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1976 Austrian Grand Prix

1976 Austrian Grand Prix
Race 11 of 16 in the 1976 Formula One season ← Previous race Next race →
The Österreichring (1969–76)
Race details
Date	15 August 1976
Official name	XIV Raiffeisen Großer Preis von Österreich[1]
Location	Österreichring Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.911 km (3.673 miles)
Distance	54 laps, 319.914 km (198.342 miles)
Pole position
Driver	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford
Time	1:35.02[2]
Fastest lap
Driver	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford
Time	1:35.91[3] (lap record)
Podium
First	John Watson	Penske-Ford
Second	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra
Third	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus-Ford
Lap leaders

Motor car race

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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,^[6] there was talk that the race would be cancelled. In the event, the race went ahead, but was attended by fewer spectators than usual.^[7][8]

As of 2024^[update], this remains the last World Championship race that Ferrari did not enter and the last time an American-licensed constructor won a F1 race.^[9][10] 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.

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	+ 10 Laps	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
WD	40	Karl Oppitzhauser	March-Ford
WD	41	Otto Stuppacher	Tyrrell-Ford
Source:[11]

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda 58 2 James Hunt 47 3 Jody Scheckter 34 4 Patrick Depailler 26 5 John Watson 18 Source: [12]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 61 2 McLaren-Ford 52 (53) 3 Tyrrell-Ford 47 4 Penske-Ford 18 5 Ligier-Matra 16 Source: [12]

• 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. Points accurate at final declaration of results: Hunt was subsequently disqualified from the British Grand Prix.