1976 Japanese Grand Prix
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The 1976 Japanese Grand Prix was a
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
motor race held at
Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and nati ...
on 24 October 1976. It was the 16th and final race of the 1976 Formula One World Championship The 1976 World Championship was to be decided at the Mount Fuji circuit, with
Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
just three points ahead of
James Hunt James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) ''Autocourse Grand Prix Archive'', 14 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007. was a British racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship in . After retiring from racing in ...
after a season full of incidents including Lauda's near-fatal crash at the Nürburgring and subsequent missed races.


Background


Entries

The field was almost unchanged from the previous race, but
Noritake Takahara Noritake Takahara (高原 敬武, born June 6, 1951 in Tokyo) is a former racing driver from Japan. He participated in 2 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on October 24, 1976. He scored no championship points. Along with his com ...
rented the second
Surtees The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons (1970 to 1978) as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000. History The team was formed by John Surtees, a four-time 500cc motorcycle champion and the ...
replacing
Brett Lunger Robert Brett Lunger (born November 14, 1945 in Wilmington, Delaware) is an American racecar driver. Lunger was educated at the Holderness School, and Princeton University. He dropped out of Princeton after three years to enlist for service in V ...
and
Masami Kuwashima is a former racing driver from Japan. After some experience in the Japanese lower formulae, he made an attempt at Formula One. A deal to drive in the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix with the RAM team came to nothing, but Kuwashima found a seat with t ...
replaced
Warwick Brown Warwick Brown (born 24 December 1949 in Sydney) is a former racing driver from Australia. Racing career Brown participated in a single Formula One Grand Prix, on 10 October 1976. He drove a Wolf–Williams Racing car at the 1976 United States ...
in the second Wolf-Williams. However, Kuwashima was himself replaced by
Hans Binder Hans Binder (born 12 June 1948 in Zell am Ziller, Tyrol) is an Austrian former Formula One driver who raced for the Ensign, Wolf, Surtees and ATS teams. He won the European Formula Ford Championship in 1972 and moved into Formula 2 in 1976. Du ...
during the meeting, after his money failed to materialize.
Maki Maki may refer to: People *Mäki, a Finnish surname (includes a list of people with the name) *Maki (name), a Japanese given name and surname (includes a list of people with the name) Places *Maki, Ravar, Kerman Province, Iran *Maki, Rigan, Ke ...
resurrected its Formula One car for
Tony Trimmer Tony Trimmer (born 24 January 1943) is a British former racing driver from England, who won the Shell British Formula Three Championship and E.R. Hall Trophy in 1970. He was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire. Tony Trimmer also won the prestigious M ...
while
Heros Racing Heros Racing (listed in some sources as Heroes Racing) was a Japanese motor racing team which competed briefly in Formula One in the and seasons. The team entered the 1976 and 1977 Japanese Grands Prix, each time with local driver Kazuyoshi Hosh ...
entered an old Tyrrell for
Kazuyoshi Hoshino is a Japanese former racing driver and businessman. Motorsport career Hoshino's nickname was . He won the Japanese motocross national championships in the 90cc and 125cc classes for Kawasaki in 1968 before switching to cars as a Nissan facto ...
.
Kojima Engineering Kojima Engineering was a Japanese Formula One constructor who entered cars in the Japanese Grand Prix in 1976 and 1977. The team was founded in 1976 by Matsuhisa Kojima. Kojima had made a fortune importing bananas, and was a motor-racing ent ...
entered a locally built chassis for
Masahiro Hasemi is a former racing driver and team owner from Japan. He started racing motocross when he was 15 years old. In 1964 he signed to drive for Nissan. After establishing himself in saloon car and GT races in Japan, he participated in his only Formula O ...
(on Dunlop tyres).


Championship standings before the race

Heading into the final race of the season it was
Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
who led the World Driver's Championship by three points ahead of
James Hunt James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) ''Autocourse Grand Prix Archive'', 14 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007. was a British racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship in . After retiring from racing in ...
. In the Constructors' Championship it was
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
who had an eleven point lead over
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
. As this was the final race of the season with 9 points available for the win it meant that the Japanese Grand Prix would decide the Driver's championship although Ferrari had confirmed their win the Constructors in the previous round.


Championship permutations

For Lauda to win the Championship he needed: * to finish ahead of Hunt * to finish 3rd with Hunt 2nd * to finish 4th or 5th with Hunt 3rd * to finish 6th with Hunt 4th or lower * Hunt to finish 5th or lower For Hunt to win the Championship he needed to finish: * 1st * 2nd with Lauda 4th or lower * 3rd with Lauda 6th or lower * 4th with Lauda 7th or lower


