1972 United States Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 12 of 12 in the 1972 Formula One season | |||
 |
|||
| Date | October 8, 1972 | ||
| Official name | XV United States Grand Prix | ||
| Location |
Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course Watkins Glen, New York |
||
| Course | Permanent road course | ||
| Course length | 5.435 km (3.377 mi) | ||
| Distance | 59 laps, 320.67 km (199.24 mi) | ||
| Weather | Sunny at start, brief showers late | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:40.481 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Jackie Stewart
|
Tyrrell-Ford | |
| Time | 1:41.644 on lap 33 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
| Second | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
| Third | McLaren-Ford | ||
The 1972 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 8, 1972, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was the twelfth and final round of the 1972 Formula One season. The 59-lap race was won by Tyrrell driver Jackie Stewart after he started from pole position. His teammate François Cevert finished second and McLaren driver Denny Hulme came in third. This was the debut race of the future world champion Jody Scheckter.
Jackie Stewart, having just lost his World Champion's crown to Emerson Fittipaldi, asserted his intentions to get it back, as he dominated the entire weekend with pole, win and fastest lap and completed a sweep of the North American races. It was the twenty-second victory of the Scot's career, and his fourth in 1972. Teammate François Cevert completed the one-two finish for Tyrrell, five seconds ahead of Denny Hulme's McLaren.
The then-staggering amount of $275,000 in prize money attracted 31 entries for the last race of the year. Rain and cold winds harried the drivers in qualifying, and Friday's times determined the grid. Stewart took the pole with a time of 1:40.481, ahead of the McLarens of American Peter Revson and Hulme. A third McLaren, driven by South African Jody Scheckter in his F1 debut, was eighth.
The Goodyear teams seemed to be enjoying quite an advantage, some saying as much as one and a half to two seconds per lap in qualifying. Firestone had intended to close its European Racing Division, and their teams were using up old stock that had been produced some time before. Rob Walker said that his team's tires had been manufactured for the Austrian Grand Prix, one of the hottest races of the year, and he was not surprised that they would not work in the 40-degree temperatures at The Glen! After practice, however, a telegram was received from Firestone HQ in Akron saying that, because of all the letters they had received begging them to continue, they would be racing in the following season.
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