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Interesting news for motorsport fans on this eve of the Canadian Grand Prix: Arturo Merzario is leaving Ferrari and moving to Alfa Romea to race in the World Sport Championship and (probably) to the American Shadow team for Formula 1. The possibility that Merzario would not remain at Maranello had already circulated at Monza on the occasion of the Italian Grand Prix. Now, it has definitely surfaced and has been confirmed by Alfa Romeo and, of course, Ferrari. The Italian driver signed a contract with the Milanese manufacturer and will join the reconfirmed Stommelen, ae Adamich and Facetti. The driver is said to have received very advantageous economic conditions. All this leads us to believe that Merzario behaved like a skilled professional, who derived his income from racing and was thinking about his old age. Arturo had asked Ferrari for II 1974 to do six Formula 1 Grands Prix and all the tests with sports cars. Ferrari had accepted, pointing out that, as the Sport programme had not been fixed (there was talk of a reduction in participation), he would in any case have guaranteed him a salary equivalent to racing six races. Alfa Romeo's offer was superior and Merzario did well to accept it. It is only right that this man valued and launched by Ferrari has chosen the prospects most attractive to him. This has also been well understood by the manufacturer, who has remained on excellent terms with the driver to the extent of entrusting him again with the 312-B3 for the next Canadian and US Grands Prix. Austrian Niki Lauda is a candidate to replace him. At this point it seems ridiculous to want to paint Merzario as a victim and out of touch with the worn-out querimony about the poor Italian driver abandoned and seduced. The Ferrari human environment is serene, calm, thanks also to the skilful work of Luca Montezemolo: why disturb it - now that work has to be done on the technical level, thinking of a rematch in 1974 - with sterile polemics that smack of party-playing and, perhaps, of posthumous revenge? Merzario will go his own way and Ferrari too: good luck to them both. It all starts quite normally at the Mosport Park circuit some 50 miles from Toronto in rural Canada. The track is set in a very hilly and sandy terrain and as usual there are complaints about the bumpy nature of the circuit which suffers from the Canadian winter and, into the bargain does not receive as much maintenance as it should because of a lack of finance.
The present promoters do not intend to go broke like the earlier ones so spend their money carefully, but a huge Can-Am crowd in June ensures the track’s viability for another year even though the Grand Prix has an attendance of only 40.000, as the weather deters many potential race fans. From the spectators’ point of view the facilities are limited, rustic would be a better word, but many come and stay the weekend in their mobile homes, so are self-contained, and many more camp. There is great fun to be had on the loose tracks which weave in and around the circuit and many of the fans bring along their trail motorcycles or off-road specials and enjoy the challenge of the rough terrain. The organisers provide free firewood and water and it is pleasant to see, unlike Watkins Glen, that everyone manages to co-exist without scuffling or even getting more than slightly drunk. The circuit itself offers some superb vantage points, great swooping downhill and uphill bends, which can be viewed from so many interesting angles - in many was some of the spots are similar to the Nurburgring, there aren’t so many of them, of course, and you know the circuit hasn’t the same challenge, but the cars come round much more quickly. In the paddock there is plenty to discuss, even before practice is under way. For a start there is Regazzoni standing in his civvies looking somewhat dejected, with a very English tweed cloth cap pulled down over his forehead. He has flown out with the B.R.M. team, the other drivers and mechanics, only to be told when he arrives that he is the reserve driver. This is not a very subtle way to say that he is out and that Peter Gethin who was out at the end of last year is back in. Certainly Regazzoni has failed to show the promise this year which put his B.R.M. on pole position in Argentina. His performances have been below par and one can even see the reasoning for dropping him. Anyway, the Marlboro-B.R.M. team brings along the three surviving P160E’s with no modifications, as a new model is well on the way, and the drivers are Niki Lauda, Jean-Pierre Beltoise and a somewhat confused Peter Gethin, who doesn’t want to get involved in the politics but is very happy to be driving a Grand Prix car again. After a few laps Gethin confides that in the year since he last drove a B.R.M. they don’t appear to have any more power, don’t handle any differently but do brake better.
