Car · Team Lotus · 1971–1973

Lotus 72D

Twelve miles an hour quicker than the 49 on the same engine. The 72 raced for six seasons, which nothing else of its era managed, and it won the 1970 title for a driver who had died at Monza with four rounds to go - Rindt remains the only posthumous World Champion.

Seasons
1971–1973
Entries
29
Wins
5
Poles
3
Fastest laps
0
Constructors' titles
3
Drivers' titles
2

One of the design family that has a specified page of its own.

Why it mattered

The idea. Move the mass to the middle, get the radiators out of the nose, and make the whole car a wedge

New on this car. Side-mounted radiators in the sidepods, freeing the nose to be a pure aerodynamic wedge; inboard brakes to cut unsprung weight; torsion-bar suspension with anti-dive and anti-squat geometry

What it did. 75 races, 20 wins, 17 poles. Drivers' titles for Rindt (1970) and Fittipaldi (1972); constructors' in 1970, 1972 and 1973.

Designers
Colin Chapman, Maurice Philippe, Tony Rudd
Supersedes
lotus-49
Design life
1970–1975
Confidence
high

Specification

Chassis
Aluminium monocoque
Front suspension
Double wishbone, inboard spring/damper.
Rear suspension
Parallel top links, lower wishbones, twin radius arms, outboard spring/damper
Brakes
inboard disc
Gearbox
Hewland FG400
Gears
5-speed
Tyres
1970–1972, 1974: Firestone ; 1974: Goodyear
Fuel
1970–1971: Shell; 1972–1975: Texaco
Engine
Ford Cosworth DFV
Configuration
V8
Capacity
2,993 cc
Aspiration
naturally aspirated
Power
465 bhp
Power note
440-465 hp @ 10,000-10,800 rpm
Weight
—
Wheelbase
—
Track, front
—
Track, rear
—

A blank is a figure nobody published for this car. Where several teams quote the same number in a season it is usually the rule they were all built to rather than a measurement, so it is kept with the regulation limits instead of here.

5 wins can be traced to this chassis; its article publishes 20. Neither is wrong. A win counts here only where the entry list says which car the driver was in, and a team running two designs in a season does not always say. The unresolved seasons are listed below.

Seasons that cannot be attributed 2

Seasons that cannot be attributed
SeasonAlso entered by this constructor
1971lotus-56b+lotus-69-special
1974lotus-76
In these seasons the team ran more than one design and no source says which car raced which round, so the results are left unattributed rather than guessed.

Every entry 29 entries

Every entry
SeasonGrand PrixDriverGridResultOut
1973South African Grand PrixDave Charlton13DNFAccident
1972United States Grand PrixReine Wisell1610Finished
1972United States Grand PrixDavid Walker30DNFEngine
1972United States Grand PrixEmerson Fittipaldi9DNFSuspension
1972Canadian Grand PrixEmerson Fittipaldi411Finished
1972Canadian Grand PrixReine Wisell16DNFEngine
1972Italian Grand PrixEmerson Fittipaldi61Finished
1972Austrian Grand PrixEmerson Fittipaldi11Finished
1972Austrian Grand PrixDavid Walker19DNFEngine
1972German Grand PrixEmerson Fittipaldi3DNFGearbox
1972German Grand PrixDavid Walker23DNFOil leak
1972German Grand PrixDave Charlton26DNFPhysical
1972British Grand PrixEmerson Fittipaldi21Finished
1972British Grand PrixDavid Walker15DNFSuspension
1972British Grand PrixDave Charlton24DNFGearbox
1972French Grand PrixEmerson Fittipaldi82Finished
1972French Grand PrixDavid Walker2218Halfshaft
1972French Grand PrixDave Charlton—DNQDNQ
1972Belgian Grand PrixEmerson Fittipaldi11Finished
1972Belgian Grand PrixDavid Walker1214Finished
1972Monaco Grand PrixEmerson Fittipaldi13Finished
1972Monaco Grand PrixDavid Walker1414Finished
1972Spanish Grand PrixEmerson Fittipaldi31Finished
1972Spanish Grand PrixDavid Walker249Out of fuel
1972South African Grand PrixEmerson Fittipaldi32Finished
1972South African Grand PrixDavid Walker1910Finished
1972South African Grand PrixDave Charlton17DNFFuel pump
1972Argentine Grand PrixEmerson Fittipaldi5DNFSuspension
1972Argentine Grand PrixDavid Walker20DSQReceived outside assistance
Show all 29 entriesShow the first 10, Every entry

Where this comes from

Constructor
Team Lotus
Predecessor
49 / 63
Successor
56B / 76 / 77
Races (published)
75
Wins (published)
20
Poles (published)
17
Confidence
reference
Specification source
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_72
Register source
https://github.com/f1db/f1db