Jackie Stewart won the French Grand Prix from Emerson Fittipaldi and Chris Amon but the race will be remembered for a freak accident that ended Helmut Marko's career.
Chris Amon led from New Zealand countryman Denny Hulme at the start with Stewart, Jacky Ickx and Marko chasing. Fittipaldi soon moved ahead of Hailwood, Schenken and Marko for fifth before Marko's race [and sadly his career] ended when a stone thrown up by Fittipaldi's car hit him in the left eye. He lost sight in that eye and never raced F1 again. Stewart overtook Hulme on lap 17 and when Amon pitted with a puncture, the Scot took the lead. Hulme then stopped for new tyres and dropped down the order, leaving Ickx in second place. But the Ferrari also suffered a puncture so Fittipaldi moved to second place ahead of Peterson and Cevert. In the closing laps Amon recovered, repassing Peterson and then Cevert himself to grab third place.
2006
Michael Schumacher won an attritional US Grand Prix that saw only nine cars finish the race. Felipe Massa led early on after Ferrari had dominated qualifying but Schumacher gained the lead after the pit stops. Giancarlo Fisichella finished third ahead of Jarno Trulli's Toyota with the second Renault of Fernando Alonso fifth albeit still 19 points ahead of Schumacher in the championship.
2000
David Coulthard dominated the French Grand Prix to lead home team-mate Mika Hakkinen for a McLaren 1-2. Michael Schumacher started from pole ahead of Coulthard but the Scot's obsession with passing Schumacher at the start got the better of him and a lapse allowed Barrichello to slip through into second although the re-passed him on lap 22. Coulthard then set about Schumacher in earnest and this time succeeded despite banging wheels in the process. Schumacher's misery was compounded by an engine failure and Hakkinen moved ahead of Barrichello for second after a disastrous stop for the Brazilian. Jacques Villeneuve finished fourth for BAR ahead of Ralf Schumacher's Williams.
1995
Michael Schumacher won a straightforward French Grand Prix from the Williams duo of Damon Hill and David Coulthard. Hill got the jump on pole-sitter Schumacher at the start as Barrichello eased his Jordan past Coulthard for third. A series of breathtaking laps from Schumacher during the first pit stop sequence gave the German an eight second advantage over Hill and he was able to extend the gap to such an extent that victory was assured even before his final stop.
1978
Mario Andretti won the French Grand Prix from Ronnie Peterson and James Hunt as John Watson failed to make the most of his pole position. Watson was unable to hold off Andretti for long after the start and Peterson soon took both Watson and Patrick Tambay who then disappeared to the pits with a puncture. Watson then came under pressure from Hunt and on lap 16 was pushed back to fourth place until the finish.
1967
Jack Brabham won the French Grand Prix in a race that saw the lead change hands on numerous occasions. Graham Hill led from pole at the start with Dan Gurney, Brabham, Jim Clark and Chris Amon chasing but in the course of the second lap Brabham went ahead and a lap later Gurney slipped behind Clark. A flying Clark worked his way past Hill and into the lead on the fifth lap as Hill also past Brabham for a Lotus 1-2. By lap 20, however, both were out with transmission problems so Brabham led again from Gurney and Amon. On lap 40 Gurney stopped with a fuel pipe problem and so it was a Brabham 1-2 with Amon third but the Ferrari lasted only a few more laps before retiring with a broken throttle cable. Pedro Rodriguez inherited third for a brief moment in his Cooper-Maserati but he had to pit because of split fuel line and so Stewart moved into third and there he stayed until the finish.
1950
Juan-Manuel Fangio claimed victory in the inaugural French Grand Prix from team-mate Luigi Fagioli and Peter Whitehead. Farina led early on but suffered fuel problems which dropped him to the back of the field. He raced back to third place before being forced to retire, leaving Fangio to win by 20secs from Fagioli with Whitehead third - three laps behind.