The only other non-Cosworth powered car is Arturo Merzario’s Ferrari 312B3 in the latest trim, no spare car being available. There is interest in the Elf-Team Tyrrell camp with the inclusion in the third car, alongside Jackie Stewart and Francois Cevert. of Chris Amon. After his dismal, yet financially rewarding season with Tecno, the New Zealander needs a break. Here is his chance to prove that he still has the talent to put him in the class the media like to call superstars. While Tyrrell’s two regular drivers use the 006 models Anton takes over the chisel-nose development car, 005. In fact, on the first day of practice, Stewart has his car in this same side-radiator trim but soon switches back to the normal set-up. Despite stories of the Chapman/Fittipaldi split in the popular press following Monza, everyone seems happy in the John Player Team Lotus camp. There is no change to the three Lotus 72’s, the spare car again carrying Peterson’s name on the side. Like Elf-Team Tyrrell, McLaren are up to three car strength, bringing back Jody Scheckter for the first time since Silverstone. Since then the young South African has been in America and has won the lucrative L&M Formula 5000 series. His McLaren is the one in which Revson won the British GP and carried the number (or zero as the Americans call it) - the same number, if it is a number, which is on the side of Scheckter’s Formula 5000 and Can-Am cars. Revson and HuIme have respectively M23/4 and M23/1. The Motor Racing Developments team brings along three of their four Brabham BT42s, all with new and much larger air intakes for the Cosworth engines. All three also have a wing of the same type that Reutemann has been running for several races. This is an adaptation of the wing design used by Dan Gurney on his Eagles. The unusual shape is the work of Dr Bob Liebeck, who is senior engineer in aerodynamics research at McDonnell Douglas Aircraft. Although it is yet to be tried on an aircraft, Liebeck claims that this new aerofoil section, with its high leading edge, and deep curve, breaks new ground when it comes to high lift/low drag factors. Gordon Murray of the Brabham team is the first Formula 1 designer to cotton on to this, although we can expect the shape to become the vogue in a matter of months. The Brabhams are driven by Carlos Reutemann, Wilson Fittipaldi and Rolf Stornmelen, still standing in for Andrea de Adamich.
There is little to report in the Surtees canto with Mike Hai’wood and Carlos Pace in their usual blue and white TS14s while the assorted March 731s are handled by James Hunt, Jean-Pierre Jarier and Mike Beuttler. Now that Hesketh’s designer Harvey Postlewaite is working on his own car for next season, the white March has remained undamaged, although it has to be rebuilt around a new monocoque section in quite a hurry, following the Monza accident. The Shadow team are looking for a good performance now that they are on the same continent as their generous sponsor, Universal Oil Products, and brings along two cars for Oliver and Follmer. Oliver’s car is the latest one with the revised rear suspension and extended wheelbase and the team seemed in good shape, particularly as both the drivers know the circuit well. There is a last minute plan to bring the third car out for Brian Redman but this is foiled when cargo space proved elusive. Graham Hill, however, has the red and white Embassy Racing example. Finally there is the Iso Marlboro team plus von Opel’s Ensign, to complete the entry list, with not a Canadian in sight. Frank Williams’s once again has a change in his driver line-up with Howden Ganley’s latest team-mate being Tim Schenken, who hasn’t raced in Formula 1 since he drove his last race for Surtees at Watkins Glen a year ago. Since then Schenken has been waiting for Rondel to complete their own Formula One car, but the project is currently held up due to lack of finance. The two Williams cars has various detail changes suggested by Ron Tauranac, although the former Brabham designer isn’t in attendance. Practice is scheduled for two sessions on both Friday and Saturday, although a repeat dose of the fog that held up last year’s race at Mosport delays Saturday’s practice and leaves the track damp until the last half hour. Possibly this is the reason that last year’s pole position time of 1'13"6 is never equalled, and only approached by Peterson who is a full second faster than the rest. In the first Friday session only the Swede breaks into the 1'14"0 with 1'14"6. The only other driver who seems to be trying his utmost is Carlos Reutemann. The Argentinian is very spectacular, yet consistently fast, and finishes up second fastest at 1'15"5. Jody Scheckter shows that he has not forgotten how to handle a Formula 1 car by recording third fastest time at 1'15"7 while team-mate Revson and Cevert does 1'15"8. Arturo Merzario has a huge moment when the Ferrari gets away from him into the tricky Turn 3 and careers through two catch fences, which manage to rip off most of the bodywork and deformable structures but leave the chassis remarkably undamaged.
