Crisis at Ferrari

Jacky Ickx, driving his Ferrari 312 B3, is on the attack on the climb of the Montjuic circuit, where the 1973 Spanish Grand Prix is ​​taking place. The Belgian driver qualified in sixth position and is ahead of Clay Regazzoni (BRM), George Follmer and Jackie Oliver (Shadow) in the photo above, while further back, the yellow March of Mike Beuttler appears.

For the 1973 F1 season, the Scuderia Ferrari sought new technical solutions and opted for an aluminum chassis without the tubular structure of the previous model. It was a failure, and the two in-house drivers, Ickx and Merzario (photo below at the French Grand Prix), only scored 12 points for the entire season. The Scuderia was in crisis, and Ickx left the ship midway through the season.

However, here in Spain, Ickx, in the only B3 entered, created an illusion and qualified on the third row, made a good start to the race ahead of George Follmer who would finish third at the wheel of his Shadow, but would be delayed by mechanical problems and would be classified sixteenth.

The B3 concept would be completely revised for the 1974 season, and would return to winning ways, but without Jacky Ickx, who had left for Lotus.