Formula flashback: 1976 british gp

Gentlemen, a short view back to the past …. This week in F1 race history we revisit the drama of the 1976 British Grand Prix…

The 1976 British Grand Prix waa held at the Brands Hatch circuit on the 18th July 1976, and was the halfway point of what would turn out to be a historical season and contest between two of the most iconic rivals F1 has seen …. Nikki Lauda and James Hunt.

In the season so far, Nikki Lauda and his Ferrari were leading the world championship with 52 points and his rival trailing in second with 28. Lauda had dominated, winning five out of the eight races held so far, and being on the podium at every race apart from the most recent outing at the French GP. Going into the British GP, Mclaren were appealing James Hunt’s disqualification from the spanish GP due to his rear wing, meaning Lauda got the win. The appeal was successful and James Hunt’s Spanish win, along with the crucial nine world championship points were reinstated.

Qualifying saw Lauda claim pole with a 1:19.35, with Hunt joining him on the front row. The top ten also featured Lauda’s Ferrari teammate Clay Regazzoni, Mario Andretti and Jody Scheckter - who was 8th on the grid in the radical 6 wheeled Tyrrell P34.

A DNQ rule was in place during the season due to a packed entry list of around 40 cars. Two of the pioneering female drivers of Divinia Galica and Lella Lombardi failed to make it onto the grid due to their cars lack of pace.

Race weekend took place during Britain’s historic heatwave of 1976 and race day itself was hot, dry with sunshine, with temperatures reaching 32 degrees. This is an important to know for laters as it leads to some of the 80,000 fans to become highly irritable. The weather also puts a lot of stress on the mechanical parts of the cars, leading to issues later on in the race.

Lights out and Lauda launched off the line cleanly, Hunt however didn’t have the best start due to wheel spin, making him vulnerable to the rest of the oncoming pack. The second Ferrari of Regazonni got a great start, managing to lunge down the inside of Hunt into the first corner at Paddock Hill bend, which is a blind sweeping right hand steep downhill bend.

At turn one the two Ferrari’s touched, breaking Lauda’s wheel and sending Regazzoni spinning into the rest of the pack. James Hunt was struck and his Mclaren was launched into the air, breaking the suspension of his car. The race was red flagged due to the level of debris. Hunt, along with Regazzoni and Lafftie took a short cut back to the pits, breaking the rule that a car has to complete a full opening lap before returning to the pits.

Hunt, Regazzoni and Lafftie were all banned from taking the restart due to their rule break, leading to the hot and bothered british crowd becoming enraged and starting to throw bottle onto the track chanting ‘WE WANT HUNT’! Fearing a riot, and not being able to restart the race safely, the stewards caved and allowed Hunt to take part in the restart. During the chaos, Mclaren had to scramble to find a way to get Hunt’s car officially race ready again, with the car being so damaged they originally began to roll out the spare car (again another rule break as you were unable to use a spare car after a first lap red flag). Knowing that Ferrari and Tyrrel were about to launch on the spot protests, Mclaren managed to get Hunt’s damaged car ready for the race restart with just minutes to spare before the pitlane closed.

At the restart, Lauda again got away cleanly and led for the first half of the race, with home hero Hunt trailing behind in second. However on lap 45, Lauda’s Ferrari developed a a gearbox issue, making it hard for him to change gears.

Capitalising on his rivals car problems, Hunt closed the gap to Lauda and made the pass for the lead at Druids Corner. Hunt made the pass stick and led the final part of his home grand prix before taking victory at the chequered flag, with Lauda having to settle for second place and Jody Scheckter closing out the podium.

The chequered flag may have signalled the end of the race, but the season long drama was far from over.

Ferrari refused to give up their fight for the win and after the race they, along with Tyrrel and Copersucar formally lodged a protest on Hunt being allowed to take part in the restart of the race due to the rule break. Their complaint was originally dismissed by the local RAC stewards, however Ferrar escalated their appeal to the FIA World Motorsport Council. Two months later, on the 24th September 1976, the FIA ruled in favour of Ferrari and Lauda was granted the win and the additional 9 world championship points, while Hunt was disqualified from the British Grand Prix.

Hunt, despite this outcome, would go on to win the 1976 Drivers World Championship, dominating the North American leg of the season and crucially coming 3rd in the last race in Japan.

After the British Grand Prix, F1 headed to Germany and the Nurburgring, where Lauda suffered life changing injuries after his car crashed and was engulfed in flames while he was still trapped inside. Miraculously, Nikki Lauda returned to the cockpit of his Ferrari after only 6 weeks of recovery, and is considered as the greatest comeback in F1 history.