1976 Italian Grand Prix

Italy  1976 Italian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 13 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season

Date September 12, 1976
Location Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza
Course Permanent racing facility
5.793 km (3.6 mi)
Distance 52 laps, 301.24 km (187.2 mi)
Pole position
Driver France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra
Time 1:41.35[1]
Fastest lap
Driver Sweden Ronnie Peterson March-Ford
Time 1:41.3 on lap 50[2]
Podium
First Sweden Ronnie Peterson March-Ford
Second Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari
Third France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra

The 1976 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy on September 12, 1976. The race, contested over 52 laps, was the thirteenth round of the 1976 Formula One season. It was also the 45th running of the Italian Grand Prix, the 23rd which was a part of the World Championship. Ronnie Peterson took the March team's last victory in Formula One, and his only with the team. Ferrari driver Clay Regazzoni finished the race in second position and polesitter Jacques Laffite completed the podium for Ligier.

The race saw the return of World Championship leader Niki Lauda to the sport after his serious crash at the German Grand Prix - he finished this race in fourth place.

Report

Background

Monza had been modified from the year before, and the circuit featured 2 consecutive left-right chicanes creating the Variante Retefilo added before the Curva Grande, and a left-right chicane added before the first Lesmo curve.

Qualifying

The qualifying session on Friday was wet, so the dry session on Saturday was to provide the field with their best times. After this session, Brett Lunger, Arturo Merzario and the very slow Otto Stuppacher had failed to qualify. John Watson qualified in eighth position, with James Hunt ninth and Jochen Mass tenth, but their times were later disallowed due to fuel irregularities. This meant that their Friday times counted for their grid positions. As a result, these three drivers were the three slowest and were deemed not to have qualified, allowing Lunger, Merzario and Stuppacher on to the grid.

Stuppacher had already left the circuit and flown back home to Austria, so could not take his place on the grid. This promoted Hunt back into the 26 qualifiers. Merzario withdrew and promoted Mass, and later Guy Edwards also decided to withdraw in order to let Watson race.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No. Driver Constructor Lap Gap
1 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:41.35
2 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 1:41.38 + 0.03
3 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:41.53 + 0.18
4 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:42.06 + 0.71
5 1 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 1.42.09 + 0.74
6 34 Germany Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 1:42.18 + 0.83
7 35 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:42.38 + 1.03
8 10 Sweden Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 1:42.64 + 1.29
9 2 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:42.96 + 1.61
10 22 Belgium Jacky Ickx Ensign-Ford 1:43.29 + 1.94
11 7 West Germany Rolf Stommelen Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:43.29 + 1.94
12 6 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 1:43.30 + 1.95
13 40 Australia Larry Perkins Boro-Ford 1:43.32 + 1.97
14 5 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:43.34 + 1.99
15 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 1:43.63 + 2.28
16 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1:43.94 + 2.59
17 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 1:44.05 + 2.70
18 19 Australia Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 1:44.41 + 3.06
19 24 Austria Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 1:44.56 + 3.21
20 30 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:44.57 + 3.22
21 37 Italy Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi Tyrrell-Ford 1:44.62 + 3.27
22 38 France Henri Pescarolo Surtees-Ford 1:45.12 + 3.77
23 25 United Kingdom Guy Edwards Hesketh-Ford 1:45.79 + 4.44
24 18 United States Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford 1:46.48 + 5.13
25 20 Italy Arturo Merzario Wolf-Williams-Ford 1:47.31 + 5.96
26 39 Austria Otto Stuppacher Tyrrell-Ford 1:55.22 + 13.87
27 11 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 2:08.76 + 27.41
28 12 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 2:11.06 + 29.71
29 28 United Kingdom John Watson Penske-Ford 2:13.95 + 32.60

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 10 Sweden Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 52 1:30:35.6 8 9
2 2 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 52 + 2.3 9 6
3 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 52 + 3.0 1 4
4 1 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 52 + 19.4 5 3
5 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 52 + 19.5 2 2
6 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 52 + 35.7 4 1
7 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 52 + 43.9 16  
8 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 52 + 52.9 15  
9 35 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 52 + 57.5 7  
10 22 Belgium Jacky Ickx Ensign-Ford 52 + 1:12.4 10  
11 28 United Kingdom John Watson Penske-Ford 52 + 1:42.2 26  
12 19 Australia Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 51 + 1 Lap 18  
13 6 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 51 + 1 Lap 12  
14 18 United States Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford 50 + 2 Laps 24  
15 30 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 50 + 2 Laps 20  
16 24 Austria Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 49 Halfshaft 19  
17 38 France Henri Pescarolo Surtees-Ford 49 + 3 Laps 22  
18 37 Italy Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi Tyrrell-Ford 49 + 3 Laps 21  
19 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 47 + 5 Laps 17  
Ret 7 West Germany Rolf Stommelen Brabham-Alfa Romeo 41 Fuel System 11  
Ret 34 West Germany Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 23 Accident 6  
Ret 5 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 23 Accident 14  
Ret 11 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 11 Spun Off 24  
Ret 40 Australia Larry Perkins Boro-Ford 8 Engine 13  
Ret 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 4 Engine 3  
Ret 12 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 2 Ignition 25  
DNS 25 United Kingdom Guy Edwards Hesketh-Ford Withdrew  
DNS 20 Italy Arturo Merzario Wolf-Williams-Ford   Withdrew  
DNS 39 Austria Otto Stuppacher Tyrrell-Ford Not present    

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Austria Niki Lauda 61
2 United Kingdom James Hunt 56
3 South Africa Jody Scheckter 38
4 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni 28
5 France Patrick Depailler 27

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Italy Ferrari 73
2 United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 61 (62)
3 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 51
4 France Ligier-Matra 20
5 United States Penske-Ford 18

References

  1. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 145. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  2. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 147. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.

Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from "The Official Formula 1 website". Retrieved 2007-06-16.

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1976 Dutch Grand Prix
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1976 Canadian Grand Prix
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