The 1972 South African Grand Prix was Round 2 of the 1972 Formula 1 World Championship. The event was held at Kyalami in South Africa on Sunday, 4 March 1972. Jackie Stewart started on pole position in the Tyrrell Ford and Denny Hulme was the race winner in the McLaren Ford.
1972 South African Grand Prix Race Result
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Nationality | Team | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Race Time | Gap | Interval | Best Lap | Lap | Speed | Started | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Denny Hulme | New Zealand | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 79 | 1:45:49.100 | 1:45:49.100 | - | - | 1:19.300 | 183.800 | 5 | 9 | |
| 2 | 8 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Brazil | Lotus Ford | Firestone | 79 | +14.100 | 1:46:03.200 | +14.100 | +14.100 | 1:19.100 | 183.400 | 3 | 6 | |
| 3 | 14 | Peter Revson | United States | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 79 | +25.800 | 1:46:14.900 | +25.800 | +11.700 | 1:19.500 | 183.100 | 12 | 4 | |
| 4 | 7 | Mario Andretti | United States | Ferrari | Firestone | 79 | +38.500 | 1:46:27.600 | +38.500 | +12.700 | 182.700 | 6 | 3 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Ronnie Peterson | Sweden | March Ford | Goodyear | 79 | +49.000 | 1:46:38.100 | +49.000 | +10.500 | 1:19.500 | 182.400 | 9 | 2 | |
| 6 | 19 | Graham Hill | Great Britain | Brabham Ford | Goodyear | 78 | +1 lap | 1:45:54.500 | 1 lap | 1 lap | 181.400 | 14 | 1 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Niki Lauda | Austria | March Ford | Goodyear | 78 | +1 lap | 1:45:54.800 | 1 lap | +0.300 | 181.300 | 21 | |||
| 8 | 5 | Jacky Ickx | Belgium | Ferrari | Firestone | 78 | +1 lap | 1:46:14.700 | 1 lap | +19.900 | 180.800 | 7 | |||
| 9 | 2 | François Cévert | France | Tyrrell Ford | Goodyear | 78 | +1 lap | 1:46:48.400 | 1 lap | +33.700 | 179.800 | 8 | |||
| 10 | 9 | Dave Walker | Australia | Lotus Ford | Firestone | 78 | +1 lap | 1:46:57.900 | 1 lap | +9.500 | 179.600 | 19 | |||
| 11 | 21 | Henri Pescarolo | France | March Ford | Goodyear | 78 | +1 lap | 1:47:02.400 | 1 lap | +4.500 | 1:19.300 | 179.400 | 22 | ||
| 12 | 6 | Clay Regazzoni | Switzerland | Ferrari | Firestone | 77 | +2 laps | 1:46:38.000 | 2 laps | 1 lap | 177.800 | 2 | |||
| 13 | 25 | Rolf Stommelen | Germany | Eifelland Ford | Goodyear | 77 | +2 laps | 1:46:43.900 | 2 laps | +5.900 | 177.600 | 25 | |||
| 14 | 24 | Helmut Marko | Austria | BRM | Firestone | 76 | +3 laps | 1:46:56.400 | 3 laps | 1 lap | 175.000 | 23 | |||
| 15 | 15 | Chris Amon | New Zealand | Matra | Goodyear | 76 | +3 laps | 1:47:07.200 | 3 laps | +10.800 | 1:19.100 | 174.700 | 13 | ||
| 16 | 27 | John Love | Zimbabwe | Surtees Ford | - | 73 | Spun off | 6 laps | 3 laps | 26 | |||||
| 17 | 22 | Carlos Pace | Brazil | March Ford | Goodyear | 73 | +6 laps | 1:46:28.100 | 6 laps | +1:46:28.100 | 168.800 | 24 | |||
| NC | 23 | Howden Ganley | New Zealand | BRM | Firestone | 70 | +9 laps | 16 | |||||||
| NC | 18 | Andrea de Adamich | Italy | Surtees Ford | Firestone | 69 | +10 laps | 20 | |||||||
| NC | 11 | Peter Gethin | Great Britain | BRM | Firestone | 65 | +14 laps | 1:19.100 | 18 | ||||||
| DNF | 10 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | France | BRM | Firestone | 61 | Engine | 1:19.200 | 11 | ||||||
| DNF | 1 | Jackie Stewart | Great Britain | Tyrrell Ford | Goodyear | 45 | Gearbox | 1:19.100 | 1 | ||||||
| DNF | 17 | Mike Hailwood | Great Britain | Surtees Ford | Firestone | 28 | Suspension | 1:18.900 | 20 | 4 | |||||
| DNF | 20 | Carlos Reutemann | Argentina | Brabham Ford | Goodyear | 27 | Fuel system | 15 | |||||||
| DNF | 16 | Tim Schenken | Australia | Surtees Ford | Firestone | 9 | Engine | 10 | |||||||
| DNF | 26 | Dave Charlton | South Africa | Lotus Ford | Firestone | 2 | Fuel pump | 17 |