1974 German Grand Prix

1974 German Grand Prix
Race 11 of 15 in the 1974 Formula One season
Race details
Date	August 4, 1974
Official name	XXXVI Großer Preis von Deutschland
Location	Nürburgring, Nürburg, West Germany
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	22.835 km (14.189 miles)
Distance	14 laps, 319.690 km (198.646 miles)
Weather	Overcast, showers
Pole position
Driver	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
Time	7:00.80
Fastest lap
Driver	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford
Time	7:11.10 on lap 11
Podium
First	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
Second	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford
Third	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford

The 1974 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring on August 4, 1974. It was the 36th German Grand Prix and the 33rd to be held at the Nürburgring complex of circuits. The race was won by Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni driving a Ferrari 312B3. Regazzoni led every lap on the way to his second Grand Prix victory, some four years after his debut victory at the 1970 Italian Grand Prix. South African driver Jody Scheckter was second driving a Tyrrell 007 ahead of Argentine driver Carlos Reutemann (Brabham BT44).

Since the 1973 event the main straight had been widened and resurfaced. In response to new FIA regulations stating that all FIA-mandated races must have safety walls, the organizers replaced the bushes lining the straight with Armco and placed sandy surface on both sides of the straight. Regazzoni's win, coupled with Niki Lauda's first lap crash put the Swiss Ferrari driver back into the lead of the championship he had previous held earlier in the year. Lauda crashed his Ferrari 312B3 attempting to pass Scheckter. Emerson Fittipaldi also was an early retirement after making a very slow start in his McLaren M23 and was struck by his team mate Denny Hulme putting out both cars within a lap. Hulme attempted to restart the race in a spare car and was disqualified for doing so. Mike Hailwood was another to crash, having a large accident on the second last lap at Pflanzgarten in his McLaren M23. The former motorcyclist received a badly broken leg in the accident which became a career-ending injury. Occasional showers fell during the race, contributing to the accident toll which also claimed Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell 007), Jacques Laffite (Williams FW02) and John Watson (Brabham BT44). Just 14 cars finished the race, although Hailwood would also be classified as a finisher, out of the 26 starters. There was six cars who failed to qualify including Chris Amon (Amon AF101) who pulled out due to illness.

Howden Ganley also suffered a serious accident during Friday's practice. The rear suspension failed on the Maki at Hatzenbach and he swerved right into the Armco barrier, ripping off the nose section of the car. Ganley's legs were dangling out the front of the car. He managed to get out by himself but he collapsed when he got to the fence, his ankles seriously injured. This led to Ganley's retirement from Formula 1.

Regazzoni moved into a three-point lead in the championship over Scheckter. Former points leader Lauda dropped to third, six points behind his Ferrari team mate and just one ahead of Fittipaldi. Ferrari moved eight points clear of McLaren in the constructor's standings.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	11	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	14	1:41:35.0	2	9
2	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford	14	+ 50.7	4	6
3	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Ford	14	+ 1:23.3	6	4
4	1	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	14	+ 1:24.2	8	3
5	2	Jacky Ickx	Lotus-Ford	14	+ 1:25.0	9	2
6	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow-Ford	14	+ 2:18.1	11	1
7	9	Hans Joachim Stuck	March-Ford	14	+ 2:58.7	20
8	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow-Ford	14	+ 3:25.9	18
9	26	Graham Hill	Lola-Ford	14	+ 3:26.4	19
10	15	Henri Pescarolo	BRM	14	+ 4:17.7	24
11	18	Derek Bell	Surtees-Ford	14	+ 5:17.7	25
12	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Ford	14	+ 6:26.3	17
13	10	Vittorio Brambilla	March-Ford	14	+ 8:43.1	23
14	32	Ian Ashley	Token-Ford	13	+ 1 Lap	20
15	33	Mike Hailwood	McLaren-Ford	12	Accident	12
Ret	19	Jochen Mass	Surtees-Ford	10	Engine	13
Ret	24	James Hunt	Hesketh-Ford	10	Gearbox	10
Ret	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	5	Accident	5
Ret	20	Arturo Merzario	Iso-Marlboro-Ford	5	Throttle	16
Ret	14	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	4	Fuel system	15
Ret	22	Vern Schuppan	Ensign-Ford	4	Gearbox	22
Ret	5	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Ford	2	Suspension	3
Ret	21	Jacques Laffite	Iso-Marlboro-Ford	2	Suspension	21
Ret	28	John Watson	Brabham-Ford	1	Suspension	14
Ret	12	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	0	Accident	1
DSQ	6	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	0	Disqualified	7
DNQ	37	François Migault	BRM
DNQ	23	Tim Schenken	Trojan-Ford
DNQ	27	Guy Edwards	Lola-Ford
DNQ	30	Larry Perkins	Amon-Ford
DNQ	30	Chris Amon	Amon-Ford
DNQ	25	Howden Ganley	Maki-Ford
Source:

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Clay Regazzoni	44
2	Jody Scheckter	41
3	Niki Lauda	38
4	Emerson Fittipaldi	37
5	Ronnie Peterson	22

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Ferrari	57
2	McLaren-Ford	49 (51)
3	Tyrrell-Ford	45
4	Lotus-Ford	29
5	Brabham-Ford	15

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 7 results from the first 8 races and the best 6 results from the last 7 races counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.