1977 Belgian Grand Prix

Last updated
1977 Belgian Grand Prix
Race 7 of 17 in the 1977 Formula One season
Circuit Zolder-1975-1985.svg
Race details
Date5 June 1977
Location Circuit Zolder
Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
Course length 4.262 km (2.648 miles)
Distance 70 laps, 298.340 km (185.380 miles)
Weather Wet
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:24.64
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Sweden.svg Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford
Time 1:27.36 on lap 53
Podium
First Lotus-Ford
Second Ferrari
Third Tyrrell-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1977 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1977 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder on 5 June 1977. It was the seventh race of the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors.

Contents

The 70-lap race was won by Swedish driver Gunnar Nilsson, driving a Lotus-Ford. Austrian driver Niki Lauda finished second in a Ferrari, while Nilsson's fellow Swede, Ronnie Peterson, finished third in the six-wheeled Tyrrell-Ford. This was to be Nilsson's only Formula One victory, before his career was cut short by cancer and he died in October 1978.

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo
1 Flag of the United States.svg Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:24,641
2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John WatsonBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:26,182
3 Flag of Sweden.svg Gunnar NilssonLotus-Ford1:26,453
4 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody ScheckterWolf-Ford1:26,484
5 Flag of France.svg Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford1:26,715
6 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen MassMcLaren-Ford1:26,816
7 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos ReutemannFerrari1:26,857
8 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie PetersonTyrrell-Ford1:26,958
9 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James HuntMcLaren-Ford1:27,049
10 Flag of France.svg Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra1:27,0510
11 Flag of Austria.svg Niki LaudaFerrari1:27,1111
12 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio BrambillaSurtees-Ford1:27,2312
13 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay RegazzoniEnsign-Ford1:27,2813
14 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo MerzarioMarch-Ford1:27,3314
15 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo PatreseShadow-Ford1:27,3515
16 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:27,4716
17 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan JonesShadow-Ford1:27,5517
18 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim StuckBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:27,7518
19 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rupert KeeganHesketh-Ford1:28,0219
20 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David PurleyLEC-Ford1:28,1020
21 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Ian ScheckterMarch-Ford1:28,5021
22 Flag of the United States.svg Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford1:28,5122
23 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Larry PerkinsSurtees-Ford1:28,5323
24 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Patrick NèveMarch-Ford1:28,6724
25 Flag of Austria.svg Harald ErtlHesketh-Ford1:29,0225
26 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre JarierPenske-Ford1:29,1126
Cut-off
27 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Boy HayjeMarch-Ford1:29,4627
28 Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg Emilio de VillotaMcLaren-Ford1:30,12
29 Flag of Sweden.svg Conny AnderssonBRM1:30,24
30 Flag of Brazil.svg Alex RibeiroMarch-Ford1:30,24
31 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Bernard de DryverMarch-Ford1:30,42
32 Flag of Mexico.svg Héctor RebaqueHesketh-Ford1:33,30

Race

Report

In qualifying Mario Andretti took a comfortable pole position with John Watson just beating the second Lotus of Gunnar Nilsson to second. The race was wet due to rain earlier in the day. Watson took the lead into the first corner, but later in the lap, Andretti locked up into the chicane and ran into the back of the Brabham, knocking both drivers out of the race with Jody Scheckter taking over the lead.

Scheckter led the early stages ahead of Nilsson, whereas Carlos Reutemann made an early charge but spun off. The track began to dry and everyone had to pit for tyres, and those who stopped early were the ones who benefited, as now Niki Lauda was leading from Jochen Mass and Scheckter was down to fifth. Mass spun off from second, handing it to Nilsson who then went on to catch and pass Lauda before driving away to his first career victory. Behind second-placed Lauda, Ronnie Peterson completed the podium for Team Tyrrell after Scheckter retired with an engine failure. This remains the only F1 race in which two Swedes shared the podium.

David Purley stayed out later than most drivers and was running third by lap 21. [1] After he finally pitted, he emerged in front of race leader Lauda. He was likely unaware that Lauda was a lap ahead and did not let him through, holding the leader up for a few laps. This may have cost Lauda victory and the two were involved in an argument after the race. [2]

Classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
16 Flag of Sweden.svg Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 701:55:05.7139
211 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Ferrari 70+ 14.19116
33 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford 70+ 19.9584
419 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 70+ 24.98123
517 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Shadow-Ford 70+ 1:15.47172
68 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo 69+ 1 Lap181
71 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt McLaren-Ford 69+ 1 Lap9 
84 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 69+ 1 Lap5 
925 Flag of Austria.svg Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 69+ 1 Lap25 
1027 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Patrick Nève March-Ford 68+ 2 Laps24 
1134 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford 68+ 2 Laps26 
1218 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Larry Perkins Surtees-Ford 67+ 3 Laps23 
1331 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Purley LEC-Ford 67+ 3 Laps20 
1437 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario March-Ford 65+ 5 Laps14 
NC33 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Boy Hayje March-Ford 63+ 7 Laps27 
Ret20 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 62Engine4 
Ret2 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 39Accident6 
Ret26 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 32Engine10 
Ret22 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 29Engine13 
Ret12 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 14Accident7 
Ret24 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rupert Keegan Hesketh-Ford 14Accident19 
Ret16 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Shadow-Ford 12Accident15 
Ret10 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Ian Scheckter March-Ford 8Accident21 
Ret28 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 2Electrical16 
Ret5 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 0Collision1 
Ret7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 0Collision2 
DNS30 Flag of the United States.svg Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford  Engine22 
DNQ36 Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg Emilio de Villota McLaren-Ford   
DNQ9 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Alex Ribeiro March-Ford   
DNQ35 Flag of Sweden.svg Conny Andersson BRM   
DNQ38 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Bernard de Dryver March-Ford   
DNQ39 Flag of Mexico.svg Héctor Rebaque Hesketh-Ford     
Source: [3]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. "Belgium 1977 - Lap by lap • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  2. Widdows, Rob (June 2008). "Run rabbit!". Motor Sport. p. 85. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  3. "1977 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Belgium 1977 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
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