1977 Spanish Grand Prix

1977 Spanish Grand Prix
Race 5 of 17 in the 1977 Formula One season
Race details
Date	8 May 1977
Official name	XXIII Gran Premio de España [1]
Location	Jarama, Spain
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	3.404 km (2.115 miles)
Distance	75 laps, 255.3 km (158.63 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:18.70
Fastest lap
Driver	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra
Time	1:20.81 on lap 5
Podium
First	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford
Second	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari
Third	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1977 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 8 May 1977 at the Circuito del Jarama near Madrid, Spain. It was the fifth race of the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors.

The 75-lap race was won from pole position by American driver Mario Andretti, driving a Lotus-Ford. Argentinian Carlos Reutemann finished second in a Ferrari, with South African Jody Scheckter third in a Wolf-Ford.

Report

Mario Andretti continued his recent form with pole position and Jacques Laffite's Ligier springing a surprise, beating Niki Lauda to second, however Lauda was unable to take part in the race due to a broken rib. At the start, Andretti took the lead with Laffite following. Laffite gave chase to Andretti in the early stages but had to pit with a deflating tyre, leaving Andretti to romp to victory with Carlos Reutemann second. Hunt inherited third but retired with a misfire, giving it to John Watson until he lost places due to a spin and eventually retired with fuel system problems, leaving Jody Scheckter to take the final spot on the podium.

The race marked the debut of the Williams Grand Prix Engineering team, entering a single March 761 chassis for Belgian driver Patrick Nève, who finished 12th.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus–Ford	1:18.70
2	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier–Matra	+0.72
3	11	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	+0.78
4	12	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	+0.82
5	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf–Ford	+0.87
6	7	John Watson	Brabham–Alfa Romeo	+1.17
7	1	James Hunt	McLaren–Ford	+1.41
8	22	Clay Regazzoni	Ensign–Ford	+1.43
9	2	Jochen Mass	McLaren–Ford	+1.44
10	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell–Ford	+1.46
11	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees–Ford	+1.56
12	6	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus–Ford	+1.68
13	8	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Brabham–Alfa Romeo	+1.85
14	17	Alan Jones	Shadow–Ford	+2.04
15	3	Ronnie Peterson	Tyrrell–Ford	+2.26
16	24	Rupert Keegan	Hesketh–Ford	+2.33
17	10	Ian Scheckter	March–Ford	+2.35
18	25	Harald Ertl	Hesketh–Ford	+2.46
19	28	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi–Ford	+2.86
20	18	Hans Binder	Surtees–Ford	+3.03
21	37	Arturo Merzario	March–Ford	+3.12
22	27	Patrick Nève	March–Ford	+3.22
23	36	Emilio de Villota	McLaren–Ford	+3.27
24	16	Renzo Zorzi	Shadow–Ford	+3.39
25	30	Brett Lunger	March–Ford	+3.54
Cut-off
26	34	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Penske–Ford	+3.57
27	9	Alex Ribeiro	March–Ford	+3.60
28	33	Boy Hayje	March–Ford	+3.69
29	38	Brian Henton	March–Ford	+3.87
30	31	David Purley	LEC–Ford	+4.19
31	35	Conny Andersson	BRM	+5.59
Source: [2]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	75	1:42:52.22	1	9
2	12	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	75	+ 15.85	4	6
3	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	75	+ 24.51	5	4
4	2	Jochen Mass	McLaren-Ford	75	+ 24.87	9	3
5	6	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus-Ford	75	+ 1:05.83	12	2
6	8	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	74	+ 1 Lap	13	1
7	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	74	+ 1 Lap	2
8	3	Ronnie Peterson	Tyrrell-Ford	74	+ 1 Lap	15
9	18	Hans Binder	Surtees-Ford	73	+ 2 Laps	20
10	30	Brett Lunger	March-Ford	72	+ 3 Laps	25
11	10	Ian Scheckter	March-Ford	72	+ 3 Laps	17
12	27	Patrick Nève	March-Ford	71	+ 4 Laps	22
13	36	Emilio de Villota	McLaren-Ford	70	+ 5 Laps	23
14	28	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	70	+ 5 Laps	19
Ret	7	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	64	Fuel System	6
Ret	17	Alan Jones	Shadow-Ford	56	Accident	14
Ret	24	Rupert Keegan	Hesketh-Ford	32	Accident	16
Ret	25	Harald Ertl	Hesketh-Ford	29	Radiator	18
Ret	16	Renzo Zorzi	Shadow-Ford	25	Engine	24
Ret	37	Arturo Merzario	March-Ford	16	Suspension	21
Ret	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	12	Engine	10
Ret	1	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	10	Engine	7
Ret	22	Clay Regazzoni	Ensign-Ford	9	Accident	8
Ret	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford	9	Accident	11
DNS	11	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	0	Driver Injured	3
DNQ	34	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Penske-Ford
DNQ	9	Alex Ribeiro	March-Ford
DNQ	33	Boy Hayje	March-Ford
DNQ	38	Brian Henton	March-Ford
DNQ	31	David Purley	LEC-Ford
DNQ	35	Conny Andersson	BRM
Source: [3]

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British driver Rupert Keegan.
• This race marked the 25th Grand Prix win for an American driver.
• This was the 100th Grand Prix start for March, the 5th Grand Prix start for Wolf and the Formula One World Championship debut for LEC.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jody Scheckter 23 2 2 Mario Andretti 20 1 3 Carlos Reutemann 19 1 4 Niki Lauda 19 5 James Hunt 9 Source: [4]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 34 2 Wolf-Ford 23 1 3 Lotus-Ford 22 1 4 McLaren-Ford 12 1 5 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 8 Source: [4]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1977". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
2. "1977 Formula One Spanish Grand Prix West – Qualifying". Motorsport Stats . Retrieved 13 April 2021.
3. "1977 Spanish Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
4. "Spain 1977 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

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