1976 German Grand Prix
1976 German Grand Prix | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 10 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season
| |||||
Race details | |||||
Date | 1 August 1976 | ||||
Official name | XXXVIII Großer Preis von Deutschland[1] | ||||
Location | Nürburgring, Nürburg, West Germany | ||||
Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
Course length | 22.835 km (14.19 miles) | ||||
Distance | 14 laps, 319.690 km (198.65 miles) | ||||
Weather | Rain at start, later drying | ||||
Pole position | |||||
Driver | McLaren-Ford | ||||
Time | 7:06.5[2] | ||||
Fastest lap | |||||
Driver | Jody Scheckter | Tyrrell-Ford | |||
Time | 7:10.8 on lap 13[3] | ||||
Podium | |||||
First | McLaren-Ford | ||||
Second | Tyrrell-Ford | ||||
Third | McLaren-Ford | ||||
Lap leaders |
The 1976 German Grand Prix (formally the XXXVIII Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring on 1 August 1976.[4] It was the scene of reigning world champion Niki Lauda's near-fatal accident, and the last Formula One race to be held on the Nordschleife section of the track. The 14-lap race was the tenth round of the 1976 Formula One season and was won by James Hunt.
Race report
The old Nürburgring was considered to be the most challenging and demanding purpose-built circuit in the world. Measuring at 14.2 miles (22.8 km), it was by far the longest circuit on the calendar and because it was built in the Eifel mountains it had over 1,000 feet (300 m) of elevation change. Although it had been slightly remodeled in 1971, it still retained much of the character that led three-time world champion Jackie Stewart to nickname it "The Green Hell". The circuit's extraordinary size meant that it needed at least five times the number of marshals and medical support as almost any other Grand Prix to properly maintain it, something the German organizers were unable to provide. Additionally, by its very nature it was impossible to upgrade it to the increased safety standards of the 1970s. It was narrow, had very few run-off areas, and numerous sections were nearly inaccessible to fire marshals. It was also very bumpy—indeed, at a number of points, including the Flugplatz and Pflanzgarten, the cars could actually become airborne. The sheer size of the circuit also meant that weather and track conditions around it could vary wildly with some sections dry and others wet, making a safe choice of tyres difficult or impossible. Two weeks previously, a fatal crash at Flugplatz had occurred during practice for a Formula Super-Vee race which, according to Autosport, was the 131st fatality at the Nürburgring over its 49-year history.[5] It was also unsuitable for television; its sheer size made it all but impossible to adequately cover a race there. For these reasons, it had been decided even before the 1976 race that after nearly half a century, it would be the last German Grand Prix held on the old Nürburgring and the last on the Nordschleife section.
Defending world champion Niki Lauda, who was also the current season's points leader, was not impressed with safety conditions and the organizers’ inability to provide enough safety support staff (doctors, helicopters, fire marshals) for the leviathan German circuit, especially since the forecast called for rain. He attempted to arrange a boycott of the race, but the other drivers voted against it by just one vote, and the race went ahead.
The race weekend began with some changes to the drivers' lineup:
In 1975, Lauda had been the first and only driver to break the seven-minute mark. Fans were looking forward to whether he or others could repeat this after the technical rules had been changed, with the disappearance of the high air boxes being the most visible difference (which, theoretically, would make cars lighter).
Due to wet conditions on Saturday, the grid was already determined in Friday qualifying, with 7:06-plus lap times similar to those of 1972..
Race
The 14-lap race was due to start at 1:30pm. but a 15-minute delay was announced as there were numerous Renault 5 saloons to sweep up after they had had a race. The race was delayed till 2:05pm as the weather turned to wet on the far side of the circuit. Most drivers started the race on wet tyres, except Jochen Mass, who, having much experience at the Nürburgring and expecting a change for better weather, decided to use dry weather tyres. At the start, Regazzoni took the lead while both Hunt and Lauda fell back. Hunt took second, third was a fast-starting Mass, fourth was Laffite who took advantage from the fact that Stuck's car had been pushed off the grid with a clutch problem (although the German started at the back of the field). In the course of the first lap, Regazzoni spun and dropped to fourth. At the end of the lap, the weather changed back to dry and most drivers pitted for dry tyres, leaving Mass with the second place behind Peterson, who decided to go on wet tyres for another lap. At the end of lap two, Mass was in front, with Gunnar Nilsson (who had not stopped) in second place and Hunt third.
