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1972 British Grand Prix
Race details
Date	15 July 1972
Official name	John Player Grand Prix
Location	Brands Hatch Kent, England
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.26 km (2.65 miles)
Distance	76 laps, 324.122 km (201.400 miles)
Weather	Warm, dry
Pole position
Driver	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari
Time	1:22.2
Fastest lap
Driver	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford
Time	1:24.0 on lap 58
Podium
First	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford
Second	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford
Third	Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1972 British Grand Prix (formally the John Player Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on 15 July 1972. It was race 7 of 12 in both the 1972 World Championship of Drivers and the 1972 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won by Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi driving a Lotus 72D.

Ronnie Peterson suffered an engine failure with less than two laps to go, and crashed into the parked cars of Graham Hill and François Cevert. Arturo Merzario finished sixth on his debut; he was the last driver whose first race was with Ferrari until Oliver Bearman at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, 52 years later.

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

Pos.	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap	Grid
1	5	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:22,2		1
2	8	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	1:22,6	+0.4	2
3	19	Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford	1:22,7	+0.5	3
4	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	1:22,9	+0.7	4
5	22	Tim Schenken	Surtees-Ford	1:23,2	+1.0	5
6	11	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	1:23,4	+1.2	6
7	21	Mike Hailwood	Surtees-Ford	1:23,5	+1.3	7
8	3	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	1:23,7	+1.5	8
9	6	Arturo Merzario	Ferrari	1:23,7	+1.5	9
10	27	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham–Ford	1:23,8	+1.6	10
11	18	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	1:23,9	+1.7	11
12	2	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	1:23,9	+1.7	12
13	25	Carlos Pace	March-Ford	1:24,0	+1.8	13
14	14	Jackie Oliver	BRM	1:24,4	+2.2	14
15	9	David Walker	Lotus-Ford	1:24,4	+2.2	15
16	12	Peter Gethin	BRM	1:24,5	+2.3	16
17	17	Chris Amon	Matra	1:24,6	+2.4	17
18	30	Nanni Galli	Tecno	1:25,1	+2.9	18
19	4	Niki Lauda	March-Ford	1:25,1	+2.9	19
20	23	Andrea de Adamich	Surtees-Ford	1:25,2	+3.0	20
21	26	Graham Hill	Brabham-Ford	1:25,2	+3.0	21
22	28	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham-Ford	1:25,5	+3.3	22
23	31	Mike Beuttler	March-Ford	1:25,6	+3.4	23
24	29	Dave Charlton	Lotus-Ford	1:25,6	+3.4	24
25	33	Rolf Stommelen	Eifelland-Ford	1:26,3	+4.1	25
26	24	Henri Pescarolo	Politoys-Ford	1:27,4	+5.2	26
27	34	François Migault	Connew-Ford	1:30,3	+8.1	DNS

Race

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	76	1:47:50.2	2	9
2	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	76	+ 4.1	4	6
3	19	Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford	76	+ 1:12.5	3	4
4	17	Chris Amon	Matra	75	+ 1 Lap	17	3
5	18	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	75	+ 1 Lap	11	2
6	6	Arturo Merzario	Ferrari	75	+ 1 Lap	9	1
7	3	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	74	Engine/accident	8
8	27	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	73	+ 3 Laps	10
9	4	Niki Lauda	March-Ford	73	+ 3 Laps	19
10	33	Rolf Stommelen	Eifelland-Ford	71	+ 5 Laps	25
11	11	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	70	+ 6 Laps	6
12	28	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham-Ford	69	Suspension	22
13	31	Mike Beuttler	March-Ford	69	+ 7 Laps	23
Ret	22	Tim Schenken	Surtees-Ford	64	Suspension	5
Ret	2	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	60	Spun off	12
Ret	9	Dave Walker	Lotus-Ford	59	Suspension	15
Ret	5	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	49	Oil pressure	1
Ret	26	Graham Hill	Brabham-Ford	47	Spun off	21
Ret	25	Carlos Pace	March-Ford	39	Differential	13
Ret	14	Jackie Oliver	BRM	36	Suspension	14
Ret	21	Mike Hailwood	Surtees-Ford	31	Gearbox	7
Ret	29	Dave Charlton	Lotus-Ford	21	Gearbox	24
Ret	30	Nanni Galli	Tecno	9	Spun off	18
Ret	24	Henri Pescarolo	Politoys-Ford	7	Accident	26
Ret	12	Peter Gethin	BRM	5	Engine	16
Ret	23	Andrea de Adamich	Surtees-Ford	3	Accident	20
DNS	34	François Migault	Connew-Ford		Suspension
WD	7	Mario Andretti	Ferrari
WD	10	Tony Trimmer	Lotus-Ford		Engine
WD	15	Reine Wisell	BRM
WD	16	Helmut Marko	BRM
WD	20	Brian Redman	McLaren-Ford
WD	32	Ray Allen	March-Ford
Source:

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Italian driver Arturo Merzario and French driver François Migault.
• This race marked the 10th podium finish for a Brazilian driver.
• This was the 8th win of a British Grand Prix by a Lotus. This broke the old record set by Ferrari at the 1961 British Grand Prix.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Emerson Fittipaldi 43 2 Jackie Stewart 27 3 Denny Hulme 21 4 Jacky Ickx 16 3 5 Peter Revson 10 Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Ford 43 2 Tyrrell-Ford 33 3 McLaren-Ford 27 4 Ferrari 20 5 BRM 9 Source:

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

References

1. "1972 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes". The Programme Covers Project.
2. "1972 British Grand Prix Entry list".
3. "1972 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
4. ^ "Britain 1972 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.

• 1972 Formula One races
• British Grand Prix
• European Grand Prix
• 1972 in British motorsport