1973 Dutch Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 10 of 15 in the 1973 Formula One season | |||
 |
|||
| Date | July 29, 1973 | ||
| Official name | XXI Grote Prijs van Nederland | ||
| Location | Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort, Netherlands | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.18 km (2.6 mi) | ||
| Distance | 72 laps, 304.27 km (189.06 mi) | ||
| Weather | Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:19.47 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Ronnie Peterson
|
Lotus-Ford | |
| Time | 1:20.31 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
| Second | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
| Third | March-Ford | ||
The 1973 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zandvoort on July 29, 1973. It was the tenth race of the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers. Zandvoort returned to the Formula One calendar following a year's absence for extensive safety upgrades to the race track including new asphalt, new barriers and a new race control tower. Jackie Stewart won the race, this Grand Prix being fourth of five wins for Stewart during the 1973 Formula One season, and he became the most successful Formula One driver of all time with his 26th Grand Prix victory, surpassing Jim Clark's record of 25 victories.
Driver Roger Williamson was killed in the race; this was the first of two driver fatalities in the 1973 season. François Cevert, who took the podium in second place at this race, would later perish during practice for the 1973 United States Grand Prix.
On the 8th lap of the race through the high speed esses near the Tunnel Oost (East Tunnel) right-hand corner, a suspected tyre failure caused Williamson's car to pitch into the barriers at high speed, and be catapulted 300 yards (275 m) across the track, eventually coming to rest upside down against the barriers on the other side. The petrol tank had ignited whilst being scraped along the track, and the car caught fire. Williamson had not been seriously injured by the impact, but was trapped in the car. The race was not stopped and continued with a local yellow at the scene, a fact which would become significant over the next few minutes.
Fellow driver David Purley, who witnessed Williamson's impact, almost immediately pulled his car over on the opposite side of the track, then ran across the live racetrack to assist him. Williamson was heard shouting to Purley to get him out of the car as Purley tried in vain to turn the car upright. There appeared to have been ample time to right the car and pull Williamson out, but as desperately as he tried, Purley was unable to do it by himself, and the marshals, who were not wearing flame retardant overalls, were unable to help due to the intense heat.
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