The 1970s Overview:

The 1970s was one of the most exciting, technologically innovative, and closely contested decades in the history of Formula 1 racing. It began with Jochen Rindt becoming the only posthumous World Champion in 1970 and closed with turbo-powered cars taking victory for the first time.

Under the lead of the Lotus team, aerodynamics were perfected into modern "wing cars" in under 10 years since the introduction of these aids in 1968. Engines were powerful, speeds were soaring, Goodyear, Dunlop, and Firestone were making leaps in the tire fields, and the drivers are now famous. Heroes of this era include the like of Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Clay Regazzoni, Jackie Stewart, and many, many others.

The teams, cars, and tracks are now just as famous. Monza, Monaco, Watkins Glen, and Zandvoort continued to please the crowds while new tracks such as Anderstorp, Long Beach, Interlagos, Hockenheim, and the Osterreichring appeared and soon became favorites. Lotus, Tyrrell, Ferrari and McLaren all had successes but joining them were the likes of the BRMs, March, Hesketh, Wolf, and many other teams that came and went with the times, a mixture of big budget teams along with the last great showing of the independents.

The 1970s saw its share of close racing, new and old winners, exciting cars, and amazing acts of heroism, truly a special era in Formula One.

The statistics for the 1970s, including race wins, pole positions, fast laps, and world champions can be found here: Formula One: Statistics of the 1970s.

The Tracks of the 1970s

1970

1970 is best known, unfortunately, as the year of the posthumous World Champion, Jochen Rindt and also as the year that Bruce McLaren died. Rindt had secured enough points during the season prior to his tragic death that no other driver was able to catch him so his title was bittersweet for all.

This year also saw the appearance of several new drivers that were to bring great promise into Formula One, most notably Emerson Fittipaldi and Gianclaudio ("Clay") Regazzoni, both of whom were to achieve a feat rarely seen... a win in their first Formula One season. New teams also appeared this year that were to make a mark in Formula One. Tyrrell, Surtees, and March all made their debut seasons in 1970.

The competition this year was incredibly close with 7 different drivers winning in 13 races. Several of these races were also incredibly close contested events. In Monaco, Rindt won in the last 150 meters, and in the last 200 meters at Hockenheim, both times stealing a win from Jack Brabham. Jackie Stewart ran well in the new Tyrrell Ford all year and often led the race until his new car suffered teething troubles and would have a mechanical failure. A surprise winner in the 1970 season was the BRM driven by Pedro Rodriguez at the fast Spa circuit. Ferrari was also able to improve their cars greatly over the season and took 4 wins with Jacky Ickx and Regazzoni at the wheel.

All in all 1970 was a wonderfully competitive season between Ferrari, Tyrrell, and Lotus that was shadowed by Rindt's death at Monza. However tragic it might have been though... one must always look back on this season and remember the other heroes.

1971

1971 was the second great Jackie Stewart year in which the new Tyrrell team proved their domination by winning 7 of the years 11 races. With the new reliable Ford engine in the back of it Tyrrell became the team to chase, which BRM and Ferrari did, taking 2 wins each in the season.

This season Dunlop tires left Grand Prix racing and left it up to Firestone and Goodyear to battle it out on the track with Goodyear taking the success with Tyrrell. McLaren also unveiled their new car the M19A which was to be a great improvement for the growing team from England that had lost their founder the year before. Also, on a side note, in the Austrian Grand Prix a little known driver of the time named Niki Lauda started his first Formula One race, and began his climb up the ladder. On a final technical note the Lotus team was extremely unsuccessful this year as they tried to run a turbine car that was impractical on road courses and thus were hampered all season managing only 3 podium finishes.

Track action this year was quite spectacular when Stewart was not stealing the trophies. Mario Andretti scored his first win for Ferrari at Kyalami but the highlight of the year, and maybe the decade was Peter Gethin's win at Monza. Gethin had landed a ride with the BRM team that very year won one of the closest finishes in history by winning by less than one meter over Ronnie Peterson and 3rd place was just as hotly contested. The final race of the year was at Watkins Glens because the Mexican Grand Prix was canceled after safety concerns about fans and was won by another fist timer, Francois Cevert in his Tyrrell.

