Ferrari did not participate in this race due to internal political issues and the uncompetitiveness of their car, enabling regular Ferrari driver and Nürburgring specialist Ickx to accept a one-off drive for McLaren.
The works March team also did not participate in this race following the accident at the Dutch Grand Prix the previous weekend that had claimed the life of Roger Williamson. The Ensign, Tecno and Hesketh teams also did not participate. To boost the field, the McLaren, Brabham and Surtees teams all entered three cars: Ferrari released Ickx to drive the third McLaren; Rolf Stommelen drove the third Brabham in place of the injured Andrea de Adamich; and Jochen Mass drove the third Surtees.
Niki Lauda, who out-qualified his teammates by more than 8 seconds crashed at Kesselchen on Lap 2 and injured his wrist; he had to miss the subsequent race, the Austrian Grand Prix, which was his home race.[3]
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 7 results from the first 8 races and the best 6 results from the last 7 races counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
