The Brabham BT42 was a Formula One racing car used by Brabham for the 1973 Formula One season. This car marked the team's first design entirely by Gordon Murray after the departure of team co-founder and previous designer Ron Tauranac.
Development Gordon Murray became chief designer after being offered the role by new team boss Bernie Ecclestone. The car proposed a triangular section alluminium monocoque, with the by then ubiquitous Cosworth DFV as a fully stressed member paired with a Hewland gearbox.
The car featured rising rate pullrod actuated front suspension and a multilink rear suspension. It was fitted with Goodyear tyres.
The most striking part of the car being the angular yet simple bodywork design which Murray himself refers to as "triangular". As well as the return of the BT34's front mounted double radiators nick-named "Lobster Claw". Aditionally, the downward sloping sidepods gave the car an even more unique look, yet served to fit one fuel cell underneath each side. Allowing to mount a smaller, triangular main fuel cell behind the driver, moving the center of gravity towards the rear, improving responsiveness.
The car was a marked improvement from the previous years' BT37 with Carlos Reutemann scoring best place results in France and The United States. The BT42 became the base upon which the successful Brabham BT44 would be designed.
Formula One World Championship results (key) (results in bold indicate pole position, results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Engine Tyres Drivers123456789101112131415 Pts WCC Motor Racing Developments Cosworth DFV ARG BRA RSA SPA BEL MON SWE FRA GBR NED GER AUS ITA CAN USA 22 4thCarlos ReutemannRetRetRet436RetRet4683Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior10Ret11Ret16RetRet5RetRet1117Ceramica Pagnossin MRDAndrea de AdamichRetRolf Stommelen11Ret1212 John WatsonRet Goldie Hexagon Racing Cosworth DFV ARG BRA RSA SPA BEL MON SWE NED FRA GBR GER AUS ITA CAN USA 35 5th John Watson12RetRet111161171611 Carlos Pace DNQScuderia Finotto Carlo Facetti DNQ Helmut Koinigg DNQ Gérard LarrousseRet DNQMotor Racing Developments Ltd. Teddy Pilette17The Chequered Flag Ian Ashley DNQ DNQTeam Canada F1 Racing Eppie WietzesRetAllied Polymer Group Lella Lombardi DNQ
Total points scored by all Brabham cars.
References