grand Prix's as the Dutch Grand Prix was cancelled due to safety issues with the Zandvoort circuit. So the next Grand Prix was in France at the dauntingly challenging 5.1 mile Charade circuit – which was made of closed-off public roads located in hills surrounding an extinct volcano above the large central French town of Clermont-Ferrand. The circuit's twisty, undulating and sometimes fast nature provided a considerable challenge, and the circuit had been lined with more Armco and had a few more safety features. New Zealander Chris Amon took pole with his new Matra MS120D, eight-tenths faster than the next fastest driver, Amon's countryman Denny Hulme in a McLaren. Amon, Hulme, Jackie Stewart and Belgian Jacky Ickx in a Ferrari went away from the field. But then Ickx and Hulme fell back, and Amon found himself being chased by Stewart. Then, Amon's perennial bad luck in Formula One hit him yet again: as was often the case at the Charade circuit, the circuit was littered with rocks, and Amon's car punctured a tire and had to pit – and then, Stewart and Fittipaldi passed him. Amon charged through the field, but only was able to secure 3rd place, behind Stewart and Fittipaldi – the former returning from illness after missing the previous race in Belgium. In other news, Austrian Helmut Marko – who later went on to work for Red Bull Racing – was hit in the eye by a rock thrown from Fittipaldi's Lotus, and he never raced again. And the Charade circuit was never used again for F1 – although they were supposed to go back for the 1974 and 1975 seasons, the safety improvements with the circuit were not good enough.

The British Grand Prix was at Brands Hatch in 1972, and Jacky Ickx in a Ferrari took pole ahead of Fittipaldi and Stewart. The race proved to be exciting as the Briton and Brazilian battled for top honors – and it was the Brazilian Fittipaldi who came out on top 4.1 seconds ahead of Stewart.

The German Grand Prix was held at the historic 14.2 mile (22.8 km) Nürburgring Nordschleife – the longest, most demanding and most difficult circuit of the year for Formula One. The race distance was extended from 12 to 14 laps, and Jacky Ickx took pole with a record-breaking time of 7 minutes and 7 seconds flat, ahead of Stewart, Fittipaldi, Swede Ronnie Peterson in a March and Stewart's teammate Francois Cevert in a Tyrrell-Ford/Cosworth. Ickx went on to dominate the race – he set fastest lap and led from start to finish. Fittipaldi retired with a seized gearbox in his unusually reliable Lotus, and Stewart and Clay Regazzoni in a Ferrari battled for a long time – until the two tangled on the 14th and last lap at the Hatzenbach, where Stewart went off and crashed, and Regazzoni was able to finish behind his teammate Ickx to make it a Ferrari 1–2. Ickx, known as a master of the Nürburgring, celebrated his 2nd German Grand Prix victory and what was to be his last Formula One win.

The Austrian Grand Prix was held at the fastest circuit of the year – the spectacular Österreichring in the Styrian mountains. Stewart and Fittipaldi battled all throughout – but Stewart, with a new model Tyrrell-Ford/Cosworth 005, eventually fell back and finished 7th – while Fittipaldi won ahead of Denny Hulme and American Peter Revson.

The European season concluded 4 weeks after Austria at the historic Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The Monza autodrome – already notorious for being very fast – had chicanes fitted just after the pit straight and at what was the flat-out Vialone left hander, where Alberto Ascari crashed fatally testing Ferrari sports cars in 1955. Fittipaldi win in Austria and Stewart's failure to score points meant that Fittipaldi could become World Champion at the historic Italian venue. And he did just that – after Stewart retired right at the start with gearbox failure, Fittipaldi was never bothered, and won the race and his first Drivers' Championship at the age of 25 – a record that was not to be beaten for some 3 decades.

The Formula One season traditionally concluded in North America, and the first of 2 North American rounds was in Canada, at the challenging Mosport Park circuit near Toronto. The race was originally supposed to be held at the Mont-Tremblant circuit in northern Quebec, but a dispute with the local authorities at the St. Jovite circuit meant that the race was moved back to Mosport, which had received safety upgrades after a fatal accident during a Formula Ford race during last year's event. Jackie Stewart won the race from McLaren drivers Revson and Hulme.

Two weeks after Canada, the 12th and last race of the 1972 Formula One season was at another challenging North American venue – Watkins Glen in New York State, only 4 hours from New York City and 5 hours from Toronto. Stewart won again ahead of his teammate Cevert, in a race that had 31 cars and drivers start the race.

Points for the 1972 World Championship of Drivers were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the top six finishers in each race. For classification, only the best five results from the first half of the season and the best five results from the second half of the season could be retained.