Lauda had also changed his tyres after lap one and was trying hard to make up for the lost time. Just after the fast left kink before the Bergwerk right hand curve, his
Most cars had assembled at the crash site, being unable to pass by on the narrow track. The race had been stopped after the accident, and the race was restarted at 3:10pm, the restart only saw 20 of the 24 starters remained, although Chris Amon decided not to start the race again. The rain had gone and Hunt passed Regazzoni, Scheckter, Depailler, and Pace to take the lead for good. At the Flugplatz, Peterson lost control of his March and crashed heavily, while Regazzoni had another spin and Depailler went off, avoiding the Ferrari. Pace overtook Scheckter and ended the first lap in second place. On the second lap, Scheckter passed Pace and the Brazilian fell behind Regazzoni on the third lap, during which sixth-placed Vittorio Brambilla crashed at Adenau Bridge because of a brake failure on his March. Mass took advantage of it and overtook Gunnar Nilsson on the fifth lap and Pace on lap 10. On the 12th lap, Regazzoni spun again and Mass moved to third with Pace fourth, Nilsson fifth, and Stommelen sixth.
Lauda's accident proved why the old Nürburgring had become too dangerous and too difficult to manage satisfactorily for Formula One. The organizers just did not have the resources to manage such a long circuit, even though the "
Chris Amon decided to end his career immediately after Lauda's accident, but returned for the 1976 Canadian Grand Prix, driving a Williams-Ford for Walter Wolf Racing.
Classification
Qualifying
Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 11 | James Hunt | McLaren-Ford | 7:06.5 | — |
2 | 1 | Niki Lauda | Ferrari | 7:07.4 | +0.9 |
3 | 4 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell-Ford | 7:08.8 | +2.3 |
4 | 34 | Hans Joachim Stuck
|
March-Ford | 7:09.1 | +2.6 |
5 | 2 | Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari | 7:09.3 | +2.8 |
6 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Matra
|
7:11.3 | +4.8 |
7 | 8 | Carlos Pace
|
Alfa Romeo
|
7:12.0 | +5.5 |
8 | 3 | Jody Scheckter | Tyrrell-Ford | 7:12.2 | +5.7 |
9 | 12 | Jochen Mass | McLaren-Ford | 7:13.0 | +6.7 |
10 | 7 | Carlos Reutemann | Alfa Romeo
|
7:14.9 | +8.4 |
11 | 10 | Ronnie Peterson | March-Ford | 7:14.9 | +8.4 |
12 | 5 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | 7:14.9 | +9.6 |
13 | 9 | Vittorio Brambilla | March-Ford | 7:17.7 | +11.2 |
14 | 19 | Alan Jones | Surtees-Ford | 7:17.7 | +13.4 |
15 | 36 | Rolf Stommelen | Brabham-Ford | 7:21.6 | +15.1 |
77 | Alfa Romeo
| ||||
16 | 6 | Gunnar Nilsson | Lotus-Ford | 7:23.0 | +16.5 |
17 | 22 | Chris Amon | Ensign-Ford
|
7:23.1 | +16.6 |
18 | 16 | Tom Pryce | Shadow-Ford | 7:23.3 | +16.8 |
19 | 28 | John Watson | Penske-Ford
|
7:23.5 | +17.0 |
20 | 30 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford
|
7:28.0 | +21.5 |
21 | 20 | Arturo Merzario | Wolf-Williams-Ford
|
7:28.8 | +22.3 |
22 | 24 | Harald Ertl | Hesketh-Ford | 7:30.0 | +23.5 |
23 | 17 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Shadow-Ford | 7:30.9 | +24.4 |
24 | 18 | Brett Lunger | Surtees-Ford | 7:32.7 | +26.2 |
25 | 25 | Guy Edwards | Hesketh-Ford | 7:38.6 | +32.1 |
26 | 40 | Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi | Tyrrell-Ford | 7:38.6 | +42.0 |
DNQ | 37 | Lella Lombardi | Brabham-Ford | 7:51.1 | +44.6 |
DNQ | 38 | Henri Pescarolo | Surtees-Ford | 8:04.2 | +57.7 |
- Stommelen used a #36 Brabham BT44B in both practice sessions on Friday, but his car was seized by police. He then used a #77 Brabham BT45 in the last practice session on Saturday and the race.
