1977 British Grand Prix

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1977 British Grand Prix
Race 10 of 17 in the 1977 Formula One season
Silverstone Circuit 1975 to 1986.png
Race details
Date16 July 1977
Official name XXX John Player British Grand Prix [1]
Location Silverstone Circuit
Northamptonshire, Great Britain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.719 km (2.932 miles)
Distance 68 laps, 320.871 km (199.380 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver
 McLaren-Ford
Time 1:18.49 [2]
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt McLaren-Ford
Time 1:19.60 on lap 48
Podium
First
 McLaren-Ford
Second
 Ferrari
Third
 Lotus-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1977 British Grand Prix

The 1977 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 16 July 1977. It was the tenth race of the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors.

Contents

The 68-lap race was won from pole position by local driver James Hunt, driving a McLaren-Ford, with Austrian driver Niki Lauda second in a Ferrari and Swedish driver Gunnar Nilsson third in a Lotus-Ford. The race marked the debut of Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve, as well as the first outing for the first turbocharged Formula One car, the Renault RS01, driven by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Jabouille, who retired when the turbocharger had failed after 16 laps. It was also the last race to be given the honorific designation of the European Grand Prix.

Pre-qualifying

Owing to the large number of entrants, a special system of pre-qualification was devised, taking place on the Wednesday before the race. Fourteen cars took part, most from teams which were not members of FOCA. Debutant Gilles Villeneuve also took part, along with Patrick Tambay, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Brett Lunger, Patrick Nève, Mikko Kozarowitzky, another debutant Andy Sutcliffe, Guy Edwards, Tony Trimmer, David Purley, Emilio de Villota, Brian Henton, Arturo Merzario and yet another debutant, Brian McGuire. [3]

Kozarowitzky crashed his RAM March in the first session, and Purley suffered a huge accident in the second session, when the throttle stuck open on his LEC. He suffered multiple fractures and spent many months recovering. He later returned to racing but never appeared in a World Championship Formula One race again. [4] The fastest five drivers after both sessions were Villeneuve, Tambay, Jarier, Lunger and Henton, all of whom went through to the full qualifying sessions. Merzario and Nève were subsequently also allowed through, as was de Villota, who replaced Harald Ertl when the Austrian driver withdrew his entry. [3]

Qualifying

Henton and de Villota were eliminated after the qualifying sessions, along with Alex Ribeiro and Clay Regazzoni. James Hunt took pole position by less than 3 tenths from Northern Irish racing driver John Watson in the Brabham, whilst the rest of the top 10 qualifiers were Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Gunnar Nilsson, Mario Andretti, Hans Joachim Stuck, Vittorio Brambilla, Gilles Villeneuve and Ronnie Peterson in the leading Tyrrell. It was also proven to be a relief for Hunt to secure pole position in front of the home crowd, this was because British racing drivers had not been lucky all season up to this point.

Classification

Pre-qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
140 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gilles Villeneuve McLaren-Ford 1:19.48—
223 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Ensign-Ford 1:19.55+0.07
334 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford 1:19.63+0.15
430 Flag of the United States.svg Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:19.72+0.24
538 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brian Henton March-Ford 1:19.82+0.34
637 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario March-Ford 1:19.86+0.38
727 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Patrick Nève March-Ford 1:19.97+0.49
836 Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg Emilio de Villota McLaren-Ford 1:20.38+0.90
931 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Purley LEC-Ford 1:20.63+1.15
1033 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Andy Sutcliffe March-Ford 1:21.93+2.45
1135 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Guy Edwards BRM 1:22.62+3.14
1244 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Trimmer Surtees-Ford 1:22.80+3.32
1345 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brian McGuire McGuire-Ford 1:23.76+4.28
1432 Flag of Finland.svg Mikko Kozarowitzky March-Ford 1:25.16+5.68

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
11 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:18.49—
27 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:18.77+0.28
311 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:18.84+0.35
420 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:18.85+0.36
56 Flag of Sweden.svg Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 1:18.95+0.46
65 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:19.11+0.62
78 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:19.16+0.67
819 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:19.20+0.71
940 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gilles Villeneuve McLaren-Ford 1:19.32+0.83
103 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford 1:19.42+0.93
112 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:19.55+1.06
1217 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Shadow-Ford 1:19.60+1.11
1324 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rupert Keegan Hesketh-Ford 1:19.64+1.15
1412 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:19.64+1.15
1526 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:19.75+1.26
1623 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Ensign-Ford 1:19.81+1.32
1737 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario March-Ford 1:19.88+1.39
184 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:19.90+1.41
1930 Flag of the United States.svg Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:20.06+1.57
2034 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford 1:20.10+1.61
2115 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:20.11+1.62
2228 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:20.20+1.71
2318 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Vern Schuppan Surtees-Ford 1:20.24+1.75
2410 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Ian Scheckter March-Ford 1:20.31+1.82
2516 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Shadow-Ford 1:20.35+1.86
2627 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Patrick Nève March-Ford 1:20.36+1.87
279 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Alex Ribeiro March-Ford 1:20.46+1.97
2822 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 1:20.79+2.30
2938 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brian Henton March-Ford 1:20.79+2.30
3036 Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg Emilio de Villota McLaren-Ford 1:21.53+3.04