Again this was a season not to be remembered with total joy. The lives of two promising drivers and race winners, Pedro Rodriguez and Jo Siffert were lost to the racing world. As always however the racing continued and was spectacular all the way. Ford had taken its fourth championship in five years and looked to be unbeatable and aerodynamics were here to stay. Engineering and tires became ways to win a race besides having the best drivers. Times were changing.

1972

Fittipaldi completed his meteoric rise in Formula 1 by winning his first championship behind the wheel of the Lotus 72 after only 3 years of racing in Formula 1. This was also the year that marked the entry of the man who was to change Formula 1 forever, Bernie Ecclestone who took over the Brabham team this year. The one milestone that sticks out the most though is the last win of the BRM team in the rain at Monaco with Jean-Pierre Beltoise at the wheel of his only win. The tire war also continued to escalate with both teams trying to outspend the other for the glory of having their tires on the winning car.

From a racing standpoint it was a strait forward year where Emerson Fittipaldi dominated and clinched the title 2 races early and took a total of 5 wins in the season. The rest of the season's races were picked up by Stewart with 4, and Jacky Ickx, Beltoise, and Denny Hulme with one each.

The main excitement of the season centered around the tire war with each Goodyear and Firestone going so far as trying to tailor tire to certain teams and making qualifying tires that lasted only about four laps total. It promised to be interesting for next year where tires could decide the winners.

1973

This was Jackie Stewart's final year as a Formula 1 driver and he went out with style. Winning five races and the championship on the way. The 15-race season saw domination by three drivers, Stewart, and Ronnie Peterson and Fittipaldi with three wins apiece. Denny Hulme and Peter Revson picked up the last races for McLaren. In terms of teams this was a Lotus year taking seven races total but neither of their drivers could match Jackie Stewart. The tire war continued with Goodyear developing the best qualifying rubber while Firestone held a slim advantage in wet conditions.

This year was also one of the lowest for Ferrari who spent most of their work preparing next year's car. Shadow and Ensign joined the ranks of the teams, both American entries and by the end of the year McLaren had designed the M23 that was to be used successfully, in some form, until 1978.

Many of the early races were led by they Tyrrell "Twins" of Stewart up frot and Cevert in second. However by mid season Lotus and McLaren were up to full strength and together dominated the rest of the season but Stewart was able to finish well in almost every race to win the championship. He failed to score points in only three races, one of these being the season finally in which he did not start due to the death of his team mate Cevert during practice for the race. Brazilian Carlos Pace made several strong showings in the small Surtees car finishing as high as fourth place at the Nurburgring and a third Osterreichring. The season finished with Lotus regaining it's usual form taking top honors in the constructor's category for the season.

As the year closed expectations were high for 1974. The new Ferrari was expected, McLaren planned to fill the void left by the breaking of the Stewart/Tyrrell combination, and the question of who would take over Stewart's spot as the leader was on the lips of everyone.

1974

1974 was one of the closest seasons to that date with Emerson Fittipaldi and Clay Regazzoni entering the final race tied in points and Jody Scheckter still had a chance as well. The season was dominated by the Ferraris of Lauda and Regazzoni but due to bad luck the results do not show their true domination, though Regazzonni finished second in the championship due to his consistence. Lauda led a total of three hundred and thirty eight laps and had nine poles in the season yet never scored points in the last five races of the season.

McLaren pulled in the first two races of the year with Brabham taking the third but once the new Ferraris were up to speed it was clear they were the ones to beat. The common way of the races that year was Ferrari leading until mechanical troubles or bad luck caught up with them and then the rest could pick up the pieces. The races of the season were fairly strait forward but excitement soon began to build as the final race drew near. At Watkins Glen Fititpaldi and Regazzoni both had fifty-two points each with Scheckter at forty-five so any of them could have a shot at the title. However it was Fittipaldi who won out in the rain that day with a conservative fourth place finish as the Ferrari, for some reason, was not up to speed. This race was also the last in Denis Hulme's career and the 1967 champion retired.

On of the most interesting aspects of the season was the off track team action. There were many new teams such as Token, Lyncar, Maki, Trojan, and Amon (which ran out of money before even attempting a race putting team owner and driver Chris Amon in a very precarious position). Two American teams run under Parnelli Jones and Roger Penske also took part in the Formula One "circus" this year.

