Lotus 72

Lotus 72

Emerson Fittipaldi driving the 72 at the Nürburgring in 1971
Category	Formula One
Constructor	Team Lotus
Designer(s)	Colin Chapman, Tony Rudd, Maurice Philippe
Predecessor	49 / 63
Successor	76 / 77
Technical specifications
Chassis	Aluminium monocoque
Suspension (front)	Double wishbone, inboard spring/damper.
Suspension (rear)	Parallel top links, lower wishbones, twin radius arms, outboard spring/damper.
Engine	Ford-Cosworth DFV, 2993cc V8, naturally aspirated, mid-engined, longitudinally mounted
Transmission	Hewland FG400, 5-speed manual
Tyres	Goodyear
Competition history
Notable entrants	John Player Team Lotus
Notable drivers	Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ronnie Peterson, Jacky Ickx
Debut	1970 Spanish Grand Prix, Jarama.
Races Wins Poles F.Laps 75 20 17 9
Constructors' Championships	3 (1970, 1972, 1973)
Drivers' Championships	2 (Rindt, 1970; Fittipaldi, 1972)
n.b. Unless otherwise stated, all data refer to Formula One World Championship Grands Prix only.

The Lotus 72 was a Formula One car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe of Lotus for the 1970 Formula One season.

Development

The 72 was yet another innovative design by Chapman featuring inboard brakes, side mounted radiators in sidepods, as opposed to the nose mounted radiators which had been commonplace since the 1950s and an overhead air intake. The overall shape of the car was innovative too, resembling a wedge on wheels which was inspired by the earlier Lotus 56 gas turbine car, and the layout taken from the Lotus 63 four wheel drive project testbed. The shape made for better air penetration and higher speeds. In a back-to-back test with the Lotus 49, the 72 was 12 mph faster with the same Cosworth engine.

Chapman's efforts produced one of the most remarkable and successful designs in F1 history. Taking the stressed engine layout technique from the Lotus 49 and adding advanced aerodynamics produced a car that was years ahead of its rivals. To begin with however, problems with the handling of the car had to be overcome, due to a lack of 'feel' caused by the anti-dive suspension geometry - which was designed to prevent the nose of the car dipping significantly under braking - and the anti-squat set-up at the rear, which was supposed to stop the car 'squatting down' under acceleration. Once the suspension was modified, there were no further problems. The car caused a sensation amongst the media and fans, with many people clamouring to see the remarkable car in action.

Race history

Fittipaldi at the wheel of the Lotus 72D at the 1972 Austrian Grand Prix.

The car was introduced partway into the 1970 season, driven by Jochen Rindt and John Miles. Rindt made the car successful, winning the Dutch, French, British and German Grands Prix in quick succession. Rindt was almost certainly going to win the world championship but was killed in a qualifying crash at Monza, driving the 72 with its wings removed. His replacement, Emerson Fittipaldi won the USA race, helping Rindt become F1's only posthumous World Champion. Rindt and Fittipaldi's combined points for the season helped Lotus to its fourth constructors' championship.

The car was developed during 1971 by Tony Rudd who had formerly worked at BRM. He worked especially on redesigning the rear suspension and modified the rear wing to produce more downforce. Fittipaldi struggled during the season but scored good results and finished a respectable sixth, whilst the following season was much better. The development work done behind the scenes helped him become the youngest world champion in F1's history in 1972 winning five races in the 72, whilst Lotus again won the constructors' championship. The car now sported a striking paintscheme of black and gold; Imperial Tobacco had introduced a new brand, and decided to increase exposure and provide more funds to Lotus as part of the deal. Lotus was now sponsored by John Player Special cigarettes.

	Lotus-Cosworth 72E
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The 1973 season saw new rules introduced to increase car safety. This included mandatory deformable structure to be built into the sides of the cars, causing the 72 to be further updated with integrated sidepods, larger bodywork and new wing mounts. Fittipaldi was joined for 1973 by the brilliant Swede Ronnie Peterson. Peterson fell in love with the 72; a perfect marriage of car and driver. In his first season with Lotus, Peterson won four races, while Fittipaldi won three, but a number of retirements helped Jackie Stewart snatch the drivers' championship, although the large points tally built up by their two drivers helped Lotus keep the constructors championship. Fittipaldi left for McLaren in 1974, ironically to drive a car closely based on the 72, the McLaren M23.

