1976 Austrian Grand Prix

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1976 Austrian Grand Prix
Race 11 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season
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The Österreichring (1969-76)
The Österreichring (1969-76)
Race details
Date 15 August 1976
Official name XIV Raiffeisen Großer Preis von Österreich[1]
Location Österreichring
Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.911 km (3.673 miles)
Distance 54 laps, 319.914 km (198.342 miles)
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Ford
Time 1:35.02[2]
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford
Time 1:35.91[3] (lap record)
Podium
First Penske-Ford
Second Ligier-Matra
Third Lotus-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1976 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Österreichring on 15 August 1976. It was the eleventh race of the 1976 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1976 International Cup for F1 Constructors.[4]

The 54-lap race was won by John Watson, driving a Penske-Ford. As well as being Watson's first F1 victory, it was also the only F1 victory for the Penske team, coming a year after the death of their former driver Mark Donohue at the same circuit. Roger Penske would withdraw from F1 at the end of the season to concentrate on Indycars.

Jacques Laffite finished second in a Ligier-Matra, with Gunnar Nilsson third in a Lotus-Ford. Drivers' Championship challenger James Hunt finished fourth in his McLaren-Ford, having started from pole position.

Local drivers Otto Stuppacher and Karl Oppitzhauser had applied to enter the event, but were refused due to their lack of experience. They had entered under the ÖASC Racing Team banner, with Stuppacher bringing a Tyrrell 007 to the circuit, and Oppitzhauser a March 761. They petitioned the other teams for support, but none was forthcoming and hence they did not participate.[5]

With local hero Niki Lauda still in hospital following his near-fatal accident at the Nürburgring two weeks previously, and Ferrari not entering the race in protest at the reinstatement of Hunt as the winner of the Spanish Grand Prix,[6] there was talk that the race would be cancelled. In the event, the race went ahead, but was attended by fewer spectators than usual.[7][8]

As of 2023, this remains the last World Championship race that Ferrari did not enter and the last time an American-licensed constructor won a F1 race.[9][10] This would also be the last occasion to date that a female driver would not only qualify for but also finish a Grand Prix with Lella Lombardi qualifying 24th and finishing four laps down in 12th place in a RAM Racing entered Brabham.

Qualifying[edit]

Qualifying classification[edit]

Pos. Driver Constructor Time No
1 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:35,02 1
2 John Watson Penske-Ford 1:35,84 2
3 Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 1:36,34 3
4 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 1:36,46 4
5 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:36,52 5
6 Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 1:36,56 6
7 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1:36,59 7
8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:36,66 8
9 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:36,68 9
10 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 1:36,91 10
11 Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 1:36,95 11
12 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:37,22 12
13 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:37,24 13
14 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:37,24 14
15 Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 1:37,60 15
16 Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford 1:37,62 16
17 Emerson Fittipaldi Copersucar-Ford 1:37,76 17
18 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 1:37,88 18
19 Hans Binder Ensign-Ford 1:38,36 19
20 Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 1:39,09 20
21 Arturo Merzario Wolf-Williams-Ford 1:39,33 21
22 Henri Pescarolo Surtees-Ford 1:39,84 22
23 Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi Tyrrell-Ford 1:40,67 23
24 Lella Lombardi Brabham-Ford 1:42,25 24
25 Loris Kessel Brabham-Ford 1:56,01 25

Race[edit]

Classification[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 28 United Kingdom John Watson Penske-Ford 54 1:30:07.86 2 9
2 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 54 + 10.79 5 6
3 6 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 54 + 11.98 4 4
4 11 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 54 + 12.44 1 3
5 5 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 54 + 21.49 9 2
6 10 Sweden Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 54 + 34.34 3 1
7 12 Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 54 + 59.45 12  
8 24 Austria Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 20  
9 38 France Henri Pescarolo Surtees-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 22  
10 18 United States Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford 51 Accident 16  
11 39 Italy Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi Tyrrell-Ford 51 + 3 Laps 23  
12 33 Italy Lella Lombardi Brabham-Ford 50 + 4 Laps 24  
Ret 22 Austria Hans Binder Ensign-Ford 47 Throttle 19  
NC 32 Switzerland Loris Kessel Brabham-Ford 44 + 10 Laps 25  
Ret 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 43 Accident 7  
Ret 30 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 43 Accident 17  
Ret 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 40 Accident 18  
Ret 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 40 Fuel Pump 8  
Ret 19 Australia Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 30 Accident 15  
Ret 34 Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 26 Fuel System 11  
Ret 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 24 Suspension 13  
Ret 20 Italy Arturo Merzario Wolf-Williams-Ford 17 Accident 21  
Ret 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 14 Brakes 6  
Ret 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 14 Suspension 10  
Ret 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 0 Clutch 14  
WD 40 Austria Karl Oppitzhauser March-Ford  
WD 41 Austria Otto Stuppacher Tyrrell-Ford  
Source:[11]

Championship standings after the race[edit]

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 7 results from the first 8 races and the best 7 results from the last 8 races counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points accurate at final declaration of results: Hunt was subsequently disqualified from the British Grand Prix.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1976 Austrian GP". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  2. ^ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 138. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  3. ^ Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 141. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  4. ^ "1976 Austrian Grand Prix Entry list". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ "Otto Stuppacher - Full Biography". F1 Rejects. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  6. ^ Hope-Frost, Henry. "Top 12: Ferrari‑free Grands Prix". www.goodwood.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  7. ^ "Grand Prix Results: Austrian GP, 1976". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Austrian Grand Prix: The sun came out". Motor Sport. September 1976. p. 25. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Penske 'anxious' to see how Haas F1 fares". 14 March 2016.
  10. ^ Though American-owned, Shadow achieved a victory at the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix having raced with a British licence.
  11. ^ "1976 Austrian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Austria 1976 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 7 March 2019.


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1976 season
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