The great fight to the end between the unlucky yet lightning fast Ferraris that had been build during the 1973 season and the fast reliable McLaren made this season one to watch. This was also the eighth championship in a row won by a Ford powered car. The financial situation though and the growing cost began to cut back on several of the smaller teams entering Formula One and the stakes began to rise.

1975

This was the year of the Ferrari and Lauda, and he was owed one after the previous year. Though there were a total of nine different winners in six different makes or car, Lauda outclassed the whole field with a total of 5 wins, including a stretch of three in a row. The tire situation also turned a sudden change with Firestone having pulled out all teams had the same Goodyear rubber on. The big surprise was that Lotus did not win a race this season due to technical problems with their new developing cars.

The beginning of the season saw one of the most magical moments in Formula One racing when Carlos Pace won his one and only grand prix at his home track in Brazil for Brabham. After climbing the ladder from the Surtees team Pace won the most important race he could have ever hoped for and the track at Interlagos was eventually named after him. Also a surprise early in the season was the Shadow team from America. The Shadow team came from nowhere and took three poles in the season, including the first two of the year. The secret was a new test version of the Ford V8 that was being used by the team.

At Zandvoort James Hunt gave the Hesketh team their first win on a wet, yet drying Zandvoort. Later that year the new March car driven by Vittorio Brambilla surprised everyone by leading at Belgium, taking pole and leading at Anderstorp, then in Austria winning his first and only race. His win however was overshadowed by the death of American driver Mark Donohue who died during practice. Montjuich was also held under difficult circumstances due to safety matters on the track. Eventually the drivers agreed to race but there were numerous accidents, one involving the death of one track marshal, two fire marshals, and a reporter. The race was then stopped early and Jochen Mass was declared the winner since he was leading. Most of the main contenders had crashed out and Jochen was awarded only half points for the race due to the small amount distance completed.

Then tragedy struck again to the Formula One world. Graham Hill, who had attempted to qualify one of his own Embassy Team cars at Monaco, his team driver and several others were killed in a plane crash after leaving a test session in France. Racing had lost one of its true gentleman champions. At this time however a new team joined Formula One, the Copersucar-Fittipaldi that was built by Wilson Fittipaldi (Emerson's older brother).

The rest of the excitement of the season was due to the unusual amount of races run in the wet, which resulted in many tire changes and races won by strategy. In the end it was a clear victory for Niki Lauda and Ferrari who not only deserved it after the luck of the previous year but also succeeded in ending the Ford domination of winning championships.

1976

1976 was one of the most dramatic seasons ever in modern Grand Prix racing and was highlighted by the sheer will and determination of Niki Lauda. Lord Hesketh pulled his team out of racing and his driver James Hunt joined McLaren, filling the seat of Fittipaldi who went to drive his brother's car. James Hunt would eventually win the championship, but it was a come from behind story that no soap opera could have ever dreamed of. Also on the grid there appeared a car, which Formula 1 is likely never to see the likes of again, a six-wheeled Tyrrell.

The Tyrrell team had decided to use 4 smaller wheels in the front of the car to reduce aerodynamic disturbances caused by the large front wheels. The concept was difficult mechanically but was still extremely effective with the car picking up one win, one pole, and nine second place finishes between Patrick Depailler and Jody Scheckter.

The year began with Ferrari dominance again. Winning 5 of the first 6 races with 4 of those going to Lauda and 1 to Regazzoni. Hunt and Scheckter were the only others two score wins in the first 9 races with 2 wins and 1 win respectively. It looked as if Lauda was going to dominate the season having notched up 5 wins in 9 races.

Then tragedy struck at the Nurburgring. Niki Lauda's car crashed, was rammed, and burst into flames. Due to the loss of his helmet in the crash Lauda suffered severe injuries to his face, lungs, and hands. He was actually given his last rites and nobody expected him to ever return. However to the surprise of everybody in the world, he did return, a few weeks later at Monza scoring a 4th place finish! James Hunt had dominated the series with Lauda's absence, bringing his total up to 6 wins for the season. Scheckter, Watson (who gave Penske their first Formula 1 win), Andretti, Regazzoni, and Peterson each had one.