Race

James Hunt had started from pole position with John Watson alongside him. But, Hunt did not get a good start due to clutch problems and dropped back to 4th as a result. This allowed Watson to take the lead into the first corner ahead of Niki Lauda's Ferrari and Jody Scheckter's Wolf. However, as the race had slowly progressed Hunt eventually managed to re-overtake Lauda and Scheckter and re-passed Watson for the race lead as the British drivers were running first and second. But the order of the top 2 did not stay the same as Watson started to slow when his fuel system failed on lap 53 and retired only 8 laps later. With Watson dropping out of contention this promoted Niki Lauda to second and Jody Scheckter to third. But Scheckter was also forced to retire later on when his engine failed on lap 60 which gave Mario Andretti in the leading Lotus third before his engine had also failed 3 laps later but was classified 14th. As Gunnar Nilsson in the remaining Lotus was given 3rd place and stayed there. James Hunt had finally managed to take his first win of the season for McLaren to the delight of the British fans, ahead of championship leader Niki Lauda, Gunnar Nilsson, Jochen Mass in the second McLaren, Hans Joachim Stuck in the remaining Brabham and Jacques Laffite in the only Ligier.

PosNoDriverConstructorTyreLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
11 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt McLaren-Ford G 681:31:46.0619
211 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Ferrari G 68+ 18.3136
36 Flag of Sweden.svg Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford G 68+ 19.5754
42 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford G 68+ 47.76113
58 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 68+ 1:11.7372
626 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra G 67+ 1 Lap151
717 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Shadow-Ford G 67+ 1 Lap12 
819 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford G 67+ 1 Lap8 
934 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford G 67+ 1 Lap20 
1027 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Patrick Nève March-Ford G 66+ 2 Laps26 
1140 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gilles Villeneuve McLaren-Ford G 66+ 2 Laps9 
1218 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Vern Schuppan Surtees-Ford G 66+ 2 Laps23 
1330 Flag of the United States.svg Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford G 64+ 4 Laps19 
145 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 62Engine6 
1512 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Ferrari G 62+ 6 Laps14 
Ret7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 60Fuel System2 
Ret20 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford G 59Engine4 
Ret28 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 42Throttle22 
Ret37 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario March-Ford G 28Transmission17 
Ret16 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Shadow-Ford G 20Fuel Pressure25 
Ret4 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford G 16Brakes18 
Ret15 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault M 16Turbo21 
Ret10 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Ian Scheckter March-Ford G 6Accident24 
Ret3 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford G 3Engine10 
Ret23 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Ensign-Ford G 3Electrical16 
Ret24 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rupert Keegan Hesketh-Ford G 0Accident13 
DNQ9 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Alex Ribeiro March-Ford G     
DNQ22 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford G     
DNQ38 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brian Henton March-Ford G     
DNQ36 Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg Emilio de Villota McLaren-Ford G     
DNPQ31 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Purley LEC-Ford G  Accident  
DNPQ33 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Andy Sutcliffe March-Ford G     
DNPQ35 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Guy Edwards BRM G     
DNPQ44 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Trimmer Surtees-Ford G     
DNPQ45 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brian McGuire McGuire-Ford G     
DNPQ32 Flag of Finland.svg Mikko Kozarowitzky March-Ford G  Accident  
WD25 Flag of Austria.svg Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford G     
WD39 Flag of Mexico.svg Héctor Rebaque Hesketh-Ford G     
WD43 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Bell Penske-Ford G     
WD46 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Bernard de Dryver March-Ford G     
Source: [5] [6]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. ↑ "1977 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes". The Programme Covers Project.
  2. ↑ "British Grand Prix 1977". motorsport-stats.com. Archived from the original on 10 January 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Grand Prix Results: British GP, 1977". Grandprix.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  4. ↑ Tremayne, David (1991). Racers Apart: Memories of motorsport heroes. UK: Motor Racing Publications Ltd. p. 293. ISBN   0-947981-58-6.
  5. ↑ "1977 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "1977 British Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 16 July 1977. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Britain 1977 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
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