1976 Austrian Grand Prix

  1976 Austrian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 11 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season
Österreichring track layout from 1969 to 1976
Date	August 15, 1976
Location	Österreichring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.911 km (3.673 mi)
Distance	54 laps, 319.914 km (198.342 mi)
Pole position
Driver	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford
Time	1:35.02[1]
Fastest lap
Driver	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford
Time	1:35.91[2]
Podium
First	John Watson	Penske-Ford
Second	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra
Third	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus-Ford

The 1976 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Österreichring on 15 August 1976. This race was the only major Formula One and European victory for Penske Racing. It was a poignant win for the team, coming a year after the death of their former driver Mark Donohue at the same circuit the previous season. Roger Penske withdrew the team at the end of year to refocus on Champ Car racing.

Local drivers Otto Stuppacher and Karl Oppitzhauser had applied to enter the event, but were refused due to their lack of experience. They petitioned the other teams for support but none was forthcoming, and they did not participate, although they had brought their cars to the circuit. They had entered under the ÖASC Racing Team banner, with Stuppacher bringing a Tyrrell 007, and Oppitzhauser a March 761.^[3]

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	28	John Watson	Penske-Ford	54	1:30:07.86	2	9
2	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	54	+ 10.79	5	6
3	6	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus-Ford	54	+ 11.98	4	4
4	11	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	54	+ 12.44	1	3
5	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	54	+ 21.49	9	2
6	10	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	54	+ 34.34	3	1
7	12	Jochen Mass	McLaren-Ford	54	+ 59.45	12
8	24	Harald Ertl	Hesketh-Ford	53	+1 Lap	20
9	38	Henri Pescarolo	Surtees-Ford	52	+2 Laps	22
10	18	Brett Lunger	Surtees-Ford	51	Accident	16
11	39	Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi	Tyrrell-Ford	51	+3 Laps	23
12	33	Lella Lombardi	Brabham-Ford	50	+4 laps	24
Ret	22	Hans Binder	Ensign-Ford	47	Throttle	19
NC	32	Loris Kessel	Brabham-Ford	44	Not Classified	25
Ret	9	Vittorio Brambilla	March-Ford	43	Accident	7
Ret	30	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	43	Accident	17
Ret	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	40	Accident	18
Ret	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow-Ford	40	Fuel Pump	8
Ret	19	Alan Jones	Surtees-Ford	30	Accident	15
Ret	34	Hans Joachim Stuck	March-Ford	26	Fuel System	11
Ret	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	24	Suspension	13
Ret	20	Arturo Merzario	Wolf-Williams-Ford	17	Accident	21
Ret	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow-Ford	14	Brakes	6
Ret	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Ford	14	Suspension	10
Ret	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	0	Clutch	14

Notes

• This was the last Grand Prix up to date where no Ferrari entered.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda 61 2 James Hunt 38 3 Jody Scheckter 36 4 Patrick Depailler 26 5 John Watson 19

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 64 2 Tyrrell-Ford 49 3 McLaren-Ford 43 (44) 4 Penske-Ford 19 5 Ligier-Matra 16

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 7 results from the first 8 races and the best 7 results from the last 8 races counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from "The Official Formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1976/452/. Retrieved 2007-06-16.