1976 Belgian Grand Prix

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1976 Belgian Grand Prix
Race 5 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season
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Circuit Zolder-1975-1985.svg
Race details
DateMay 16, 1976
Official name XXXIV Grote Prijs van Belgie [1]
Location Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
Course length 4.262 km (2.648 miles)
Distance 70 laps, 298.34 km (185.38 miles)
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:26.55 [2]
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Ferrari
Time 1:25.98 [3]
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third Ligier-Matra
Lap leaders
  • 1976 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1976 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder, near Heusden-Zolder in Belgium on 16 May 1976. The race was the fifth round of the 1976 Formula One season. It was the 34th Belgian Grand Prix and the third to be held at Circuit Zolder. Zolder was a replacement venue as Nivelles-Baulers near Brussels was due to host the race in rotation with Zolder but the track surface at Nivelles had deteriorated and Zolder would host the race until the return of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in 1983. The race was held over 70 laps of the 4.3-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 298 kilometres.

Contents

The race was won by Ferrari driver, Niki Lauda driving a Ferrari 312T2, who increased his lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 29 points by doing so. His Swiss teammate, Clay Regazzoni, finished the race in second position, 3.4 seconds behind Lauda. Third was taken by French driver Jacques Laffite driving a Ligier JS5. It was Lauda's fourth win of the year in what was a dominant display by the reigning champion. Laffite's third place was his second podium after finishing second in the 1975 German Grand Prix the previous year and the first such finish for the new Équipe Ligier team.

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo
1Niki LaudaFerrari1:26,551
2Clay RegazzoniFerrari1:26,602
3James HuntMcLaren-Ford1:26,743
4Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford1:26,914
5Vittorio BrambillaMarch-Ford1:26,935
6Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra1:27,146
7Jody ScheckterTyrrell-Ford1:27,197
8Chris AmonEnsign-Ford1:27,548
9Carlos PaceBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:27,669
10Ronnie PetersonMarch-Ford1:27,7210
11Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:27,7511
12Carlos ReutemannBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:28,3012
13Tom PryceShadow-Ford1:28,3713
14Jean-Pierre JarierShadow-Ford1:28,3814
15Hans-Joachim StuckMarch-Ford1:28,4115
16Alan JonesSurtees-Ford1:28,4416
17John WatsonPenske-Ford1:28,4417
18Jochen MassMcLaren-Ford1:28,5018
19Patrick NèveBrabham-Ford1:28,8019
20Larry PerkinsBoro-Ford1:28,8120
21Arturo MerzarioMarch-Ford1:28,8421
22Gunnar NilssonLotus-Ford1:28,9922
23Loris KesselBrabham-Ford1:29,0923
24Harald ErtlHesketh-Ford1:29,4024
25Michel LeclèreWolf-Williams-Ford1:29,4625
26Brett LungerSurtees-Ford1:29,7626
27Emerson FittipaldiCopersucar-Ford1:29,81
28Jacky IckxWolf-Williams-Ford1:30,61
29Guy EdwardsHesketh-Ford1:30,77

*Drivers with a red background failed to qualify

Race

Race summary

Ferrari had locked out the front row in qualifying, with Lauda on pole from Regazzoni. Lauda motored away as the start, with Hunt up to second but Regazzoni soon took the place back. The Ferraris raced away, and Hunt dropped to sixth position, behind Jacques Laffite's Ligier and the two six-wheeled Tyrrell P34s, before eventually retiring with a transmission failure. Patrick Depailler also retired when his engine blew up. Lauda won, and Regazzoni completed a dominant Ferrari 1–2. Laffite inherited third with the retirements of James Hunt (McLaren M23) and Depailler. Jody Scheckter finished fourth in his Tyrrell. A lap behind, future world champion Alan Jones took his second points finish in his Surtees TS19 with Jochen Mass collecting the final point in the second McLaren after Chris Amon's Ensign N176 shed a wheel and rolled.

Classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
11 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Ferrari 701:42:53.2319
22 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 70+ 3.4626
326 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 70+ 35.3864
43 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 70+ 1:31.0073
519 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 69+ 1 Lap162
612 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 69+ 1 Lap181
728 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Penske-Ford 69+ 1 Lap17 
837 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Larry Perkins Boro-Ford 69+ 1 Lap20 
917 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 69+ 1 Lap14 
1016 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 68+ 2 Laps13 
1121 Flag of France.svg Michel Leclère Wolf-Williams-Ford 68+ 2 Laps25 
1232 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Loris Kessel Brabham-Ford 63+ 7 Laps23 
Ret18 Flag of the United States.svg Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford 62Electrical26 
Ret8 Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 58Electrical9 
Ret22 Flag of New Zealand.svg Chris Amon Ensign-Ford 51Accident8 
Ret11 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt McLaren-Ford 35Gearbox3 
Ret34 Flag of Germany.svg Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 33Suspension15 
Ret24 Flag of Austria.svg Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 31Engine24 
Ret4 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 29Engine4 
Ret5 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 28Halfshaft11 
Ret33 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Patrick Nève Brabham-Ford 26Halfshaft19 
Ret35 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario March-Ford 21Engine21 
Ret7 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 17Engine12 
Ret10 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 16Accident10 
Ret6 Flag of Sweden.svg Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 7Accident22 
Ret9 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 6Halfshaft5 
DNQ30 Flag of Brazil.svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford   
DNQ20 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Wolf-Williams-Ford   
DNQ25 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Guy Edwards Hesketh-Ford     
Source: [4]

Championship standings after the race

Points are accurate at the conclusion of the race and do not include amended results of the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix as it was under appeal.

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References

  1. "1976 Belgian GP". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  2. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 120. ISBN   0-85429-380-9.
  3. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 122. ISBN   0-85429-380-9.
  4. "1976 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Belgium 1976 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
Previous race:
1976 Spanish Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1976 season
Next race:
1976 Monaco Grand Prix
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1975 Belgian Grand Prix
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1977 Belgian Grand Prix