The 7th October, 1973 was cloudy and cool. Temperatures sat in the high sixties and autumn was descending upon the softly rolling hills with its customary magnificence. Autumn is a season of change and in the pits change was no less evident than in the brightly coloured trees which surrounded the track. In a move that would usher in the end of an era, Jackie Stewart had secretly decided to retire. He told no one, other than Ken Tyrell, sitting on the news with his usual determination, his third World Championship already having been won before the teams arrived at “The Glen” for the 1973 US Grand Prix. Francois Cevert was to be the lead driver of the team when Stewart left, a fact Cevert would never know.
Saturday’s qualifying started out slightly damp but still comfortable temperature-wise. Friday had been uneventful and no real change was expected for Saturday. The speeds were fast and Ronnie Peterson sat on the pole after the morning session in his Lotus, secure in his time. Suddenly, a silence descended upon the track and an eerie feeling crept through the pits. Francios Cevert had crashed his Tyrrell Ford coming up Esses between Turns three and four. Cevert had run up on the kerbs and caught the guardrail, sending the car skittering across the track and into the Armco at a 90 degree angle. The nose of the car was buried and the car flipped over, coming to rest on top of the Armco. Cevert was killed instantly.
The tragedy sat heavy on teams and spectators alike. Tyrell Ford pulled out of the race, effectively ending Jackie Stewart’s 99 race career without actually completing his last race. The race itself, however, had to go on and Ronnie Peterson’s time from the morning held up and he retained the pole.
Sunday morning found the track swelling with an almost record crowd. At the start of the race, Peter Revson experienced car trouble, his car rolling forward of its own volition. He took the car out of gear and waited for the rest of the pack to roar past him before beginning his race as the last car in the pack.
Ronnie Peterson took the lead with James Hunt approximately a second behind him. Revson was slicing through the field behind them, moving from twenty third to seventh by mid-race. Revson then battled with Emerson Fittipaldi, who eventually had to pit to deal with flat spots on the tyres, to take sixth and continue his charge. James Hunt continued in second place behind Peterson, only pulling alongside his competitor once, but finding himself unable to complete the pass that would allow him to take the lead.
Ronnie Peterson held onto the lead and came across the line, 0.688 seconds in front of James Hunt, who had managed to hang onto his car despite severe oversteer. Until 2002, this remained the closet victory in F1 history. Carlos Reutemann was third in the race, weaving back and forth to pull every last drop from his rapidly emptying fuel tanks. Denny Hulme was a confident fourth, coming in strong and steady.
At the end of the day, Formula 1 had lost two champions. Jackie Stewart had won the Drivers’ Championship without completing the last race of the season, indeed without completing his last race. His time in Formula 1 was over and he slipped from his driver’s seat a champion. Cevert was handsome, young, and talented, his future laying before him, untouched and breathtaking. He was also dead, the bright flame of his talent being extinguished all too early. It was a tragedy, a victory, and the end of an era.
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