F1 driver standings
| Pos | Driver | ARG  | ZAF  | ESP  | MCO  | BEL  | FRA  | GBR  | DEU  | AUT  | ITA  | CAN  | USA  | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Emerson Fittipaldi | R | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | R | 1 | 1 | 11 | R | 61 |
| 2 | Jackie Stewart | 1 | R | R | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11R | 7 | R | 1 | 1 | 45 | |
| 3 |  Denny Hulme | 2 | 1 | R | 15 | 3 | 7 | 5 | R | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 39 |
| 4 | Jacky Ickx | 3 | 8 | 2 | 2 | R | 11 | R | 1 | R | R | 12 | 5 | 27 |
| 5 | Peter Revson | R | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 18R | 23 | |||
| 6 | Francois Cevert | R | 9 | R | NC | 2 | 4 | R | 10 | 9 | R | R | 2 | 15 |
| = |  Clay Regazzoni | 4 | 12 | 3 | R | R | 2 | R | R | 5 | 8 | 15 | ||
| 8 | Mike Hailwood | R | R | R | 4 | 6 | R | R | 4 | 2 | 17R | 13 | ||
| 9 |  Ronnie Peterson | 6 | 5 | R | 11 | 9 | 5 | 7R | 3 | 12 | 9 | DSQ | 4 | 12 |
| = | Chris Amon | DNS | 15 | R | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 5 | R | 6 | 15 | 12 |
| 11 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | R | R | 1 | R | 15 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 8 | R | R | 9 | |
| 12 | Mario Andretti | R | 4 | R | 7 | 6 | 4 | |||||||
| = | Howden Ganley | 9 | NC | R | R | 8 | DNS | 4 | 6 | 11 | 10 | R | 4 | |
| = | Brian Redman | 5 | 9 | 5 | R | 4 | ||||||||
| = | Graham Hill | R | 6 | 10 | 12 | R | 10 | R | 6 | R | 5 | 8 | 11 | 4 |
| 16 | Andrea de Adamich | R | NC | 4 | 7 | R | 14 | R | 13 | 14 | R | R | R | 3 |
| = | Carlos Reutemann | 7 | R | 13 | 12 | 8 | R | R | R | 4 | R | 3 | ||
| = | Carlos Pace | 17 | 6 | 17 | 5 | R | R | NC | NC | R | 9R | R | 3 | |
| 19 |  Tim Schenken | 5 | R | 8 | R | R | 17 | R | 14 | 11 | R | 7 | R | 2 |
| 20 | Arturo Merzario | 6 | 12 | 1 | ||||||||||
| = | Peter Gethin | R | NC | R | DSQ | R | DNS | R | 13 | 6 | R | R | 1 | |
| Wilson Fittipaldi | 7 | 9 | R | 8 | 12R | 7 | R | R | R | R | ||||
| Niki Lauda | 11 | 7 | R | 16 | 12 | R | 9 | R | 10 | 13 | DSQ | NC | ||
| Patrick Depailler | NC | 7 | ||||||||||||
| Helmut Marko | 10 | 14 | 8 | 10 | R | |||||||||
| Mike Beuttler | DNQ | 13 | R | 19R | 13 | 8 | R | 10 | NC | 13 | ||||
| Henri Pescarolo | 8 | 11 | 11 | R | NC | DNS | R | R | DNS | DNQ | 13 | 14 | ||
| Dave Walker | DSQ | 10 | 9R | 14 | 14 | 18R | R | R | R | R | ||||
| Jody Scheckter | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Rolf Stommelen | 13 | R | 10 | 11 | 16 | 10 | R | NC | ||||||
| Reine Wisell | R | R | R | R | R | 12 | R | 10 | ||||||
| Sam Posey | 12 | |||||||||||||
| Nanni Galli | R | 13 | R | NC | R | |||||||||
| Skip Barber | NC | 16 | ||||||||||||
 John Love | 16R | |||||||||||||
| Dave Charlton | R | DNQ | R | R | ||||||||||
| Derek Bell | DNS | R | DNQ | DNS | R | |||||||||
| Alex Soler-Roig | R | R | ||||||||||||
| Jackie Oliver | R | |||||||||||||
| Francois Migault | DNS | R | ||||||||||||
| John Surtees | R | DNS | ||||||||||||
| Bill Brack | R | |||||||||||||
| William Ferguson | DNS | |||||||||||||
| Vern Schuppan | DNS | |||||||||||||
| No. | Driver | ARG | ZAF | ESP | MCO | BEL | FRA | GBR | DEU | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA | Points |
Table key
- Highlight: Rookie
- Bold: pole position
- Underline: fastest lap
- Bold & underline: pole & fastest lap
- DNQ: Did not qualify
- NC: Not classified
- DSQ: Disqualified
- DNS: Did not start
Points system and championship rules
The top six classified finishers of each race were awarded points on the following basis:
- 1st (9)
- 2nd (6)
- 3rd (4)
- 4th (3)
- 5th (2)
- 6th (1)
Only the best five results from the first six races and the best five results from the last six races counted towards the championship.
Race to the title
The Race to the title graph shows how the title race played out over the course of the season between the top five drivers of 1972.