Jackie Stewart breaks Formula 1’s Grand Prix win record

Jackie Stewart arrived at Zandvoort level with Jim Clark on 25 World Championship victories. He left with the record to himself, although the circumstances of the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix ensured that the statistic could never define the day on its own.

Stewart had equalled Clark’s total by winning at Monaco earlier in the season. The comparison carried particular weight. Clark had been Stewart’s friend, fellow Scot and the standard against which the next generation of Grand Prix drivers was measured. His 25 victories had stood since 1968.

Peterson sets the pace

Ronnie Peterson qualified his Lotus on pole at Zandvoort, with Stewart second and François Cevert third in the two Tyrrells. Peterson led the race and appeared capable of delaying Stewart’s record for another week. Behind him, the Tyrrell pair remained in position to benefit if the Lotus failed.

The race was overshadowed by Roger Williamson’s fatal accident on lap eight. Stewart and the rest of the field continued under the conditions imposed by race control, but any account of the sporting result has to acknowledge that a driver had died while the Grand Prix remained in progress.

Peterson stayed ahead until late gearbox trouble slowed the Lotus. Stewart moved into the lead, Cevert followed him through to second, and James Hunt inherited third for his first podium. Stewart completed 72 laps to win by 15.83 seconds from his team-mate.

Victory number 26

The result gave Stewart his 26th World Championship victory, one more than Clark. It was also his fourth win of the 1973 season and extended his championship advantage over Emerson Fittipaldi to ten points.

The record reflected more than longevity. Stewart had reached 26 wins in an era of short calendars, high mechanical attrition and severe personal risk. His victories had come with BRM, Matra and Tyrrell, but the largest part of the total was built through his partnership with Ken Tyrrell.

One week after Zandvoort, Stewart won the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring to raise the record to 27. That became his final victory. He retired at the end of 1973 as a three-time world champion, and the mark of 27 Grand Prix wins stood until Alain Prost surpassed it in 1987.