Japanese GP 1976

Japanese GP, 1976

The World Championship showdown was scheduled to take place at Mount Fuji with Niki Lauda just three points ahead of James Hunt after an incident-packed and controversial season. The field was much the same as usual although Noritake Takahara had rented the second Surtees (replacing Brett Lunger) and Hans Binder was back in the second Wolf Williams after Masami Kuwashima's money failed to materialize. Maki resurrected its old F1 car for Tony Trimmer while Heroes Racing entered an old Tyrrell for Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Kojima Engineering entered a locally-built chassis for Masahiro Hasemi (on Dunlop tires).

In qualifying Mario Andretti took pole position in the Lotus 77 with Hunt alongside him on the front row and Lauda third. Then came John Watson's Penske, Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell), Carlos Pace (Brabham-Alfa), Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) and Vittorio Brambilla (March). The top 10 was completed by Ronnie Peterson (March and Hasemi in the Kojima. The Maki failed to qualify.

On race day the weather was dreadful with streams running across the track and fog. There were intense debates as to whether the race should be started but the organizers decided to go ahead and the drivers all agreed (although some were not happy). At the start Hunt went into the lead with Watson behind him and Andretti leading the rest of the field. Lauda was in the midfield but in the course of the second lap (during which Watson went down an escape road) Lauda pulled into the pits and withdrew. In the laps that followed Pace and Fittipaldi also pulled out, joining Perkins who had decided against racing at the end of the first lap.

Out on the race track Hunt continued to lead while the situation behind him was rather more confused as second place passed between Andretti and Brambilla. On lap 22 Brambilla even challenged for the lead but then spun. Jochen Mass made it a McLaren 1-2 but on the 36th lap he crashed and so Depailler moved to second place with Andretti third.

It looked as though Hunt was on course for the title but the track was drying and Hunt was fading. On lap 62 he fell behind Depailler and Andretti. Hunt knew he had only to finish fourth to win the title. Two laps later Depailler's left rear started to deflate and he had to pit. Andretti took the lead. Then Hunt had a similar problem. Distraught, he headed for the pits. He dropped to fifth and set off after Depailler, Alan Jones (Surtees) and Regazzoni. Depailler overtook both men on lap 70 and on the next lap Hunt did the same, although he finished thinking that he had lost the World title.

Ferrari had won the Constructors' Championship - but it was little consolation.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 5 Mario Andretti Lotus-Cosworth 77 73 1h43m58.860s  1 
2 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Cosworth P34 72  13 
3 11 James Hunt McLaren-Cosworth M23 72  2 
4 19 Alan Jones Surtees-Cosworth TS19 72  20 
5 2 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 312T2 72  7 
6 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Cosworth 77 72  16 
7 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra JS5 72  11 
8 24 Harald Ertl Hesketh-Cosworth 308D 72  22 
9 18 Noritake Takahara Surtees-Cosworth TS19 70  24 
10 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Cosworth DN5B 69  15 
11 51 Masahiro Hasemi Kojima-Cosworth KE007 66  10 
r 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Cosworth P34 58 Overheating 5 
r 21 Hans Binder Wolf Williams-Cosworth FW05 49 Mechanical 25 
r 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Cosworth DN8 46 Engine 14 
r 9 Vittorio Brambilla March-Cosworth 761 38 Engine 8 
r 34 Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Cosworth 761 37 Electrics 18 
r 12 Jochen Mass McLaren-Cosworth M23 35 Accident 12 
r 28 John Watson Penske-Cosworth PC4 33 Engine 4 
r 52 Kazuyoshi Hoshino Tyrrell-Cosworth 007 27 Tires 21 
r 20 Arturo Merzario Wolf Williams-Cosworth FW05 23 Gearbox 19 
r 30 Emerson Fittipaldi Copersucar-Cosworth FD04 9 Withdrew 23 
r 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT45 7 Withdrew 6 
r 1 Niki Lauda Ferrari 312T2 2 Withdrew 3 
r 7 Larry Perkins Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT45 1 Withdrew 17 
r 10 Ronnie Peterson March-Cosworth 761 0 Engine 9 
ns 21 Masami Kuwashima Wolf Williams-Cosworth FW05  Sponsors Withdrew 26 
nq 54 Tony Trimmer Maki-Cosworth F102A   27