Matra MS120

Development

The MS120 was later developed to become the Matra MS120B, Matra MS120C and Matra MS120D. The car was built at Matra's Formula One base at Vélizy-Villacoublay in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, designed under the direction of Gérard Ducarouge and Bernard Boyer.

For 1970 following the agreement with Simca, Matra asked Tyrrell to use their V12 engine rather than the Cosworth. Jackie Stewart got to test the Matra V12, but since a large part of the Tyrrell budget was provided by Ford, and another significant sponsor was French state-owned petroleum company Elf, which had an agreement with Renault that precluded supporting a Simca partner, the partnership between Matra and Tyrrell ended.

Matra chose an all French line up with Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Henri Pescarolo for 1970.

1970

The South African Grand Prix was good for Beltoise with a 4th-place finish while Pescarolo had a disappointing 7th place. The Spanish Grand Prix was a bad race both retiring with engine failures. The Monaco Grand Prix saw Pescarolo get 3rd place but Beltoise retired with differential failure. The Belgian Grand Prix saw Pescarolo finish 6th with electrical failure while Beltoise scored a third-place finish. The Dutch Grand Prix saw Beltoise 5th and Pescarolo 8th. Then the French Grand Prix which was Matra's, Beltoise's and Pescarolo's home race, saw Beltoise 5th and Pescarolo 13th out of fuel. Next was the British Grand Prix was a bad race with both retiring, Beltoise with a wheel and Pescarolo with an Accident. Then was the German Grand Prix saw Pescarolo got 6rd place but Beltoise retired with Suspension failure, Next was the Austrian Grand Prix saw Beltoise 6th and Pescarolo 14th. Then was the Italian Grand Prix saw Beltoise got 3rd place but Pescarolo retired with Engine failure, Next was the Canadian Grand Prix saw Pescarolo 7th and Beltoise 8th. Then was the United States Grand Prix saw Pescarolo 8rd place but Beltoise retired with a bad handling car, Finally, it was the Mexican Grand Prix saw Beltoise 5th and Pescarolo 9th despite the race was delayed by an hour because of crowd control. Pescarolo was not retained by Matra for 1971 and was replaced by New Zealand's Chris Amon

1971

Matra keeping Frenchman Jean-Pierre Beltoise and New Zealander Chris Amon joined Matra using the Matra MS120B spec version for 1971. Beltoise was in a lot of trouble in the 1971 1000 km Buenos Aires racing the Matra sports car team, he was involved in the accident in which Ignazio Giunti died, and Beltoise's international racing license was suspended for some time. Amon won the Non-Championship Argentine Grand Prix and finish fifth in the first round in the 1971 season in the South African Grand Prix. Beltoise returned for the Spanish Grand Prix finishing 6th and Amon finished 3rd, The Monaco Grand Prix was a bad race with both retiring with Differential failures. The Dutch Grand Prix saw Beltoise 9th and Amon retiring after he spun off, Then to the French Grand Prix which was Matra's and Beltoise's home race, saw Amon 5th and Beltoise 7th. Next came the British Grand Prix saw Beltoise 7th and Amon retiring with an engine failure, German Grand Prix saw Matra only entering Amon and retiring because of an Accident. Matra missed the Austrian Grand Prix but entered the Italian Grand Prix saw Matra only entering Amon again but took pole but proved an embarrassment to Ferrari at their home track and Amon finish 6th, Then the Canadian Grand Prix saw Beltoise back but retiring with an Accident and Amon finish 10th. Then the final race of 1971 was the United States Grand Prix saw Beltoise 8th and Amon 12th.

In 1971 Matra signed Amon as team leader which frustrated Beltoise. For 1972 Beltoise left to join BRM

1972

Chris Amon stayed with Matra, using the Matra MS120C spec version for 1972 befour being replaced by the Matra MS120D spec version mid season. The Argentine Grand Prix was a bad race for Amon with gearbox problems on the warm-up lap. He then finished 15th in the South African Grand Prix. More gearbox problems followed at the Spanish Grand Prix, before luck came Amon's way with two sixth-place finishes at Monaco and in Belgium. The French Grand Prix saw Amon on pole and he was leading the race until a puncture forced him to pit, but he charged back through the field, bettering the Charade Circuit lap record to finish third. Amon finished fourth in the British Grand Prix and 15th in the German Grand Prix, before another points finish with fifth in the Austrian Grand Prix. Amon's Brakes failed in the Italian Grand Prix and later came in sixth in the Canadian Grand Prix. At the last race of the season, he finished 15th in the United States Grand Prix. Matra pulled out of Formula One afterwards to concentrate on Le Mans.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Non-Championship Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)