1976 Belgian Grand Prix

Belgium  1976 Belgian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 5 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season
Date May 16, 1976
Location Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
Course length 4.262 km (2.648 mi)
Distance 70 laps, 298.34 km (185.38 mi)
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:26.55[1]
Fastest lap
Driver Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari
Time 1:25.98 [2]
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third Ligier-Matra

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.

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 Equipe Ligier team.

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

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 70 1:42:53.23 1 9
2 2 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 70 + 3.46 2 6
3 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 70 + 35.38 6 4
4 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 70 + 1:31.00 7 3
5 19 Australia Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 69 + 1 Lap 16 2
6 12 Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 69 + 1 Lap 18 1
7 28 United Kingdom John Watson Penske-Ford 69 + 1 Lap 17  
8 37 Australia Larry Perkins Boro-Ford 69 + 1 Lap 20  
9 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 69 + 1 Lap 14  
10 16 United Kingdom Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 68 + 2 Laps 13  
11 21 France Michel Leclère Wolf-Williams-Ford 68 + 2 Laps 25  
12 32 Switzerland Loris Kessel Brabham-Ford 63 + 7 Laps 23  
Ret 18 United States Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford 62 Electrical 26  
Ret 8 Brazil Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 58 Electrical 9  
Ret 22 New Zealand Chris Amon Ensign-Ford 51 Accident 8  
Ret 11 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 35 Gearbox 3  
Ret 34 Germany Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 33 Suspension 15  
Ret 24 Austria Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 31 Engine 24  
Ret 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 29 Engine 4  
Ret 5 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 28 Halfshaft 11  
Ret 33 Belgium Patrick Nève Brabham-Ford 26 Halfshaft 19  
Ret 35 Italy Arturo Merzario March-Ford 21 Engine 21  
Ret 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 17 Engine 12  
Ret 10 Sweden Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 16 Accident 10  
Ret 6 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 7 Accident 22  
Ret 9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 6 Halfshaft 5  
DNQ 30 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford    
DNQ 20 Belgium Jacky Ickx Wolf-Williams-Ford    
DNQ 25 United Kingdom Guy Edwards Hesketh-Ford        
Source:[3]

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.

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Austria Niki Lauda 42
2 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni 15
3 France Patrick Depailler 10
4 Germany Jochen Mass 8
5 South Africa Jody Scheckter 8

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Italy Ferrari 45
2 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 16
3 United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 10
4 France Ligier-Matra 7
5 United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 6

References

  1. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 120. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  2. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 122. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  3. "1976 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
Previous race:
1976 Spanish Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1976 season
Next race:
1976 Monaco Grand Prix
Previous race:
1975 Belgian Grand Prix
Belgian Grand Prix Next race:
1977 Belgian Grand Prix
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