The 1976 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Österreichring on 15 August 1976. It was the eleventh race of the 1976 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1976 International Cup for F1 Constructors.
The 54-lap race was won by John Watson, driving a Penske-Ford. As well as being Watson's first F1 victory, it was also the only F1 victory for the Penske team, coming a year after the death of their former driver Mark Donohue at the same circuit. Roger Penske would withdraw from F1 at the end of the season to concentrate on Indycars.
Jacques Laffite finished second in a Ligier-Matra, with Gunnar Nilsson third in a Lotus-Ford. Drivers' Championship challenger James Hunt finished fourth in his McLaren-Ford, having started from pole position.
Local drivers Otto Stuppacher and Karl Oppitzhauser had applied to enter the event, but were refused due to their lack of experience. They had entered under the ÖASC Racing Team banner, with Stuppacher bringing a Tyrrell 007 to the circuit, and Oppitzhauser a March 761. They petitioned the other teams for support, but none was forthcoming and hence they did not participate.
With local hero Niki Lauda still in hospital following his near-fatal accident at the Nürburgring two weeks previously, and Ferrari not entering the race in protest at the reinstatement of Hunt as the winner of the Spanish Grand Prix, there was talk that the race would be cancelled. In the event, the race went ahead, but was attended by fewer spectators than usual.
, this remains the last World Championship race that Ferrari did not enter and the last time an American-licensed constructor won a F1 race.Though American-owned, Shadow achieved a victory at the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix having raced with a British licence. See the and the This would also be the last occasion to date that a female driver would not only qualify for but also finish a Grand Prix with Lella Lombardi qualifying 24th and finishing four laps down in 12th place in a RAM Racing entered Brabham.
Qualifying
Qualifying classification Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo1James HuntMcLaren-Ford1:35.0212John WatsonPenske-Ford1:35.8423Ronnie PetersonMarch-Ford1:36.3434Gunnar NilssonLotus-Ford1:36.4645Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra1:36.5256Tom PryceShadow-Ford1:36.5667Vittorio BrambillaMarch-Ford1:36.5978Carlos PaceBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:36.6689Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:36.68910Jody ScheckterTyrrell-Ford1:36.911011Hans-Joachim StuckMarch-Ford1:36.951112Jochen MassMcLaren-Ford1:37.221213Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford1:37.241314Carlos ReutemannBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:37.241415Alan JonesSurtees-Ford1:37.601516Brett LungerSurtees-Ford1:37.621617Emerson FittipaldiCopersucar-Ford1:37.761718Jean-Pierre JarierShadow-Ford1:37.881819Hans BinderEnsign-Ford1:38.361920Harald ErtlHesketh-Ford1:39.092021Arturo MerzarioWolf-Williams-Ford1:39.332122Henri PescaroloSurtees-Ford1:39.842223Alessandro Pesenti-RossiTyrrell-Ford1:40.672324Lella LombardiBrabham-Ford1:42.252425Loris KesselBrabham-Ford1:56.0125
Race
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 22 Hans Binder Ensign-Ford 47 Throttle 19 32 Loris Kessel Brabham-Ford 44 + 10 Laps 25 9 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 43 Accident 7 30 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 43 Accident 17 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 40 Accident 18 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 40 Fuel Pump 8 19 Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 30 Accident 15 34 Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 26 Fuel System 11 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 24 Suspension 13 20 Arturo Merzario Wolf-Williams-Ford 17 Accident 21 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 14 Brakes 6 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 14 Suspension 10 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 0 Clutch 14 40 Karl Oppitzhauser March-Ford 41 Otto Stuppacher Tyrrell-Ford
Notes
This was the 100th race in which a Brazilian driver participated. In those 100 races, Brazilian drivers won 15 Grands Prix, achieved 38 podium finishes, 7 pole positions, 11 fastest laps and won 2 World Championships. This race marked the 10th pole position and 10th fastest lap for McLaren. This was the 1st Grand Prix win for Penske and the first win for an American constructor since the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda* 58 2 James Hunt* 47 3 Jody Scheckter* 34 4 Patrick Depailler* 26 2 5 John Watson* 18Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari* 61 2 McLaren-Ford* 52 (53) 3 Tyrrell-Ford* 47 1 4 Penske-Ford* 18 1 5 Ligier-Matra 16Source:
Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
References