1976 French Grand Prix

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1976 French Grand Prix
Race 8 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season
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Paul Ricard 1970.png
Race details
Date4 July 1976
Official name LXII Grand Prix de France [1]
Location Circuit Paul Ricard
Le Castellet, Var, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.809 km (3.610 miles)
Distance 54 laps, 313.686 km (194.915 miles)
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Ford
Time 1:47.89 [2]
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Ferrari
Time 1:51.0 on lap 4 [3]
Podium
First McLaren-Ford
Second Tyrrell-Ford
Third Penske-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1976 French Grand Prix

The 1976 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, near Marseille in France, on 4 July 1976. It was the eighth race of the 1976 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1976 International Cup for F1 Constructors. It was the 54th French Grand Prix and the fourth to be held at Paul Ricard. The race was held over 54 laps of the 5.8-kilometre (3.6 mi) circuit for a race distance of 313 kilometres (194 mi).

Contents

The race was won by eventual 1976 world champion James Hunt driving a McLaren M23. Hunt won by twelve seconds over the Tyrrell P34 of Patrick Depailler. It was Hunt's second win for the year and his third career Grand Prix victory, although at this stage his appeal against disqualification from the Spanish Grand Prix win had yet to be upheld. Eleven seconds further back in third was John Watson driving a Penske PC4. It was the first podium finish for both Watson and Penske, although the result only came after Ronnie Peterson's March 761 stopped with three laps to go and after Watson was disqualified for a rear wing irregularity and subsequently reinstated upon appeal.

Fourth place was taken by young Brazilian driver Carlos Pace driving a Brabham BT45 ahead of Mario Andretti (Lotus 77) and the Tyrrell P34 of Jody Scheckter.

Reigning champion Niki Lauda retired his Ferrari 312T2 with an engine failure while leading. While Hunt would eventually prove to be the challenger to Lauda for the 1976 championship Lauda's points lead at this time was over the Tyrrell pair of Patrick Depailler (26 points) and Scheckter (24 points).

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
111 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:47.89
21 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:48.17+0.28
34 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:48.59+0.70
42 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:48.69+0.80
58 Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:48.75+0.86
610 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 1:49.07+1.18
75 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:49.19+1.30
828 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Penske-Ford 1:49.22+1.33
93 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 1:49.63+1.74
107 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:49.79+1.90
119 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1:49.79+1.90
126 Flag of Sweden.svg Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 1:49.83+1.94
1326 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:50.06+2.17
1412 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:50.10+2.21
1517 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 1:50.12+2.23
1616 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 1:50.27+2.38
1734 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 1:50.31+2.42
1819 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 1:51.11+3.22
1920 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Wolf-Williams-Ford 1:51.41+3.52
2035 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario March-Ford 1:51.79+3.90
2130 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:52.11+4.22
2221 Flag of France.svg Michel Leclère Wolf-Williams-Ford 1:52.29+4.40
2318 Flag of the United States.svg Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford 1:52.41+4.52
2438 Flag of France.svg Henri Pescarolo Surtees-Ford 1:52.60+4.71
2525 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Guy Edwards Hesketh-Ford 1:52.63+4.74
2622 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Patrick Nève Ensign-Ford 1:52.82+4.93
2733 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damien Magee Brabham-Ford 1:53.49+5.60
2831 Flag of Brazil.svg Ingo Hoffmann Fittipaldi-Ford 1:53.78+5.89
2924 Flag of Austria.svg Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 1:53.79+5.90
3032 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Loris Kessel Brabham-Ford 1:55.30+7.41
Source: [4] [5]

*Drivers with a red background failed to qualify. Ertl had failed to qualify, but he had started on the back of the grid. [5]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
111 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt McLaren-Ford 541:40:58.6019
24 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 54+ 12.7036
328 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Penske-Ford 54+ 23.5584
48 Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 54+ 24.8253
55 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 54+ 43.9272
63 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 54+ 55.0791
734 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 54+ 1:21.5517 
816 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 54+ 1:30.6716 
935 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario March-Ford 54+ 1:53.5720 
1020 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Wolf-Williams-Ford 53+ 1 Lap19 
117 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 53+ 1 Lap10 
1217 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 53+ 1 Lap15 
1321 Flag of France.svg Michel Leclère Wolf-Williams-Ford 53+ 1 Lap22 
1426 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 53+ 1 Lap13 
1512 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 53+ 1 Lap14 
1618 Flag of the United States.svg Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford 53+ 1 Lap23 
1725 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Guy Edwards Hesketh-Ford 53+ 1 Lap25 
1822 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Patrick Nève Ensign-Ford 53+ 1 Lap26 
1910 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 51Fuel System6 
Ret19 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 44Suspension18 
Ret9 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 28Oil Pressure11 
Ret30 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 21Oil Pressure21 
Ret38 Flag of France.svg Henri Pescarolo Surtees-Ford 19Suspension24 
Ret2 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 17Engine4 
Ret1 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Ferrari 8Engine2 
Ret6 Flag of Sweden.svg Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 8Gearbox12 
Ret24 Flag of Austria.svg Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 4Differential27 
Source: [6]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. "1976 French GP". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  2. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 128. ISBN   0-85429-380-9.
  3. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 130. ISBN   0-85429-380-9.
  4. "France 1976 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  5. 1 2 "France 1976 - Starting grid • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  6. "1976 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  7. 1 2 "France 1976 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
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