Merzario doesn’t need wings

When the rear wing of Arturo Merzario’s Ferrari 312B3 fell off (!) during the 1973 US Grand Prix (picture above), he continued without it; when that gave him loads of oversteer, he made a pit-stop to have the front wing removed too, to balance things out! Aero was a bit basic, back then. He finished in 16th, 4 laps down on winner Ronnie Peterson in his Lotus 72.

For the 1973 Formula 1 season, FIAT executives imposed a new technical staff at the Scuderia Ferrari and Mauro Forghieri was transferred to the experimental department; his role was taken by Sandro Colombo, a former Gilera and Innocenti engineer… A new monocoque chassis named 312B3 was built by English specialist John Thompson. Drivers were Jacky Ickx and Arturo Merzario.

The new 312B3 debuted at the Spanish Grand Prix, but proved slow and unreliable. Ferrari was outclassed by Tyrrell, Lotus and McLaren, and even skipped some Grand Prix, notably the Nürburgring. Ickx left the team halfway through the season, contested the German Grand Prix in a McLaren, and took third place, behind the Tyrrells of Stewart and Cevert.

Picture below: Arturo Merzario in the Ferrari 312B3-73, still with its wings on, in the early stages of the 1973 US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. Classified 16th.