Jo Siffert in a
BRM P160 took a surprise pole position from
Jackie Stewart and led away at the start from
Clay Regazzoni and
Jacky Ickx. The front two drew away from the pack, where Regazzoni was duelling with
François Cevert and Ickx was dropping back with mechanical problems. On lap 21, Stewart with a poorly handling car allowed Cevert through so he could chase Siffert. Further down the field, there were two
Brabham-
Lotus battles, with
Tim Schenken duelling with
Emerson Fittipaldi and
Reine Wisell trading places with
Graham Hill. By lap 32, Ickx had retired with a spark plug problem, Regazzoni had an engine blow up and Fittipaldi had passed Schenken and set about catching Stewart. On lap 36, Stewart's race ended with a violent accident - his left rear driveshaft broke and the wheel was torn off. He emerged unhurt to be greeted as World Champion following Ickx's retirement. Cevert was chasing down Siffert, but with 12 laps to go his gearbox exploded. Fittipaldi was now carving chunks out the
BRM's lead, due to a left-rear puncture for the Swiss. However he managed to nurse the ailing car home for a popular victory by 4 seconds. Schenken was 3rd, with Wisell pipping Hill for 4th place - the Englishman was another to suffer a puncture in the dying stages and
Henri Pescarolo finished 6th in his
March. Stewart won the Drivers' Championship with 3 races left to go. == Classification ==