In the race Brambilla took the lead, but by lap 16 he was overtaken by Carlos Reutemann's Brabham and eventually had to retire with a blistered front tyre.

Tom Pryce had to pit early due to throttle slides being clogged by sand, whilst Patrick Depailler suffered a brake line leak.

Young Tony Brise was showing little respect for his elders, overtaking Mark Donohue and Ronnie Peterson and then challenging championship leader Emerson Fittipaldi.

He put a series of fastest laps, benefiting from a harder tyre compound, closed on Reutemann and overtook him to win the Grand Prix by 6 seconds.

Brise had his gearbox jammed in fourth and surrendered to Donohue, but on his third Grand Prix gained his first World Championship point and Graham Hill's first as a constructor.