Crisis-year

Jacky Ickx, pictured above in the cockpit of his Ferrari 312 B3, listens to instructions from his engineer before the start of the 1973 British Grand Prix. On this Silverstone circuit, the B3 is not competitive, and Ickx can do no better than 19th in qualifying, and eighth in the race, more than a minute behind the winner Peter Revson in his McLaren M23.

It was a crisis-year for Ferrari in 1973. The 312 B3-73, whose aluminum chassis was designed in England by John Thompson, was a failure, and the Scuderia was absent from the Dutch and German Grands Prix due (among other things) to strikes in Italy. Neither of the team’s drivers, Ickx and Merzario (photo below), reached the podium even once, with the Italian achieving two fourth-place finishes.

Jacky Ickx left Ferrari mid-season, for whom he had been driving since 1970, recovered by securing a fine 3rd place at the Nürburgring driving a third McLaren M23 entered, and finished the season with a one-off appearance driving a modest Iso-Marlboro for Frank Williams at Watkins Glen and finished seventh.