Parade for James Hunt
The 1975 Swedish Grand Prix was held at the Scandinavian Raceway at Anderstorp on 8 June 1975. It was race 7 of 14 in the 1975 Formula One World Championship. James Hunt, the Hesketh driver, sits on the roof of a modest FIAT 126, during the drivers’ parade lap (picture above).
Vittorio Brambilla took the first pole of his F1 career in his orange, Beta-livered March 751-Cosworth. Championship leader, Niki Lauda qualified his Ferrari in sixth. Local hero Ronnie Peterson couldn’t do better than 9th in his ageing Lotus 72, but he still was 1.3 seconds faster than his team mate Jacky Ickx (18th).
Great progress for James Hunt and the Hesketh Racing since the start of the season. The Brit finishes second in Argentina and sixth in Brazil, but then suffers five consecutive retirements, including in this Swedish Grand Prix. Nevertheless, performance is there, a first Grand Prix victory is soon to come.
The race was won by Austrian Niki Lauda driving a Ferrari 312T. He is seen, picture-below, leading James Hunt in his Hesketh 308B and John Watson in a Surtees. Lauda took a six-second victory over Carlos Reutemann (Brabham BT44B). It was Lauda’s third consecutive win of the season after Monaco and Zolder (Belgian Grand Prix). The win strengthened his lead in the championship to ten points over Reutemann.
