The 1976 Belgian Grand Prix, otherwise known as the XXXIV Grote Prijs van Belgie, was the fifth round of the 1976 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Zolder circuit on the 16 May 1976.[1] The race would be remembered for the dominant display of the Ferrari team, as well as a lucky escape for Chris Amon.[1]
The scarlet cars had dominated in qualifying to start the weekend, Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni locking out the front row for the tifosi by over two tenths of a second.[1] James Hunt was their closest challenger in third, sharing the second row with Patrick Depailler who would use the Tyrrell P34 once again.[1]
Indeed, the only flaw to Ferrari's weekend would be the fact that Hunt beat Regazzoni off the line, although Lauda would streak out of sight to all but secure the win at the first corner.[1] Hunt was therefore left to fight with Regazzoni, while Jacques Laffite made a good start to climb to fourth in the Ligier-Matra.[1]
It took until lap six for Regazzoni to elbow his way past Hunt, the F12 Ferraris simply unbeatable around the Zolder circuit.[1] As the Swiss racer jetted off after teammate Lauda, Depailler managed to force his way past Laffite after the Frenchman made a failed lunge at Hunt.[1]
With the scarlet duo out of sight the race became about the fight for third, Laffite retaking fourth from Depailler on lap fifteen to get back onto Hunt's tail.[1] However Matra V12 was enjoying the "go-kart style" Zolder circuit, and so Laffite went charging past Hunt just two laps later, dragging Depailler with him.[1]
Now in clean air, Laffite was able to drop Depailler, who would remain in an increasingly lonely fourth until his engine failed just before half distance.[1] His teammate Jody Scheckter moved into fourth having elbowed Hunt out of the way, the Brit now struggling with an ailing transmission.[1] Indeed, as Lauda and Regazzoni began lapping the backmarkers, the #11 McLaren rolled to a stop with no power going to the wheels.[1]
With that the race was run, bar a spectacular accident for Chris Amon in the Ensign.[1] On the 52nd lap the Kiwi suffered a wheel failure at highspeed, with the momentum of cornering managing to flip the Ensign over as it skidded across to an earth bank.[1] Miraculously Amon scrambled out of the cockpit uninjured, but was otherwise frustrated to have crashed out from fifth.[1]
Out front, meanwhile, Lauda cruised home with fastest lap to claim his first Grand Chelem having led every lap.[1] Regazzoni completed an excellent Ferrari one-two, while Laffite collected Ligier-Matra's first podium spot in third.[1] Scheckter, Alan Jones and Jochen Mass complete the scorers, the latter two a lap down.
Background
Once the mess surrounding James Hunt's disqualification had been sorted and the Brit restored as victor, the Championship stood thus after the Spanish Grand Prix. Defending Champion Niki Lauda continued to lead by fifteen points, double Hunt's corrected tally, while Patrick Depailler slipped to third. Clay Regazzoni and Jochen Mass completed the top five, while Gunnar Nilsson shot up the table, gaining a huge total of sixteen places.
With Hunt reinstated the gap at the top of the International Cup for Manufacturers' had been reduced, although Ferrari still held a daunting lead with their 33 point tally. McLaren-Ford Cosworth moved up into second with Hunt's restored heroics, some fifteen points behind, overtaking Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth on thirteen. Lotus-Ford Cosworth were big movers, up into fifth and level with Shadow-Ford Cosworth, while Brabham-Alfa Romeo had secured the first points of their new partnership.
Entry list
The full entry list for the 1976 Belgian Grand Prix is outlined below:
Practice Overview
Qualifying
Report
Qualifying Results
The full qualifying results for the 1976 Belgian Grand Prix are outlined below:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | P2 | P3 | |||||
| 1 | — | ||||||
| 2 | |||||||
- T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
- Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
Grid
| Pos. | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Driver | |
| ______________ | ||
| Row 1 | 1 | ______________ |
| Niki Lauda | 2 | |
| ______________ | Clay Regazzoni | |
| Row 2 | 3 | ______________ |
| James Hunt | 4 | |
| ______________ | Patrick Depailler | |
| Row 3 | 5 | ______________ |
| Vittorio Brambilla | 6 | |
| ______________ | Jacques Laffite | |
| Row 4 | 7 | ______________ |
| Jody Scheckter | 8 | |
| ______________ | Chris Amon | |
| Row 5 | 9 | ______________ |
| Carlos Pace | 10 | |
| ______________ | Ronnie Peterson | |
| Row 6 | 11 | ______________ |
| Mario Andretti | 12 | |
| ______________ | Carlos Reutemann | |
| Row 7 | 13 | ______________ |
| Tom Pryce | 14 | |
| ______________ | Jean-Pierre Jarier | |
| Row 8 | 15 | ______________ |
| Hans-Joachim Stuck | 16 | |
| ______________ | Alan Jones | |
| Row 9 | 17 | ______________ |
| John Watson | 18 | |
| ______________ | Jochen Mass | |
| Row 10 | 19 | ______________ |
| Patrick Nève | 20 | |
| ______________ | Larry Perkins | |
| Row 11 | 21 | ______________ |
| Arturo Merzario | 22 | |
| ______________ | Gunnar Nilsson | |
| Row 12 | 23 | ______________ |
| Loris Kessel | 24 | |
| ______________ | Harald Ertl | |
| Row 13 | 25 | ______________ |
| Michel Leclère | 26 | |
| ______________ | Brett Lunger |
Race
Report
Results
The full results for the 1976 Belgian Grand Prix are outlined below:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 |
Milestones
- First and only entry for Antonio Bernardo.
- Nineteenth pole position for Niki Lauda.
- Lauda claimed his tenth career victory.
- It was also the Austrian's first and only Grand Chelem.
- Ferrari earned their 62nd victory as a constructor and engine supplier.
- Maiden podium finish for Ligier as a constructor.
Standings
A third victory of an incredibly consistent start to the season ensured that Niki Lauda extended his Championship lead in Belgium, the Austrian's tally now standing at 42 points (before correction). Clay Regazzoni had moved up the second after backing his teammate across the weekend, while James Hunt would slip to seventh before his Spanish exclusion was lifted. Patrick Depailler and Jochen Mass completed the top five, while Alan Jones had become the seventeenth different scorer of 1976 with his fifth place finish.
After a second one-two of the season, Ferrari were in a daunting position atop the International Cup for Manufacturers' standings, leaving Zolder with 42 points to their name. McLaren-Ford Cosworth were their closest challengers once Hunt had been reinstated, while Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth retained third, but both were over 20 points behind. Ligier-Matra, meanwhile, were up to fourth in their first season, pushing Lotus-Ford Cosworth and Shadow-Ford Cosworth down the order.
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- * Corrected to show points after Hunt was reinstated as the winner of the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix.
References
Images and Videos:
References:
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: BELGIAN GP, 1976', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr269.html, (Accessed 06/02/2018)
- ↑ 'Spain 1976: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1976/espagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 22/01/2018)
| V T E |  Belgian Grand Prix
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