1977 French Grand Prix

  1977 French Grand Prix
Race details
Race 9 of 17 in the 1977 Formula One season

Date July 3, 1977
Location Dijon
Course
3.801 km (2.361 mi)
Distance 80 laps, 304.08 km (188.88 mi)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford
Time 1:12.21
Fastest lap
Driver Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford
Time 1:13.75 on lap 76
Podium
First Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford
Second John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Third James Hunt McLaren-Ford

The 1977 French Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Dijon on 3 July 1977.

Contents

Report

Once again it was Mario Andretti on pole with James Hunt second and Gunnar Nilsson third on the grid. Hunt got the best start and led into the first corner from John Watson and Jacques Laffite, with Andretti dropping down to fourth. However, Watson passed Hunt on the fifth lap and started to build a gap until Andretti got up to second and began to reel him in. During the final few laps, leader Watson and Andretti were running nose-to-tail but Watson held him off till the last lap when his engine missed a beat and immediately Andretti was past. Andretti thus took the win ahead of a crestfallen Watson and Hunt.

Classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 80 1:39:40.13 1 9
2 7 John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 80 +1.55 4 6
3 1 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 80 +33.87 2 4
4 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 80 +1:11.08 3 3
5 11 Niki Lauda Ferrari 80 +1:14.15 9 2
6 12 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 79 +1 Lap 6 1
7 22 Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 79 +1 Lap 16  
8 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 78 + 2 Laps 5  
9 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 7  
10 24 Rupert Keegan Hesketh-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 14  
11 28 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 22  
12 3 Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 17  
13 19 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 11  
NC 10 Ian Scheckter March-Ford 69 Not Classified 20  
Ret 20 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 66 Accident 8  
Ret 8 Hans Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo 64 Accident 13  
Ret 17 Alan Jones Shadow-Ford 60 Transmission 10  
Ret 37 Arturo Merzario March-Ford 27 Gearbox 18  
Ret 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 21 Accident 12  
Ret 16 Riccardo Patrese Shadow-Ford 6 Engine 15  
Ret 31 David Purley LEC-Ford 5 Accident 21  
Ret 34 Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford 4 Accident 19  
DNQ 9 Alex Ribeiro March-Ford    
DNQ 27 Patrick Nève March-Ford    
DNQ 30 Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford    
DNQ 25 Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford    
DNQ 18 Larry Perkins Surtees-Ford    
DNQ 39 Hector Rebaque Hesketh-Ford    
DNQ 18 Patrick Tambay Surtees-Ford    
DNQ 35 Conny Andersson BRM        

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Niki Lauda 33
2 Mario Andretti 32
3 Jody Scheckter 32
4 Carlos Reutemann 28
5 Gunnar Nilsson 16
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Ferrari 50 (52)
2 Lotus-Ford 43
3 Wolf-Ford 32
4 McLaren-Ford 25
5 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 17

References

Previous race:
1977 Swedish Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1977 season
Next race:
1977 British Grand Prix
Previous race:
1976 French Grand Prix
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1978 French Grand Prix