Going into the last race of the year at the new Fuji track in Japan Lauda still had a 3 point lead over Hunt. The race was held in pouring rain and on the second lap of the terrible conditions Lauda pulled into the pits, and withdrew. He is quoted as saying "My life is worth more than the World Championship." James Hunt looked on his way to another win and a title when he began to develop tire trouble and had to pit, moving him back to 5th place, not enough to take the title. Then in the last few laps Alan Jones and Regazzoni who were ahead of Hunt were forced to drop back and Hunt took 3rd place. It was worth enough points to win the title by a single point.

Lauda's courage to return to driving amazed many, his courage to know when to step back amazed them even more. After coming so close to death Lauda was able to see what was important in life. Hunt drove a fantastic season and had to work for every victory but always, when looking back on this season there is the what if factor regarding Lauda's chances. Lauda's crash resulted in the removal of the complete Nurburgring which had become famous in its time, but now it was too big and old fashioned to hold the modern races. German races were then moved to the fast Hockenheim track where Jim Clark had lost his life years before. One of the most dramatic seasons came to a close and one had no idea of the technical revolutions to come next season.

1977

1977 was a time of great technical change in Formula One and also a season of triumph as Niki Lauda came back remarkably from his crash at the Nurburgring to claim another title. Lotus began to perfect the concept of the "wing car" and the first turbocharged Formula One car appeared midseason from Renault. Even with all of this going on however the story of the season was a new team, Walter Wolf Racing. The team was set up by the Canadian Walter Wolf and in its first season with Jody Scheckter behind the wheel it won 3 races, including its very first race, and took one pole. Scheckter finished second in the championship in this new car and things looked promising for the new team.

The season was not easy for Lauda at Ferrari however because of his actions in the 1976 race in Japan the team's confidence was weakened in him. This was most evident at the second race of the year in Brazil when Ferrari unveiled their new car and gave it to Carlos Reutemann only and he went on with it to win the Brazilian race. The next race in South Africa was home to one of the most tragic and unnecessary accidents in Formula One. A track marshal was a bit too eager to respond to the broken Shadow of Renzo Zorzi and ran across the track in the middle of heavy traffic. The other Shadow of Tom Pryce was unable to avoid this unexpected obstacle in the track and hit the marshal. The marshal was killed along with Pryce who was hit in the head by the marshal's fire extinguisher. His car continued along the strait uncontrolled and eventually collected one of the Ligier cars near the first turn. Niki Lauda, his car damaged from debris of the crash went on to win his first race since his accident.

Sadness again hung in the air for the United States Grand Prix West at Long Beach. Brazilian Carlos Pace who had shown a promising career and had one win to his name was killed in a private plane crash. Mario Andretti went on to win this hard fought race for the new Lotus 78 wing car, which had been in development since around 1975, ahead of Lauda and Scheckter. Andretti won again at Spain but his team mate Gunnar Nilsson took the surprising victory in the rain at Zolder for his first and only Formula One win. Unfortunately Nilsson would succumb to cancer the next year and his true potential was never fully realized.

The Lotus would have been the car to beat had it been reliable this season but due to its high rate of failure several drivers were able to gain some fine results. Jacques Laffite for example took the win at Anderstorp when Andretti retired giving Matra its one and only Formula One win as an engine builder (they had been quite successful in the late 1960s as a chassis builder). The British Grand Prix marked several important events. The appearance of Renault and their turbo engine, the return of Michelin to the tire war, and the debut of a certain Gilles Villeneuve who performed well enough that he was offered a contract with Ferrari. Shadow was able to pick up a win in the rain in this year's Austrian Grand Prix from the hands of Alan Jones.

The big shock of the year came when Ferrari and Lauda announced they were parting ways. Lauda was basically guaranteed to win the championship and Ferrari was in effect firing him. It was unheard of. Lauda did go on to win the championship at Watkins Glen but at the next race, when Ferrari fired his chief mechanic he sat out in protest and did the same thing in Japan. Gilles Villeneuve was the big winner from all of this getting a ride at Ferrari though his first two outings for the team were less than stellar.

Lauda finished on top for the second time this season ahead of Scheckter and Andretti. This season closed on a sad note with it being the last season for BRM. The team was disbanded at the end of the year after a long and successful career starting with their win in 1959 thanks to Joakim Bonnier. The six wheeled Tyrrell that had look so promising the year before also faded away and only managed a total of ten finishes with two cars and only had one second place finish to its credit.