However the front suspension is badly twisted and the Italian has to sit out the second session. Hulme is in trouble when his gearbox chews itself up and Stewart also has various problems, Gethin has a mis-fire and Oliver’s clutch packs up. In session two on Friday afternoon most of the drivers start to settle down and the times start to come down. Peterson is again showing his superiority when it comes to turning a pole position lap and he finishes up with a superb 1'13"69, Peter Revson enjoys Mosport and his best lap of 1'14"73 makes him second fastest just fractionally quicker than Scheckter at 1'14"76. Reutemann is still up there too with a best of 1'14"81. These four times remain unbeaten throughout Saturday so Peterson is on pole position for the eighth time in 14 races. Fifth fastest on Friday is the Austrian Niki Lauda, underlining that while his climb up the ladder has been relatively unspectacular compared with the Scheckters of this world, skill and determination is most certainly there. On Saturday, as we said, the fog holds up proceedings and the track is soaking wet. Finally, two hours late, the cars are allowed out singly to do four laps each, more to keep the crowd happy than anything else. While this is going on the track is drying quickly and, in the space of half an hour the damp Ontario fog lifts completely. So the session finally gets underway with two and a half hours available for the rest to knock Peterson off pole position. There isn’t much chance of that with the track still damp in places and, anyway, when it does finally dry out Peterson is fastest again with a time of 1'14"59. Emerson Fittipaldi comes nearest with 1'15"03 which boosts him to fifth place on the grid. Cevert is again going well and lowers his time to 1'15"12 to share row three with Fittipaldi. Denny Hulme is also much happier on Saturday and he improves to 1'15"32 to make row four with Lauda, who has failed to improve. Jackie Stewart is an unaccustomed ninth on the grid alongside Wilson Fittipaldi, who is very happy with his Brabham. Chris Amon settles in well with the Tyrrell team, but sets no records so is on row six with Mike Hailwood, the two Shadows of Follmer and Oliver are on row seven while Hunt and Beltoise fill row eight Hunt taking it carefully in the rebuilt car. The rest are as shown on the grid with Graham Hill looking faster than he has all season.
Sunday, September 23, 1973, is cold, miserable and wet typical Canadian GP weather in fact although fortunately the fog is absent. The morning warm-up session on the sodden track catches out several drivers, including Peterson, who is having a quick try in his spare car. The Swede hits the Armco at the corner in front of the pits and dents the front of the car quite severely (by late evening it is stripped down to the bare chassis ready to be sent back to England for a repair to be effected). Hunt, Beltoise, Pace and von Opel also have brushes with guard rails although all are repaired in time for the race. The Ensign, however, has its batmobile tail section damaged and has to race with only the side sections. Rain continues to drip down all morning but as the drivers set off on the parade lap in a string of Porsche 914s, the heavens open and drench everyone. Once back at their racing cars, with the shower over, the drivers are allowed three exploratory laps before lining up on the grid. The Canadian flag finally falls half an hour late, with the very cramped field all making it into the first corner safely in a great shower of spray. Everyone has plumped for full wet weather tyres except Beltoise, who has intermediates fitted in the hope the track will dry out. Great things are expected of the B.R.M.s in these conditions, for Firestone have a lead in wet weather tyres and Lauda has proven unbeatable in the wet session in Holland earlier in the year. At the end of the first lap it is Peterson in the lead followed by Scheckter, but with Lauda already third, Fittipaldi is fourth, Stewart is up to fifth ahead of Reutemann, Revson, Cevert, Oliver, Wilson Fittipaldi, Hunt, Pace and the rest. The man to watch is definitely Lauda, his bright red helmet proving easy to spot amidst all the spray and, at the start of lap three he squeezes by Scheckter going into Turn 1 to grab second place and, a lap later, he is in the lead of a Grand Prix for the first time in his career. Two laps later he has an eight second advantage and, by lap ten, he is over a quarter of a minute in the lead and has lapped the last eight runners. His superiority in the wet is remarkable and, while we all know that B.R.M. and the Firestone tyres suit the conditions, Lauda deserves a great deal of praise too. Behind him Peterson and Scheckter are trading second place while Stewart and Fittipaldi have been fighting for fourth spot, although now they suddenly have Pace in their midst. Oliver is also revelling in the conditions and has moved up to seventh place, while, already, there have been countless spins. Hulme, who is currently wittering about banning Grand Prix racing in the rain, is at the back of the field after a second lap puncture and Merzario is last after knocking the front wing askew on the second lap. He comes in for a new nose cowling but one isn’t available so he is sent out without a nose section at all.