Qualifying

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...
took pole position in the
Lotus 77 The Lotus 77 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman, Geoff Aldridge and Martin Ogilvie for the 1976 Formula One season. The car was a stop-gap means to an end for Lotus, who were fighting back after the failure of the Lotus  ...
, with Hunt alongside him on the front row and Lauda third. Then came John Watson in the
Penske Penske Corporation, Inc. () is an American diversified transportation services company based in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Roger Penske is the chairman of the privately held company, and Rob Kurnick is the president. Holding ...
,
Jody Scheckter Jody David Scheckter (born 29 January 1950) is a South African business proprietor and former motor racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1980, winning the Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari. Scheckter remains the only Afr ...
,
Carlos Pace José Carlos Pace (October 6, 1944 – March 18, 1977) was a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 73 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting at the 1972 South African Grand Prix. He won one race, achieved six podiums, an ...
,
Clay Regazzoni Gianclaudio Giuseppe "Clay" Regazzoni (5 September 1939 – 15 December 2006) was a Swiss racing driver. He competed in Formula One races from 1970 to 1980, winning five Grands Prix. His first win was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his debu ...
and
Vittorio Brambilla Vittorio Brambilla (11 November 1937 – 26 May 2001) was a Formula One driver from Italy who raced for the March, Surtees and Alfa Romeo teams. Particularly adept at driving in wet conditions, his nickname was "The Monza Gorilla", due to his o ...
. The top 10 was completed by
Ronnie Peterson Bengt Ronnie Peterson (; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname 'SuperSwede', he was a two-time runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. Peterson began his motor racing car ...
and Hasemi. Trimmer failed to qualify the Maki.


Qualifying classification


Race

On race day the weather was very wet with fog and running water at several places on the track. There were intense debates as to whether the race should be started; in the end the organisers decided to go ahead and a majority of drivers did not disagree. Some drivers, including Lauda, were not happy with the decision. Hunt took the lead from the start with Watson and Andretti behind. On the second lap Watson slid down an escape road and Lauda drove into the pits to withdraw, as he believed the weather conditions made the track too dangerous. He later said "my life is worth more than a title."
Larry Perkins Larry Clifton Perkins (born 18 March 1950) is a former racing driver and V8 Supercar team owner from Australia. Biography Early years Growing up on a farm in Cowangie in the Mallee region of Victoria, Larry, the son of racing driver Eddi ...
made a similar decision after one lap, as did Pace and
Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once. Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
later in the race. Hunt continued to lead, behind him second place passed between Andretti and Brambilla. On lap 22 Brambilla challenged for the lead but spun out of contention before retiring 15 laps later with electrical problems.
Jochen Mass Jochen Richard Mass (born 30 September 1946) is a German former racing driver. Life and career Born in Dorfen, Bavaria 50 km (31 mi) from Munich, Mass participated in 114 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 14 Jul ...
moved into second before crashing on the 36th lap just before turn 7, promoting
Patrick Depailler Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler (; 9 August 1944 – 1 August 1980) was a racing driver from France. He participated in 95 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 July 1972. He also participated in several non-champi ...
into the position with Andretti third. It seemed Hunt was on for an easy win, but as the track began to dry he started to lose positions. He only needed a fourth place finish to win the title, because of Lauda's retirement. On lap 62 Hunt fell behind Depailler and Andretti, but two laps later Depailler's left rear tyre started to deflate and he had to pit. Andretti took the lead, but then Hunt had a similar tyre problem. Hunt pitted, dropped to fifth and set off after Depailler, Alan Jones and Regazzoni. Depailler overtook both drivers on lap 70 and on the next lap Hunt did the same and overtook both of them in order to win the World Drivers' Championship. However to his surprise as there was brief confusion as the immediate unofficial finish marked him as fifth place, but with quick deliberation the official finish was third.
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
won the Constructors' Championship despite Lauda's retirement. Andretti's victory was his second in Formula One, coming five years, seven months and 18 days after his maiden win at the
1971 South African Grand Prix The 1971 South African Grand Prix, formally the Fifth AA Grand Prix of South Africa (Afrikaans: ''Vyfde AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix''), was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on 6 March 1971. It was race 1 of 11 in both the 197 ...
. , this is the longest period between a first and second victory of a driver in the series.


Race classification


Notes

*In Japan, the formal name of this Formula One event was not "Japanese Grand Prix" but was "Formula One World Championship in Japan" (F1世界選手権・イン・ジャパン), because an event of the Japanese Formula 2000 championship had been named "''Japanese Grand Prix''" in 1976. *It was initially announced that the fastest lap was set by
Masahiro Hasemi is a former racing driver and team owner from Japan. He started racing motocross when he was 15 years old. In 1964 he signed to drive for Nissan. After establishing himself in saloon car and GT races in Japan, he participated in his only Formula O ...
on lap 25, but this was a measurement mistake, and, several days later, the circuit issued a press release to correct the fastest lap holder of the race to
Jacques Laffite Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1. ...
with a time of 1:19.97 on lap 70. This press release was promptly made known in Japan, and the
Japan Automobile Federation The is an automobile association based in Minato, Tokyo. Founded in 1963, the main purpose of the organization is to handle various businesses related to automobiles, and to protect the interests of owners and drivers in Japan. , the organizatio ...
(JAF) and Japanese media corrected the record. But this correction was not made well known outside Japan, thus, Hasemi is credited with the fastest lap of the race in many record books.


Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *


References

{{F1GP 70-79
Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the ...
Japanese Grand Prix
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
October 1976 sports events in Asia