1978

The car to beat in 1978 was the Lotus 79. Combined it took eight wins and twelve poles in the season and four of those wins were one - two finishes. By the end of the season teams were rushing to copy the wing car concept Lotus had perfected. The next most successful car of the year was the Ferrari 312T3 notching up four wins for Reutemann and one for Villeneuve, in his home race nonetheless. Tyrrell was able to pick up one win in a new four-wheeled car, and Brabham returned to the winner's podium with wins at Monza and Anderstorp thanks to their new driver Niki Lauda.

The season started with Lotus wins but by Brazil Ferrari was able to notch one up on the new Michelin radial tires. Tyrrell then picked up their win in the fifth race of the year at Monaco with Depailler at the wheel. Andretti dominated the next two races at Zolder and Jarama. Brabham's win at Anderstorp was won by the fact that they had attached a fan onto the back of their car to create downforce by sucking air out from under the car and forcing it out the rear, and in the process it also spit anything the car ran over behind it at high speed. Though movable aerodynamic aids had been banned in 1969 their win was allowed to stand but future designs including fans were banned.

Midseason the new Arrows team came under heavy legal fire due to the fact that they were formed of people who had left the Shadow team and in the process had made the FA1 a basic copy of the Shadow DN9. A British judge decided that is was a violation of copyright and the FA1 was never to be raced again but Arrows had expected this and had already designed a new car. Also in the political and legal realm there was a split beginning to form in Formula 1. The governing body of Formula 1 had ruled that skirts (a major part of the wing car design) would be banned starting 1979 and the FOCA (Formula One Constructor's Association) had met and the teams decided they would not obey this restriction.

Again this year Monza was the scene of a driver's death. Ronnie Peterson who had won two races for Lotus this year was killed due to injuries caused by a first lap incident. Some blamed the Clerk of the Course for how the start was handled and some blamed Riccardo Patrese for making a dangerous start. The drivers then set up a committee and had him banned from the next race at Watkins Glen. Ferrari won the last two races of the year though Andretti had clinched the title under a black cloud at Monza.

The end of the year saw Alfa Romeo beginning to test new cars to possibly enter Formula One on Pirelli tires. Matra and Surtees also made their last appearances on the grid this year with both deciding to pull out of Formula One circus. The next year promised to be one of competition and political intrigue.

1979

The competition during the 1979 season was intense with seven drivers winning races amongst the four teams of Ligier, Ferrari, Renault, and Williams. The big surprise of the year however was the Lotus team. They tried to continue with amazing aerodynamic experimentation but their new car had such problems that they had to return to the old Lotus 79 models and at one time were even developing two cars at once.

The old governing body was no longer and was replaced by FISA (Fêdêration Internationale du Sport Automobile) and still had its fights with FOCA (which was now headed by Bernie Ecclestone). FISA ruled strongly but FOCA was able to force them to give way on the issue of skirts (attatchments on the sidepods of the car that hung low, often touching the ground, that helped create a vacuum under the car and greatly increased downforce) for at least the coming year.

The year started with Ligier winning the first two races with Jacques Laffite at the wheel. Gilles Villeneuve then struck back by winning the next two races until Depailer won again in a Ligier at Jarama. Scheckter then picked up the pace in Ferrari again and won the next two races at Zolder and Monaco respectively. After the Monaco race James Hunt, 1976 world champion suddenly left Wolf racing which had been unable to match its first season successes and he retired from racing.

The historical event of the season was Renault's win in their home race. This was the first win for a turbocharged engine. Also in this race was the famous duel between Arnoux and Villeneuve for second place which amazingly did not result in an incident. After this race however the tide turned and the new Williams car took the lead. Winning five of the last seven races including a stretch of four in a row at one point.

The championship went to Scheckter at Ferrari by three points over his teammate Villeneuve with each with three wins. However Alan Jones in the Williams had taken four wins and the turbo Renault had taken six poles making this a diverse season. It was the reliability of the Ferrari that had gotten the title but everybody knew that the Williams team would most likely be the one to beat at the start of the 1980's. The big season ending surprise was when Niki Lauda suddenly retired from racing and went to run his airline he had started. He would return however a few years later to drive for McLaren.