Peter Gethin’s return to B.R.M. lasts only five laps before the engine loses its oil pressure and he is the first retirement. Apart from the fact that Lauda holds a commanding, and ever increasing lead at the front of the field, the positions behind chop and change almost every lap, although the circuit is already showing signs that it is drying very quickly. By lap 15 Peterson seems to be reasonably firmly in second place with Fittipaldi third and Pace fourth having just overtaken Scheckter. Oliver is sixth, while a spin has dropped Stewart behind Cevert. Reutemann is ninth leading Schenken, Hunt, Ganley and HaiIwood. The rest have all been lapped and are led by Revson and Amon. From then on the action keeps coming. First Peterson loses it, bounces up a kerb, and hits the Armco. The damage is slight and he continues a couple of hundred yards before he realizes that the rear suspension is broken, so he stops. Oliver meanwhile has overtaken Scheckter and Pace, so is up to third position. On lap 18 Pace really starts something by roaring into the pits yelling for dry weather tyres. The track has dried so quickly that it is ripping the chunky wet weather tyres to pieces. On lap 20 Lauda follows suit but is sent out on intermediates still in eighth place. Fittipaldi now leads from Oliver, Cevert, Scheckter then Stewart. Ganley has put on a spurt and was sixth ahead of Reutemann, Lauda, Revson, Amon and the rest. From then on pit stop followed pit stop although Fittipaldi keeps out in front for the next ten laps with Oliver second about fifteen seconds behind. Through all this Beltoise is climbing up the field rapidly, his intermediates proving just the job. Revson hadn’t stopped either and is charging up those lap charts which are still in some semblance of order while Lauda quickly makes up places. Second man Oliver stops for his tyre change on lap 31, Fittipaldi on lap 32 and so does Stewart, but, for once, the Tyrrell efficiency is not evident. Fittipaldi’s stop is a long one for the suspension settings are altered. Oliver’s stop is quite quick. Once the former leaders are back in the race and various other people have roared in and out of the pits, absolutely everyone’s lap chart, including the organiser’s, has blown up. Just to add to all the confusion Scheckter and Cevert, who are now on wet weather tyres, have a coming together on Turn 2. The Frenchman’s car charges the Armco harrier head-on and he is lucky to escape without a broken ankle at least, for the pedal mounting is twisted up at 90 degrees. Just to prove he is okay he starts to chase Scheckter down the track in a bid to thump him.
The general consensus of opinion is that Scheckter is to blame for the accident. Fortunately Cevert is restrained by marshals and he suddenly finds his leg hurt rather a lot. At the Canadian Grand Prix they have always been rather fond of sending ambulances out on the course even if a driver isn’t seriously injured. Thus two ambulances and a breakdown truck are dispatched. Under the new rules, brought in after the Zandvoort tragedy, if such a vehicle is on the track then the Pace car must be sent out in front of the leading car to slow the field down, until the track is clear again. But no one has anticipated that this would be a difficult task if the organisers aren’t really sure who was in the lead. Most people reckon Oliver is first despite his pit stop, the officials however, for some unknown reason, nominate Ganley who definitely isn’t. Hours after the race, a lap chart is constructed from the lap time of every driver on every lap and this shows that Beltoise was actually in the lead. Whatever the true order was the Pace car, with Peter Mackintosh of the Formula One Constructors’ Association aboard, waves Ganley in behind and everyone starts to crowd up behind. Of course those drivers just ahead of Ganley are able to carry on at racing speed for two or three more laps and catch up the back of the car, thus making up almost a complete lap. Revson is one of them, for he has just scorched out of the pits following a late tyre change and, Possibly, the quickest of the race. The other lucky chap is Oliver and both join the end of the queue. Emerson Fittipaldi, however, is just behind Ganley so has to get in line and thus, effectively, loses the race. While all this is happening Beltoise makes his pit stop, the last driver to do so. After ten laps of this, during which Cevert’s wreck has been dragged from its rather dangerous resting place, the race is suddenly on again and the track is completely dry. Ganley decides that as someone thought that he is in the lead he better drive like a race winner. The result is fantastic and the New Zealander gives a tremendous demonstration holding off Stewart and Fittipaldi for eight laps, driving the race of his life, and taking the Williams car round three seconds a lap quicker than in practice. Meanwhile Oliver has, apparently, passed Beltoise for the lead and so does Revson although Oliver is pulling away from the American. Everyone in the pits is sure the Shadow is leading, the first time any Shadow has ever led a motor race, but most think Fittipaldi is second. The Brazilian soon passes Stewart and is intent on making up a complete lap on Oliver.
