| 1971 French Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 4 July 1971 | ||
| Location | Circuit Paul Ricard Le Castellet, Var, France | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.809 km (3.610 miles) | ||
| Distance | 55 laps, 319.495 km (198.525 miles) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:50.71 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Jackie Stewart | Tyrrell-Ford | |
| Time | 1:54.09 on lap 2 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
| Second | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
| Third | Lotus-Ford | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1971 French Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held at theCircuit Paul Ricard on 4 July 1971. It was race 5 of 11 in both the1971 World Championship of Drivers and the1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 55-lap race was won byTyrrell driverJackie Stewart after he started frompole position. His teammateFrançois Cevert finished second andLotus driverEmerson Fittipaldi came in third.
This was the first French Grand Prix to be held at the newCircuit Paul Ricard nearMarseille. TheTyrrell team had new front bodywork forJackie Stewart's car, and the Briton gained pole position with this revised car – also helped by extensive tyre testing in the weeks before – fromClay Regazzoni,Jacky Ickx andGraham Hill. Stewart led away from Regazzoni,Pedro Rodríguez andJean-Pierre Beltoise, whilst Ickx was jostled through the first chicane and dropped back. Stewart streaked ahead, setting fastest lap on lap 2 and pulling out a 10-second lead by lap 7. His only real challenger, Regazzoni, hit a patch of oil and sailed into the guardrail, breaking a wheel on lap 20. On lap 28 Rodríguez dropped out with a faulty coil, leaving theTyrrells in 1–2 formation, withFrançois Cevert proving his worth on his home ground. Hill dropped out of fifth place with a broken oil pipe, having previously hit the guardrail whilst avoiding Regazzoni.
This leftJo Siffert in third place, holding offEmerson Fittipaldi, who was in pain and heavily bandaged after a road accident. Despite this, the Brazilian took 3rd on lap 39. Siffert retook this briefly, but Fittipaldi held on for the final podium place from the Swiss.Chris Amon took 5th in an unconvincing performance by home teamMatra, duelling withTim Schenken until Schenken ran out of oil 6 laps from the end.
It was a 1–2 success for the Tyrrells on a tricky circuit, theCosworth DFV engine providing extra power down the very long Mistral straight.
This was to be Pedro Rodríguez's last Formula One race. He was killed a week later while driving a privately enteredFerrari 512 at anInterserie sports car race at theNorisring in Germany.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Jackie Stewart | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:50.71 | — |
| 2 | 5 |  Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari | 1:51.53 | +0.82 |
| 3 | 4 |  Jacky Ickx | Ferrari | 1:51.88 | +1.17 |
| 4 | 7 | Graham Hill | Brabham-Ford | 1:52.32 | +1.61 |
| 5 | 15 |  Pedro Rodríguez | BRM | 1:52.46 | +1.75 |
| 6 | 14 | Jo Siffert | BRM | 1:52.50 | +1.79 |
| 7 | 12 |  François Cevert | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:52.69 | +1.98 |
| 8 | 21 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | Matra | 1:52.92 | +2.21 |
| 9 | 20 |  Chris Amon | Matra | 1:52.94 | +2.23 |
| 10 | 24 |  Rolf Stommelen | Surtees-Ford | 1:53.10 | +2.39 |
| 11 | 9 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-Ford | 1:53.24 | +2.53 |
| 12 | 17 |  Ronnie Peterson | March-Alfa Romeo | 1:53.36 | +2.65 |
| 13 | 22 | John Surtees | Surtees-Ford | 1:53.57 | +2.86 |
| 14 | 8 |  Tim Schenken | Brabham-Ford | 1:53.58 | +2.87 |
| 15 | 2 | Reine Wisell | Lotus-Ford | 1:53.75 | +3.04 |
| 16 | 16 | Howden Ganley | BRM | 1:53.77 | +3.06 |
| 17 | 1 |  Emerson Fittipaldi | Lotus-Ford | 1:54.22 | +3.51 |
| 18 | 27 | Henri Pescarolo | March-Ford | 1:54.27 | +3.56 |
| 19 | 10 | Peter Gethin | McLaren-Ford | 1:54.90 | +4.19 |
| 20 | 33 |  Nanni Galli | March-Ford | 1:55.52 | +4.81 |
| 21 | 19 | Andrea de Adamich | March-Alfa Romeo | 1:56.17 | +5.46 |
| 22 | 18 |  Alex Soler-Roig | March-Ford | 1:57.07 | +6.36 |
| 23 | 28 | Max Jean | March-Ford | 1:59.79 | +9.08 |
| 24 | 34 | François Mazet | March-Ford | 2:00.51 | +9.80 |
| Source:[1] | |||||
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Jackie Stewart | Tyrrell-Ford | 55 | 1:46:42.3 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 12 | François Cevert | Tyrrell-Ford | 55 | + 28.12 | 7 | 6 |
| 3 | 1 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Lotus-Ford | 55 | + 34.07 | 17 | 4 |
| 4 | 14 | Jo Siffert | BRM | 55 | + 37.17 | 6 | 3 |
| 5 | 20 | Chris Amon | Matra | 55 | + 41.08 | 9 | 2 |
| 6 | 2 | Reine Wisell | Lotus-Ford | 55 | + 1:16.02 | 15 | 1 |
| 7 | 21 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | Matra | 55 | + 1:16.93 | 8 | |
| 8 | 22 | John Surtees | Surtees-Ford | 55 | + 1:24.91 | 13 | |
| 9 | 10 | Peter Gethin | McLaren-Ford | 54 | + 1 Lap | 19 | |
| 10 | 16 | Howden Ganley | BRM | 54 | + 1 Lap | 16 | |
| 11 | 24 | Rolf Stommelen | Surtees-Ford | 53 | + 2 Laps | 10 | |
| 12 | 8 | Tim Schenken | Brabham-Ford | 50 | Oil Pressure | 14 | |
| 13 | 34 | François Mazet | March-Ford | 50 | + 5 Laps | 23 | |
| NC | 28 | Max Jean | March-Ford | 46 | + 9 Laps | 22 | |
| Ret | 27 | Henri Pescarolo | March-Ford | 45 | Gearbox | 18 | |
| Ret | 7 | Graham Hill | Brabham-Ford | 34 | Oil Pipe | 4 | |
| Ret | 19 | Andrea de Adamich | March-Alfa Romeo | 31 | Engine | 20 | |
| Ret | 15 | Pedro Rodríguez | BRM | 27 | Ignition | 5 | |
| Ret | 5 | Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari | 20 | Accident | 2 | |
| Ret | 17 | Ronnie Peterson | March-Alfa Romeo | 19 | Engine | 12 | |
| Ret | 9 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-Ford | 16 | Ignition | 11 | |
| Ret | 4 | Jacky Ickx | Ferrari | 4 | Engine | 3 | |
| Ret | 18 | Alex Soler-Roig | March-Ford | 4 | Fuel Pump | 21 | |
| DNS | 33 | Nanni Galli | March-Ford | Engine | |||
Source:[2] | |||||||
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| Previous race: 1971 Dutch Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1971 season | Next race: 1971 British Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1970 French Grand Prix | French Grand Prix | Next race: 1972 French Grand Prix |
