Date 6 March 1971 | Course length 4.104 km (2.550 mi) | |
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Official name XVII South African Grand Prix Location Kyalami, Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa Course Permanent racing facility Distance 79 laps, 324.216 km (201.458 mi) | ||
The 1971 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on 6 March 1971. The race, which was the first round of the 1971 Formula One season, was won by Mario Andretti who was driving for the Ferrari team.
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It was expected the 12-cylinder cars would be dominant over the V8 Ford Cosworths – 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.