Beuttler has retired with his engine blown up but the rest are still going strongly. The lap chart, issued later by the organisers, shows that Revson took the lead from Oliver on lap 46. This in fact would seem to be correct for that is the lap in which the Romford lad slowed almost to a stop as he passed the pits due to blocked throttle slides. He got going again but apparently that is when Revson slipped by and so did Beltoise, but, as far as the commentator and everyone at the race is concerned, Oliver was still in the lead with Fittipaldi driving a fantastic race in second place to make up that lost lap. With about ten laps to go the excitement is reaching a peak and it looks as if Fittipaldi might just catch Oliver. Most pit boards, including McLaren’s are showing Revson third, while the general opinion is that Beltoise is fourth with Stewart fifth and Ganley sixth. With four laps to go Oliver still has Fittipaldi behind him but closing, and the pair come up behind Beltoise who isn’t going to let either of them by if he can help it. He certainly doesn’t know he is officially second and defending that position from them but such is this race. With two laps to go Fittipaldi passes Oliver and the pair of them pass Beltoise. Everyone cranes their necks for the last lap and as Fittipaldi flashes across the finish line Colin Chapman flings his hat in the air. But the man with the flag doesn’t move. Half a lap later he suddenly waves it at a group of cars and it looks as if Ganley is actually given the chequered flag first but, apparently, it is meant for Revson although, by this stage, he has 81 laps officially to his credit. Revson is provisionally given the victory garland and everyone looks extremely confused. Most people plainly don’t believe the result. Three hours later the timekeepers have unravelled the times for every car on every lap and constructed a lap chart from it which confirms Revson is, indeed, the winner. The 15th Canadian Grand Prix was a unique experience in motorsport history and will go down in history as the Grand Prix of confusion. For many it was like a bad dream that lasted about six hours, spent in complete ignorance of what was happening and in the nerve-wracking wait to know the decision of the timekeepers and sports officials gathered in a council of war to deliberate whether Peter Revson had won the penultimate round of the Formula One World Championship or whether Emerson Fittipaldi had really won the first penny of the flashy $270.000 prize money. Finally, like a wonderful release, came the announcement:
"Despite complaints from Colin Chapman, of Lotus, and Jackie Oliver, who qualified third in the Shadow, the winner is Revson, in a McLaren".
The blond Californian was visibly surprised when the announcer summoned him to the podium, pushing Flttipaldi away.
"I owe my victory to the Pace Car and to luck".
As is well known, a recent change to the Formula 1 race regulations (desired for safety reasons by the drivers themselves), allows a Pace car (the equivalent of the future Safety car) to enter the track after an accident, in order to stabilise the race and allow rescue and debris removal operations to take place without the presence of single-seaters launched at high speed on the circuit. The race, which was due to start at 2:30 p.m., started about an hour late due to rain that flooded the track in many places. After about twenty laps the drivers had to return to the pits to replace special wet tyres with normal ones, as the asphalt had dried out due to a clearing. Unfortunately, with the succession of stops, the timekeepers lost control of the situation, driving press and spectators crazy with the lack of information. As if that wasn't enough, on yr 34, Scheckter, already protagonist in France with Emerson Fittipaldl of a similar incident and then cause for his incorrect and impetuous behaviour of the multiple collision at Silverstone, in England, closed the trajectory to Cevert who was trying to pass him, with the result that the McLaren flew into the Tyrrell. The furious Frenchman got out of the wreckage of his single-seater and, despite a painful ankle sprain, hurled himself at the young South African, hitting him several times with his helmet. And then the Pace car came onto the track, its driver slipping in front of Ganley, who was running at the back of the field in his Iso, rather than in front of Oliver, who was then leading the race in his Shadow. Naturally, all the drivers got behind without respecting the distance, with the drawback that even those who had a 50-second gap found themselves close to the leader.
The official car, with a yellow danger flag, remained on the track until lap 46. When it came time for the lap count, Fittipaldi would have completed 81, while Revson only 80, hence the post-race incident. A truly deplorable situation, which caused a host of problems and some pretty heated disagreements between the Lotus, McLaren and Uop Shadow teams. For Ferrari driver Arturo Merzario, it was another day as cloudy as the Canadian sky. Starting in 20th position, the Italian lost the nose of the 312-B3 after just two laps due to a spin at turn two, the same turn that saw him go off the track during practice. Merzario stopped at the pit, where a sheet metal was applied to the single-seater in place of the aerodynamic front end for lack of a more suitable spare part. Merzario finished the race finishing 15th. While Stewart, already satisfied with the victory of the world title won at Monza, completed a muted race, Peterson after about ten laps made a fearful spin, breaking the nose and retiring. A pity, because in the first arc of the race it was Peterson himself, with Niki Lauda, Fittipaldi and Cevert who had enlivened the 40.000 spectators drenched by water that had fallen during the night and in the morning. The next, and last, round of the World Championship is at Watkins Glen. A new Ferrari is expected in the United States, which would have the cockpit moved forward about 13 cm, the petrol tanks moved back and other technical modifications. It is rumoured that the car will be entrusted to Clay Regazzoni, fired by B.R.M.. Tuesday 25 September 1973 o Swiss flies to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, to find Andretti, with whom he will discuss some future American programmes.