Qualifying saw Clay Regazzoni claim a rather controversial pole position for Ferrari, with many speculating that the Swiss racer had had an unfair, but otherwise unknown, advantage to beat the rest of the field by over a second. This gap was made even more suspect by the fact that there were only three quarters of a second covering Jody Scheckter in second, and Denny Hulme down in twelfth. A 31 car grid limit meant that Leo Kinnunen missed out on making his debut in a Grand Prix.