1977 Austrian Grand Prix

The 1977 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Österreichring on 14 August 1977. It was the twelfth race of the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors.[1]

1977 Austrian Grand Prix
Race 12 of 17 in the 1977 Formula One season
Race details
Date 14 August 1977
Official name XV Gröbl Möbel Großer Preis von Österreich
Location Österreichring
Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.942 km (3.692 miles)
Distance 54 laps, 320.868 km (199.378 miles)
Weather Wet, then drying
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:39.32
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Time 1:40.96 on lap 52
Podium
First Shadow-Ford
Second Ferrari
Third Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Lap leaders

Since the previous year's race, the Hella-Licht corner had been converted to a fast chicane, thus increasing the length of the circuit to 5.942 kilometres (3.692 mi). The race was held over 54 laps of the circuit for a race distance of 320.8 kilometres (199.3 mi).

The race was won by Australian driver and future World Champion, Alan Jones, driving a Shadow-Ford. It was Jones's first Formula One victory, and the only victory for the Shadow team in its eight-year F1 history. Local hero Niki Lauda finished second in his Ferrari, having started from pole position, with West Germany's Hans-Joachim Stuck third in a Brabham-Alfa Romeo.

Qualifying

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Qualifying classification

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Pos. Driver Constructor Time No
1   Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:39,32 1
2   James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:39,45 2
3   Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:39,74 3
4   Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:39,97 4
5   Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:40,12 5
6   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:40,22 6
7   Patrick Tambay Ensign-Ford 1:40,29 7
8   Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:40,40 8
9   Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:40,44 9
10   Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:40,62 10
11   Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 1:40,74 11
12   John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:40,92 12
13   Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:40,93 13
14   Alan Jones Shadow-Ford 1:41,00 14
15   Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford 1:41,13 15
16   Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 1:41,24 16
17   Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:41,40 17
18   Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford 1:41,70 18
19   Hans Binder Penske-Ford 1:41,71 19
20   Rupert Keegan Hesketh-Ford 1:41,92 20
21   Arturo Merzario Shadow-Ford 1:41,92 21
22   Patrick Nève March-Ford 1:41,96 22
23   Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:42,15 23
24   Ian Scheckter March-Ford 1:42,22 24
25   Vern Schuppan Surtees-Ford 1:42,31 25
26   Emilio de Villota McLaren-Ford 1:42,38 26
Cut-off
27   Brian Henton March-Ford 1:42,43
28   Ian Ashley Hesketh-Ford 1:42,52
29   Héctor Rebaque Hesketh-Ford 1:42,75
30   Alex Ribeiro March-Ford no time

Race

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Race report

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Rain had fallen immediately prior to the race start leaving the track wet but would not rain during the race. Tyre choice was split between wets and slicks. Mario Andretti led early until the engine failed in his Lotus 78. The track was drying by this time. Gunnar Nilsson and Jones had starred in the early laps on the wet track. Nilsson moving from 16th to second and Jones progressed from his 14th grid position to fourth. James Hunt became the race leader. Nilsson pitted to replace his ruined wet tyres on his Lotus 78 while Jones moved past Hans-Joachim Stuck's Brabham and Jody Scheckter's Wolf WR3 into second position. Jones would not have progressed further but for an engine failure in Hunt's McLaren M26 late in the race. Nilsson recovered from his pitstop to third until an engine failure claimed its second Lotus of the day. Lauda's poor handling Ferrari came on as the track dried and he moved into second while Stuck survived to claim the final podium position. Scheckter spun off leaving Carlos Reutemann in the second Ferrari 312T2 to finish fourth ahead of Ronnie Peterson in the Tyrrell P34 and the second McLaren of Jochen Mass claimed the final championship point in sixth. Despite the changeable condition, 16 cars finished the race with 17 classified. The seventeenth was Emilio de Villota, who crashed his privately entered McLaren M23 in the closing stages while on his 51st lap.

It had been seven years since the last victory by an Australian (Jack Brabham in the 1970 South African Grand Prix). Jones' win had no effect on the championship points race. Lauda's second place, coupled with retirements to Scheckter, Andretti and Hunt significantly strengthened Lauda's grip on the championship, expanding his lead to 16 points.

According to a misconception claimed by Alan Jones[2] the "Happy Birthday to You" was played for him as a winning driver during the podium ceremony instead of the national anthem of Australia.[3] However, "Advance Australia Fair" was actually played,[4] different from what Jones remembered. Yet "God Save the Queen" was the national anthem of Australia in 1977, being replaced by "Advance Australia Fair" in 1984, and "God Save the Queen" was really not played on the podium.

Classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 17   Alan Jones Shadow-Ford 54 1:37:16.49 14 9
2 11   Niki Lauda Ferrari 54 + 20.13 1 6
3 8   Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo 54 + 34.5 4 4
4 12   Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 54 + 34.75 5 3
5 3   Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:02.09 15 2
6 2   Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 9 1
7 24   Rupert Keegan Hesketh-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 20
8 7   John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 53 + 1 Lap 12
9 27   Patrick Nève March-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 22
10 30   Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 17
11 28   Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 23
12 33   Hans Binder Penske-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 19
13 4   Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 10
14 34   Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 18
15 19   Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 13
16 18   Vern Schuppan Surtees-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 25
17 36   Emilio de Villota McLaren-Ford 50 Accident 26
Ret 20   Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 45 Spun Off 8
Ret 1   James Hunt McLaren-Ford 43 Engine 2
Ret 23   Patrick Tambay Ensign-Ford 41 Engine 7
Ret 6   Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 38 Engine 16
Ret 16   Arturo Merzario Shadow-Ford 29 Gearbox 21
Ret 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 21 Oil Leak 6
Ret 5   Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 11 Engine 3
Ret 10   Ian Scheckter March-Ford 2 Accident 24
Ret 22   Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 0 Accident 11
DNQ 38   Brian Henton March-Ford
DNQ 39   Ian Ashley Hesketh-Ford
DNQ 25   Héctor Rebaque Hesketh-Ford
DNQ 9   Alex Ribeiro March-Ford
Source:[5]

Notes

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  • This was the 25th podium finish for an Alfa Romeo-powered car.

Championship standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 8 results from the first 9 races and the best 7 results from the remaining 8 races were retained. Numbers without parentheses are retained points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

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  1. ^ "1977 Austrian Grand Prix Entry list".
  2. ^ Russell, Scott (2021-08-04). "Formula 1 Mythbusters: Part One". Champagne + Slicks. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  3. ^ George, Dhruv (2019-09-03). "TIL: Band Forgot Australian National Anthem After Alan Jones Victory and Instead Played Happy Birthday!". EssentiallySports. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  4. ^ "The wild Austrian GP that launched a future champion".
  5. ^ "1977 Austrian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Austria 1977 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 7 March 2019.


Previous race:
1977 German Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1977 season
Next race:
1977 Dutch Grand Prix
Previous race:
1976 Austrian Grand Prix
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1978 Austrian Grand Prix