1976 Japanese Grand Prix
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| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 16 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season. | ||
| Date | October 24, 1976 | |
| Official name | XI Japanese Grand Prix | |
| Location | Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Shizuoka | |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.70 mi / 4.359 km |
|
| Distance | 73 laps, 197.72 mi / 319.690 km | |
| Weather | Very wet and misty | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Mario Andretti |
Lotus-Ford |
| Time | 1:12.77 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver |  Masahiro Hasemi |
Kojima-Ford |
| Time | 1:18.23 on lap 13 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Mario Andretti |
Lotus-Ford |
| Second |  Patrick Depailler |
Tyrrell-Ford |
| Third |  James Hunt |
McLaren-Ford |
The 1976 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula 1 race held at Fuji on October 24, 1976.
The 1976 World Championship was to be decided at the Mount Fuji circuit, with Niki Lauda just three points ahead of James Hunt after a season full of incidents. The field was almost unchanged from the previous race: Noritake Takahara rented the second Surtees, replacing Brett Lunger, and Hans Binder was back in the second Wolf Williams after Masami Kuwashima's money failed to materialize. Maki resurrected its old Formula One car for Tony Trimmer while Heros Racing entered an old Tyrrell for Kazuyoshi Hoshino, and Kojima Engineering entered a locally-built chassis for Masahiro Hasemi (on Dunlop tires).
In qualifying Mario Andretti took pole position in the Lotus 77 with Hunt on second place and Lauda third. Then came John Watson's Penske, Jody Scheckter, Carlos Pace, Clay Regazzoni and Vittorio Brambilla . The top 10 was completed by Ronnie Peterson and Hasemi. The Maki failed to qualify.
On race day the weather was very wet with streams running across the track and fog. There were intense debates as to whether the race should be started; in the end the organizers decided to go ahead and most drivers all agreed, although some were not happy with the decision, and Lauda was among them. At the start Hunt went into the lead with Watson behind him and Andretti leading the rest of the field. Lauda, who wasn't yet in a perfect form after the crash at the Nürburgring, was in the midfield, but in the second lap (during which Watson went down an escape road) Lauda pulled into the pits and withdrew, because the track was becoming too dangerous, in his view, to continue the race (he will say later "my life is worth more than a title"). In the laps that followed Pace and Emerson Fittipaldi also pulled out, joining Larry Perkins who had decided against racing at the end of the first lap.
Out on the race track Hunt continued to lead while the situation behind him was rather more confused as second place passed between Andretti and Brambilla. On lap 22 Brambilla even challenged for the lead but then spun off. Jochen Mass run to the second place to a McLaren 1-2 but on the 36th lap he crashed and so Patrick Depailler moved to second place with Andretti third.
It seemed Hunt was on for an easy win, but as the track began to dry he started to lose positions (though he only needed a fourth place to win the title, because of Lauda's retire). On lap 62 he fell behind Depailler and Andretti, but two laps later Depailler's left rear tyre started to deflate and he had to pit. Andretti took the lead, but then Hunt had a similar tyre problem. Distraught, he headed for the pits, and thus dropped to fifth and set off after Depailler, Alan Jones and Regazzoni. Depailler overtook both men on lap 70 and on the next lap Hunt did the same, although he finished thinking that he had lost the title.
Even with Lauda's withdrawal, Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship.
[edit] Classification
| Pos | No | Nat | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | |
Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | 73 | 1:43:58.86 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 4 | |
Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell-Ford | 72 | + 1 Lap | 13 | 6 |
| 3 | 11 | |
James Hunt | McLaren-Ford | 72 | + 1 Lap | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | 19 |  |
Alan Jones | Surtees-Ford | 72 | + 1 Lap | 20 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 |  |
Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari | 72 | + 1 Lap | 7 | 2 |
| 6 | 6 |  |
Gunnar Nilsson | Lotus-Ford | 72 | + 1 Lap | 16 | 1 |
| 7 | 26 | |
Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Matra | 72 | + 1 Lap | 11 | |
| 8 | 24 |  |
Harald Ertl | Hesketh-Ford | 72 | + 1 Lap | 22 | |
| 9 | 18 | |
Noritake Takahara | Surtees-Ford | 70 | + 3 Laps | 24 | |
| 10 | 17 | |
Jean-Pierre Jarier | Shadow-Ford | 69 | + 4 Laps | 15 | |
| 11 | 51 | |
Masahiro Hasemi | Kojima-Ford | 66 | + 7 Laps | 10 | |
| Ret | 3 |  |
Jody Scheckter | Tyrrell-Ford | 58 | Overheating | 5 | |
| Ret | 21 | |
Hans Binder | Wolf-Williams-Ford | 49 | Wheel | 25 | |
| Ret | 16 | |
Tom Pryce | Shadow-Ford | 46 | Energy | 14 | |
| Ret | 9 |  |
Vittorio Brambilla | March-Ford | 38 | Electrical | 8 | |
| Ret | 34 |  |
Hans Joachim Stuck | March-Ford | 37 | Electrical | 18 | |
| Ret | 12 | |
Jochen Mass | McLaren-Ford | 35 | Accident | 12 | |
| Ret | 28 | |
John Watson | Penske-Ford | 33 | Engine | 4 | |
| Ret | 52 | |
Kazuyoshi Hoshino | Tyrrell-Ford | 27 | Tyre | 21 | |
| Ret | 20 | |
Arturo Merzario | Wolf-Williams-Ford | 23 | Gearbox | 19 | |
| Ret | 30 |  |
Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | 9 | Withdrew | 23 | |
| Ret | 8 | |
Carlos Pace | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 7 | Withdrew | 6 | |
| Ret | 1 | |
Niki Lauda | Ferrari | 2 | Withdrew | 3 | |
| Ret | 7 | |
Larry Perkins | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 1 | Withdrew | 17 | |
| Ret | 10 | |
Ronnie Peterson | March-Ford | 0 | Engine | 9 | |
| DNQ | 54 | |
Tony Trimmer | Maki-Ford |
[edit] Notes
- In Japan, the formal name of this Formula One event is not "Japanese Grand Prix" but is "Formula One World Championship in Japan" (F1世界選手権・イン・ジャパン), because an event of the Japanese Formula 2000 championship had been named "Japanese Grand Prix" in 1976.
| Previous race: 1976 United States Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1976 season |
Next race: 1977 Argentine Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1975 Japanese Grand Prix |
Japanese Grand Prix | Next race: 1977 Japanese Grand Prix |
