First pole at Monaco

Monaco 1974. The two Ferraris of Niki Lauda (picture-above) and Clay Regazzoni qualified first and second, with Ronnie Peterson (in a Lotus 72 rather than the new 76) and Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell) sharing the second row. It’s the first pole for the young Austrian.

Peterson was very impressive in 3rd in the ‘old’ 72, while his team mate Ickx struggled and qualified his Lotus in 19th position.

At the start, the two Ferraris disappeared in the distance, without anyone threatening their domination. Regazzoni led Lauda, behind them Jarier was move up to third, with Peterson in fourth. Regazzoni then made a mistake at La Rascasse and spun out of the lead.

On lap 25 Peterson overtook Jarier for second and set off in pursuit of new leader Lauda. The Ferrari looked strong but on lap 33 Laudas engine failed. The Swede took the lead and with Scheckter (Tyrrell) having passed Jarier, second place went to the South-African. The positions remained unchanged all the way to the finish, and Peterson took a very convincing win.

Results :

1. Ronnie Peterson, Lotus 72.
2. Jody Scheckter, Tyrrell 007.
3. Jean-Pierre Jarier, Shadow DN3.
4. Clay Regazzoni, Ferrari 312B3.
5. Emerson Fittipaldi, McLaren M23.
6. John Watson, Brabham BT42.