An ex-Ronnie Peterson Lotus 72E

This left Peterson as team leader, while Jacky Ickx joined the team to partner him. The 72 was meant to be replaced by the Lotus 76, intended to be a lighter and leaner version of the 72, but the cars' technology proved to be too ambitious and the project flopped. Lotus turned to the venerable 72 for the 1974 season. A further update to the car, increasing the front and rear track kept the car competitive. Peterson won another three races and challenged for the championship in a very closely contested season, ably supported by Ickx who turned in solid performances and scored several podiums. The now aging 72 did remarkably well for a four-year-old design, finishing fourth in the constructors championship but for 1975 without a replacement chassis the 72 was again pressed into service. By now it was obvious that the car, even with further modifications including a wider track and redesigned suspension was no match for the new Ferrari 312T which took the title or even the latest Brabham BT44 and Lotus finished 6th in the constructors' championship.

After 20 wins, 2 drivers' and 3 constructors' championships, the 72 was retired for the 1976 season and replaced by the Lotus 77.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

Works team entries

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Points	WCC
1970	72 72B 72C	Ford Cosworth DFV	F		RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX			59	1st[a]
				Jochen Rindt		Ret			1	1	1	1	Ret	DNS
				John Miles		DNQ		Ret	7	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNS
				Emerson Fittipaldi										DNS		1	Ret
				Reine Wisell												3	NC
1971	72C 72D	Ford Cosworth DFV	F		RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA					21	5th
				Emerson Fittipaldi	Ret	Ret	5		3	3	Ret	2		7	NC
				Reine Wisell	4	NC	Ret	DSQ	6		8	4		5	Ret
				Dave Charlton						Ret
1972	72D	Ford Cosworth DFV	F		ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA				61	1st
				Emerson Fittipaldi	Ret	2	1	3	1	2	1	Ret	1	1	11	Ret
				David Walker	DSQ	10	9	14	14	18	Ret	Ret	Ret			Ret
				Reine Wisell											Ret	10
1973	72D 72E	Ford Cosworth DFV	G		ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	92 (96)	1st
				Emerson Fittipaldi	1	1	3	1	3	2	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	2	2	6
				Ronnie Peterson	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	3	2	1	2	11	Ret	1	1	Ret	1
1974	72E	Ford Cosworth DFV	G		ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	42	4th[b]
				Ronnie Peterson	13	6				1	Ret	8	1	10		Ret	1	3	Ret
				Jacky Ickx	Ret	3				Ret	Ret	11	5	3	5			13	Ret
1975	72E 72F	Ford Cosworth DFV	G		ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	USA		9	7th
				Ronnie Peterson	Ret	15	10	Ret	4	Ret	9	15	10	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	5
				Jacky Ickx	8	9	12	2	8	Ret	15	Ret	Ret
				Jim Crawford										Ret			13
				Brian Henton										16		DNS		NC
				John Watson											Ret

[a] ^ Includes 14 points scored using the Lotus 49.

[b] ^ Includes 3 points scored using the Lotus 76.

Non-works entries

(key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year	Entrant/s	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Driver/s	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
1970						RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX
	Brooke Bond Oxo Racing	72C	Ford Cosworth DFV	F	Graham Hill										DNS	NC	Ret	Ret
	World Wide Racing	72C	Ford Cosworth DFV	F	Alex Soler-Roig				DNQ
1972						ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA
	Scuderia Scribante	72D	Ford Cosworth DFV	F	Dave Charlton		Ret				DNQ	Ret	Ret
1973						ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA
	Scuderia Scribante	72D	Ford Cosworth DFV	G	Dave Charlton			Ret
1974						ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA
	Team Gunston	72E	Ford Cosworth DFV	F	Paddy Driver			Ret
					Ian Scheckter			13
1975						ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	USA
	Team Gunston	72E	Ford Cosworth DFV	G	Guy Tunmer			11
					Eddie Keizan			13

Team Lotus Founder Colin Chapman Noted personnel Frank Dernie Gérard Ducarouge Maurice Philippe Peter Warr Peter Wright World Champions Mario Andretti Jim Clark Emerson Fittipaldi Graham Hill Jochen Rindt Other notable drivers Elio de Angelis Martin Donnelly Mika Häkkinen Johnny Herbert Jacky Ickx Nigel Mansell Satoru Nakajima Gunnar Nilsson Ronnie Peterson Nelson Piquet Carlos Reutemann Ayrton Senna John Surtees Derek Warwick Alex Zanardi Drivers' titles 1963 1965 1968 1970 1972 1978 Constructors' titles 1963 1965 1968 1970 1972 1973 1978 Formula One cars 16 18 21 24 25 33 43 49 56B 63 72 76 77 78 79 80 81 86 87 88 91 92 93T 94T 95T 97T 98T 99T 100T 101 102 107 109 112 Formula Two cars 12 16 18 32 35 41 44 48 59 69 Formula Three cars 22 31 35 41 55 59 69 Formula Junior cars 18 20 22 27 Formula Ford cars 51 59 61 69 Formula 5000 cars 68 70 Tasman Series cars 32 39 67 Indianapolis 500 cars 29 34 38 42 56 64 96T Sports racing cars 15 17 19 23 30 40 47 53