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1971 South African Grand Prix
The Kyalami Circuit (1967–1985)
Race details
Date	6 March 1971
Official name	Fifth AA Grand Prix of South Africa
Location	Kyalami, Midrand, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.104 km (2.550 miles)
Distance	79 laps, 324.216 km (201.458 miles)
Weather	Sunny, Hot, Dry
Pole position
Driver	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford
Time	1:17.8
Fastest lap
Driver	Mario Andretti	Ferrari
Time	1:20.3 on lap 73
Podium
First	Mario Andretti	Ferrari
Second	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford
Third	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 1971 South African Grand Prix, formally the Fifth AA Grand Prix of South Africa (Afrikaans: Vyfde AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix), was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on 6 March 1971. It was race 1 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won by Mario Andretti who was driving for the Ferrari team in what was his first Formula One victory, but would not win another Formula One race until 1976.

Report

It was expected the 12-cylinder cars would be dominant over the V8 Ford-Cosworths as Ferrari had won four out of the last five Grands Prix in 1970, and they had a strong line-up consisting of Mario Andretti, Clay Regazzoni and Jacky Ickx.

Jackie Stewart took pole in the Tyrrell to join Chris Amon and Regazzoni on the front row. Denny Hulme was suffering with a new suspension that he said was behaving very strangely.

At the start, Regazzoni led the field away at the start – both Stewart and Amon suffering slow starts. Emerson Fittipaldi managed to hold off Hulme until lap three when he dived through to chase the Ferraris. On lap 17, he squeezed through under braking and the orange McLaren once again led a race. Pedro Rodríguez was forced to retire from fourth place when his bodywork started to melt and the hot air began burning his feet. The heat also took its toll on Jo Siffert, whose engine overheated and Howden Ganley who was taken ill with heat exhaustion. On lap 37, John Surtees who had steadily been moving up the field, managed to pass Regazzoni. Surtees however, suffered a gearbox failure on lap 57. Andretti took his first career victory, driving a Ferrari; his teammate Regazzoni finished in third place behind Stewart.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	9	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	1:17.8	—
2	19	Chris Amon	Matra	1:18.4	+0.6
3	5	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	1:18.7	+0.9
4	6	Mario Andretti	Ferrari	1:19.0	+1.2
5	2	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	1:19.1	+1.3
6	20	John Surtees	Surtees-Ford	1:19.1	+1.3
7	11	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	1:19.1	+1.3
8	4	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:19.2	+1.4
9	10	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	1:19.2	+1.4
10	16	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1:19.3	+1.5
11	12	Peter Gethin	McLaren-Ford	1:19.6	+1.8
12	15	Dave Charlton	Brabham-Ford	1:19.8	+2.0
13	7	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	1:19.9	+2.1
14	3	Reine Wisell	Lotus-Ford	1:19.9	+2.1
15	21	Rolf Stommelen	Surtees-Ford	1:20.1	+2.3
16	17	Jo Siffert	BRM	1:20.2	+2.4
17	28	Brian Redman	Surtees-Ford	1:20.2	+2.4
18	22	Henri Pescarolo	March-Ford	1:20.2	+2.4
19	14	Graham Hill	Brabham-Ford	1:20.5	+2.7
20	25	Jackie Pretorius	Brabham-Ford	1:21.7	+3.9
21	24	John Love	March-Ford	1:21.9	+4.1
22	8	Andrea de Adamich	March-Alfa Romeo	1:22.2	+4.4
23	23	Jo Bonnier	McLaren-Ford	1:22.3	+4.5
24	27	Howden Ganley	BRM	1:23.7	+5.9
25	26	Alex Soler-Roig	March-Ford	1:25.8	+8.0

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Mario Andretti	Ferrari	79	1:47:35.5	4	9
2	9	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	79	+ 20.9	1	6
3	5	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	79	+ 31.4	3	4
4	3	Reine Wisell	Lotus-Ford	79	+ 1:09.4	14	3
5	19	Chris Amon	Matra	78	+ 1 Lap	2	2
6	11	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	78	+ 1 Lap	7	1
7	28	Brian Redman	Surtees-Ford	78	+ 1 Lap	17
8	4	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	78	+ 1 Lap	8
9	14	Graham Hill	Brabham-Ford	77	+ 2 Laps	19
10	7	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	77	+ 2 Laps	13
11	22	Henri Pescarolo	March-Ford	77	+ 2 Laps	18
12	21	Rolf Stommelen	Surtees-Ford	77	+ 2 Laps	15
13	8	Andrea de Adamich	March-Alfa Romeo	75	+ 4 Laps	22
Ret	2	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	58	Engine	5
Ret	20	John Surtees	Surtees-Ford	56	Gearbox	6
Ret	10	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	45	Accident	9
Ret	27	Howden Ganley	BRM	42	Physical	24
Ret	16	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	33	Overheating	10
Ret	15	Dave Charlton	Brabham-Ford	31	Engine	16
Ret	17	Jo Siffert	BRM	31	Overheating	12
Ret	24	John Love	March-Ford	30	Differential	21
Ret	25	Jackie Pretorius	Brabham-Ford	22	Engine	20
Ret	12	Peter Gethin	McLaren-Ford	7	Fuel Leak	11
Ret	23	Jo Bonnier	McLaren-Ford	5	Suspension	23
Ret	26	Alex Soler-Roig	March-Ford	5	Engine	25
Source:

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for New Zealand driver Howden Ganley.
• This race marked the 200th podium finish for a British driver.
• This race saw the first podium finish for British constructor Tyrrell.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Mario Andretti 9 2 Jackie Stewart 6 3 Clay Regazzoni 4 4 Reine Wisell 3 5 Chris Amon 2 Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 9 2 Tyrrell-Ford 6 3 Lotus-Ford 3 4 Matra 2 5 McLaren-Ford 1 Source:

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

References

1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1971". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
2. Leslie, Jack (18 August 2017). "The 5 Drivers with the Biggest Gap between First and Second F1 Wins". wtf1.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
3. "1971 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
4. ^ "South Africa 1971 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

External links

• "chicanef1.com". Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2009.

• 1971 Formula One races
• 1971 in South African motorsport
• South African Grand Prix
• March 1971 sports events in Africa