With three races to go in the World Championship Emerson Fittipaldi was faced with the almost impossible task of scoring 24 points in the final three races with Jackie Stewart scoring nothing. The Lotus was becoming the dominant car but it remained fragile, Fittipaldi having retired from the lead at the previous race in Austria with just a few laps to go.

The usual grid was bolstered by the return to full strength of Ferrari which had convinced Jacky Ickx to rejoin the team (on a temporary contract). Niki Lauda was back in action after breaking his wrist at the Nürburgring.

In qualifying the field was reduced by one when James Hunt crashed the Hesketh March heavily and neither Jean-Pierre Jarier's March nor Chris Amon's Tecno were very fast and so both were withdrawn. Up at the front Ronnie Peterson took pole for Lotus while Peter Revson qualified alongside him in his McLaren. The second row featured Denny Hulme in the second McLaren and Fittipaldi's Lotus. Carlos Pace (Surtees) and Stewart shared the third row with Merzario and Mike Hailwood (Surtees) behind them and the Brabhams of Rolf Stommelen and Carlos Reutemann on the fifth row. François Cévert was a disappointing 11th in his Tyrrell while Ickx was 14th.

At the start Peterson went into the lead with Fittipaldi chasing him while Hulme claimed third ahead of Stewart and Revson. Merzario disappeared on the second lap when he broke his suspension running over a curb. Both Hulme and Stewart disappeared to the pits, the Scotsman with a puncture and the New Zealander for a check after a wild ride over a curb. This left Revson third. The order at the front remained unchanged while Stewart charged back with a marvelous drive and at the end was up to fourth place. It was enough to make it impossible for Fittipaldi to win the World title and so Peterson was allowed to win. It was Lotus's first 1-2 result for five years.