Emerson Fittipaldi (pictured in 2008) won the Drivers' Championship, driving for Lotus

Pos Driver ARG RSA ESP MON BEL FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA Points 1 Emerson Fittipaldi Ret 2 1 3 1 2 1 Ret 1 1 11 Ret 61 2 Jackie Stewart 1 Ret Ret 4 1 2 11 7 Ret 1 1 45 3 Denny Hulme 2 1 Ret 15 3 7 5 Ret 2 3 3 3 39 4 Jacky Ickx 3 8 2 2 Ret 11 Ret 1 Ret Ret 12 5 27 5 Peter Revson Ret 3 5 7 3 3 4 2 18 23 6 François Cevert Ret 9 Ret NC 2 4 Ret 10 9 Ret Ret 2 15 7 Clay Regazzoni 4 12 3 Ret Ret 2 Ret Ret 5 8 15 8 Mike Hailwood Ret Ret Ret 4 6 Ret Ret 4 2 17 13 9 Ronnie Peterson 6 5 Ret 11 9 5 7 3 12 9 DSQ 4 12 10 Chris Amon DNS 15 Ret 6 6 3 4 15 5 Ret 6 15 12 11 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Ret Ret 1 Ret 15 11 9 8 8 Ret Ret 9 12 Mario Andretti Ret 4 Ret 7 6 4 13 Howden Ganley 9 NC Ret Ret 8 DNS 4 6 11 10 Ret 4 14 Brian Redman 5 9 5 Ret 4 15 Graham Hill Ret 6 10 12 Ret 10 Ret 6 Ret 5 8 11 4 16 Carlos Reutemann 7 Ret 13 12 8 Ret Ret Ret 4 Ret 3 17 Andrea de Adamich Ret NC 4 7 Ret 14 Ret 13 14 Ret Ret Ret 3 18 Carlos Pace 17 6 17 5 Ret Ret NC NC Ret 9 Ret 3 19 Tim Schenken 5 Ret 8 Ret Ret 17 Ret 14 11 Ret 7 Ret 2 20 Arturo Merzario 6 12 1 21 Peter Gethin Ret NC Ret Ret Ret DNS Ret 13 6 Ret Ret 1 — Wilson Fittipaldi 7 9 Ret 8 12 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 — Niki Lauda 11 7 Ret 16 12 Ret 9 Ret 10 13 DSQ NC 0 — Patrick Depailler NC 7 0 — Helmut Marko 10 14 8 10 Ret 0 — Mike Beuttler DNQ 13 Ret 19 13 8 Ret 10 NC 13 0 — Henri Pescarolo 8 11 11 Ret NC DNS Ret Ret DNS DNQ 13 14 0 — David Walker DSQ 10 9 14 14 18 Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 — Jody Scheckter 9 0 — Rolf Stommelen 13 Ret 10 11 16 10 Ret 15 0 — Reine Wisell Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 10 0 — Sam Posey 12 0 — Nanni Galli Ret 13 Ret NC Ret 0 — Skip Barber NC 16 0 — John Love 16 0 — Dave Charlton Ret DNQ Ret Ret 0 — Derek Bell DNS Ret DNQ DNS Ret 0 — Alex Soler-Roig Ret Ret 0 — Jackie Oliver Ret 0 — François Migault DNS Ret 0 — John Surtees Ret DNS 0 — Bill Brack Ret 0 — William Ferguson DNS 0 — Vern Schuppan DNS 0 Pos Driver ARG RSA ESP MON BEL FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Did not enter (cell empty) Text formatting Meaning Bold Pole position Italics Fastest lap

Lotus-Ford won the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers

Points for the 1972 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the top six finishers in each race. Only the best placed car from each manufacturer was eligible to score points. For classification, only the best five results from the first half of the season and the best five results from the second half of the season could be retained.

Pos.	Manufacturer	ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	Pts.[3]
1	Lotus-Ford	Ret	2	1	3	1	2	1	Ret	1	1	11	10	61
2	Tyrrell-Ford	1	9	Ret	4	2	1	2	10	7	Ret	1	1	51
3	McLaren-Ford	2	1	5	5	3	7	3	(5)	2	3	2	3	47 (49)
4	Ferrari	3	4	2	2	Ret	11	6	1	Ret	7	5	5	33
5	Surtees-Ford	5	16	4	7	4	6	Ret	13	4	2	7	12	18
6	March-Ford	6	5	6	11	5	5	7	3	10	9	9	4	15
7	BRM	9	14	Ret	1	8	15	11	4	6	6	10	Ret	14
8	Matra	DNS	15	Ret	6	6	3	4	15	5	Ret	6	15	12
9	Brabham-Ford	7	6	7	9	13	8	8	6	Ret	5	4	11	7
—	Eifelland-Ford		13	Ret	10	11	16	10	Ret	15				0
—	Tecno					Ret	DNS	Ret	Ret	NC	Ret	DNS	Ret	0
—	Politoys-Ford							Ret						0
—	Connew-Ford							DNS		Ret				0
Pos.	Manufacturer	ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	Pts.

• Bold results counted to championship totals.

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

Race name	Circuit	Date	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
VII Race of Champions	Brands Hatch	19 March	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Cosworth	Report
I Brazilian Grand Prix	Interlagos	30 March	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Cosworth	Report
XXIV BRDC International Trophy	Silverstone	23 April	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Cosworth	Report
XIX International Gold Cup	Oulton Park	29 May	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Cosworth	Report
I Italian Republic Grand Prix	Vallelunga	18 June	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Cosworth	Report
II World Championship Victory Race	Brands Hatch	22 October	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	Report