Aquaplaning

Patrick Depailler, at the wheel of his Tyrrell 007-Ford , carefully navigates between the puddles during the 1975 British Grand Prix held at Silverstone (photo above), which will not prevent him from going off the track on lap 53, a victim of aquaplaning.

The 1975 British Grand Prix was seriously disrupted by a violent downpour on lap 53, which caused not only Depailler, but also Jody Scheckter, James Hunt, and Mark Donohue to go off the track, but also Wilson Fittipaldi, Jochen Mass, and John Watson, all of whom aquaplaned in the same corner, forcing the race director to stop the race.

Emerson Fittipaldi, driving his McLaren M23, proved the most adept in these difficult conditions and was declared the winner of the Grand Prix. Also of note was Welshman Tom Pryce’s pole position in his Shadow DN5 (photo below), his first ever, a promising performance that he unfortunately couldn’t capitalize on, also falling victim to the puddles in England.