1976 Brazilian Grand Prix

Brazil  1976 Brazilian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 1 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season
Date January 25, 1976
Location São Paulo, Brazil
Course permanent racing facility
Course length 7.98 km (4.79 mi)
Distance 40 laps, 319.2 km (191.6 mi)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Ford
Time 2:32.50[1]
Fastest lap
Driver France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford
Time 2:35.07 on lap 31[2]
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Tyrrell-Ford
Third Shadow-Ford

The 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos in São Paulo, Brazil on 25 January 1976. It was the opening round of the 1976 Formula One season. The race was the fifth Brazilian Grand Prix and the fourth to be held for the World Drivers' Championship. The race was held over 40 laps of the 7.87-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 315 kilometres.

The race was won by defending world champion, Niki Lauda, driving a Ferrari 312T. The Austrian driver won his eighth Formula One Grand Prix by 28 seconds over French driver Patrick Depailler in a Tyrrell 007. Second place was Depailler's best finish in almost two years having finished second previously at the 1974 Swedish Grand Prix. Tom Pryce finished third in a Shadow DN5B in his second podium in six months. It would prove to be the season highlight for Pryce and for Shadow Racing Cars. It was their only podium for the season and Pryce would not stand on the podium again.

Summary

For the opening round of the season, James Hunt took pole position in his McLaren M23 with reigning champion Niki Lauda alongside in his Ferrari (which set the tone for the season). Clay Regazzoni in the second Ferrari took the lead at the start. Regazzoni, Lauda, Hunt and Shadow's Jean-Pierre Jarier battled. Regazzoni and Jarier collided, and the former had to pit for repairs. Lauda now led from Hunt and Jarier, but Hunt crashed out due to a sticking throttle, and Jarier did the same a lap later after driving on some oil in the track. Lauda thus started his title defence with victory, with Patrick Depailler second in the Tyrrell, and Tom Pryce completing the podium in the other Shadow. 14 cars were classified finishers including Carlos Reutemann whose Brabham BT45 ran out of fuel with three laps to go.

Emerson Fittipaldi in a Fittipaldi FD04.

Classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 40 1:45:16.78 2 9
2 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 40 + 21.47 9 6
3 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 40 + 23.84 12 4
4 34 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 40 + 1:28.17 14 3
5 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 40 + 1:56.46 13 2
6 12 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 40 + 1:58.27 6 1
7 2 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 40 + 2:15.24 4  
8 20 Belgium Jacky Ickx Wolf-Williams-Ford 39 + 1 lap 19  
9 21 Italy Renzo Zorzi Wolf-Williams-Ford 39 + 1 lap 17  
10 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 39 + 1 Lap 10  
11 31 Brazil Ingo Hoffmann Fittipaldi-Ford 39 + 1 Lap 20  
12 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 37 Out of Fuel 15  
13 30 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 37 + 3 Laps 5  
14 10 Italy Lella Lombardi March-Ford 36 + 4 Laps 22  
Ret 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 33 Accident 3  
Ret 11 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 32 Accident 1  
Ret 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 15 Oil Leak 7  
Ret 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 14 Transmission 11  
Ret 5 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 10 Accident 18  
Ret 6 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 6 Accident 16  
Ret 28 United Kingdom John Watson Penske-Ford 2 Fuel System 8  
Ret 14 United Kingdom Ian Ashley BRM 2 Oil Pump 21  
Source:[3]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Austria Niki Lauda 9
2 France Patrick Depailler 6
3 United Kingdom Tom Pryce 4
4 Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck 3
5 South Africa Jody Scheckter 2

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Italy Ferrari 9
2 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 6
3 United Kingdom Shadow-Ford 4
4 United Kingdom March-Ford 3
5 United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 1

References

  1. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 109. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  2. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 111. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  3. "1976 Brazilian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
Previous race:
1975 United States Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1976 season
Next race:
1976 South African Grand Prix
Previous race:
1975 Brazilian Grand Prix
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1977 Brazilian Grand Prix
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