Race
Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 11 | James Hunt | McLaren-Ford | 14 | 1:41:42.7 | 1 | 9 |
2 | 3 | Jody Scheckter | Tyrrell-Ford | 14 | + 27.7 | 8 | 6 |
3 | 12 | Jochen Mass | McLaren-Ford | 14 | + 52.4 | 9 | 4 |
4 | 8 | Carlos Pace
|
Alfa Romeo
|
14 | + 54.2 | 7 | 3 |
5 | 6 | Gunnar Nilsson | Lotus-Ford | 14 | + 1:57.3 | 16 | 2 |
6 | 77 | Rolf Stommelen | Alfa Romeo
|
14 | + 2:30.3 | 15 | 1 |
7 | 28 | John Watson | Penske-Ford
|
14 | + 2:33.9 | 19 | |
8 | 16 | Tom Pryce | Shadow-Ford | 14 | + 2:48.2 | 18 | |
9 | 2 | Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari | 14 | + 3:46.0 | 5 | |
10 | 19 | Alan Jones | Surtees-Ford | 14 | + 3:47.3 | 14 | |
11 | 17 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Shadow-Ford | 14 | + 4:51.7 | 23 | |
12 | 5 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | 14 | + 4:58.1 | 12 | |
13 | 30 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford
|
14 | + 5:25.2 | 20 | |
14 | 40 | Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi | Tyrrell-Ford | 13 | + 1 lap | 26 | |
15 | 25 | Guy Edwards | Hesketh-Ford | 13 | + 1 lap | 25 | |
Ret | 20 | Arturo Merzario | Wolf-Williams-Ford
|
3 | Brakes | 21 | |
Ret | 9 | Vittorio Brambilla | March-Ford | 1 | Accident | 13 | |
Ret | 4 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell-Ford | 0 | Accident | 3 | |
Ret | 7 | Carlos Reutemann | Alfa Romeo
|
0 | Fuel System | 10 | |
Ret | 10 | Ronnie Peterson | March-Ford | 0 | Accident | 11 | |
Ret | 34 | Hans Joachim Stuck
|
March-Ford | 0 | Clutch | 4 | |
Ret | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Matra
|
0 | Gearbox | 6 | |
Ret | 22 | Chris Amon | Ensign-Ford
|
(1) | Withdrew after first race | 17 | |
Ret | 1 | Niki Lauda | Ferrari | (1) | Accident in first race | 2 | |
Ret | 18 | Brett Lunger | Surtees-Ford | (1) | Accident in first race | 24 | |
Ret | 24 | Harald Ertl | Hesketh-Ford | (1) | Accident in first race | 22 | |
DNS | 36 | Rolf Stommelen | Brabham-Ford | Car seized by Police | |||
DNQ | 37 | Lella Lombardi | Brabham-Ford | Car seized by Police | |||
DNQ | 38 | Henri Pescarolo | Surtees-Ford | ||||
Source:[7]
|
Championship standings after the race
|
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best seven results from the first eight races and the best seven results from the last eight races counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points do not reflect final results of 1976 British Grand Prix as it was under appeal.
References
- ^ "1976 German GP". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
- ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
- ^ Lang (1983), p. 138.
- ^ "1976 German Grand Prix Entry list".
- ^ "Ernst Raetz". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ISBN 978-3-453-00826-7
- ^ "1976 German Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ a b "Germany 1976 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.