The 1975 South African Grand Prix (formally the XXI Lucky Strike Grand Prix of South Africa) was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

motor race held at

Kyalami Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu language, Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix motor racing, Grand ...

on 1 March 1975. It was race 3 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 21st South African Grand Prix since the first Grand Prix was held in 1934 and the ninth to be held at Kyalami just outside

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. It was held over 78 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 320 kilometres.

Jody Scheckter Jody David Scheckter (; born 29 January 1950) is a South African former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to . Scheckter won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari, and remains the only Afric ...

became the first South African driver to win the race. Driving a Tyrrell 007, he took over the lead of the race from Carlos Pace on lap three and took a three-second win over the Brabham BT44B of

Carlos Reutemann Carlos Alberto "Lole" Reutemann (12 April 1942 – 7 July 2021) was an Argentine racing driver and politician, who competed in Formula One from to and served as the Governor of Santa Fe from 1999 to 2003. Reutemann was runner-up in the Form ...

. Scheckter's Tyrrell teammate Patrick Depailler finished third.

Race summary

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

had used the free month of February profitably, producing the new 312T model with a new transverse gearbox. There was also a new face in the persona of female Italian racer Lella Lombardi (the first woman to take part in a World Championship race since Maria Teresa de Filippis in the

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). In practice,

Graham Hill Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver, rower and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "Mr. Monaco", Hill won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles ...

's car spun on oil dropped from

Ronnie Peterson Bengt Ronnie Peterson (; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "Superswede", Peterson twice finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in an ...

's car and crashed, destroying his car. He opted to sit out the race. Once the debris had been cleared and holes in the catch fencing mended, there was a second accident as

Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers' Champ ...

spun on engine oil, hitting the wall at 120 mph. With further violent accidents to

and Guy Tunmer, the drivers deemed the circuit not safe and refused to continue until fencing defects were remedied and the track improved, further helped by the support of mechanics who insisted no more practice be carried out. When the racing got under way, Carlos Pace led from pole in a Brabham 1–2 but was soon passed by

and

after experiencing braking problems, and Patrick Depailler soon climbed to third.

James Hunt James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) was a British racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Shunt", Hunt won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with McLaren, and wo ...

retired with a broken throttle linkage, Vittorio Brambilla with oil cooler problems and Ian Scheckter crashed.

Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Fittipaldi won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with Team ...

was challenging Depailler for 4th place when he suffered a cracked plug lead.

held on from Reutemann for his only home win.

Classification

Qualifying

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

Notes

* This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British driver Bob Evans and South African driver Guy Tunmer. * This race saw the 10th fastest lap set by a Brazilian driver. * This was the 10th podium finish for a South African driver.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

{{F1GP 70-79 South African Grand Prix South African Grand Prix Grand Prix March 1975 sports events in Africa