1976 French Grand Prix
# 1976 French Grand Prix

The 1976 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, near Marseille in France, on 4 July 1976. It was the eighth race of the 1976 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1976 International Cup for F1 Constructors. It was the 54th French Grand Prix and the fourth to be held at Paul Ricard. The race was held over 54 laps of the 5.8-kilometre (3.6 mi) circuit for a race distance of 313 kilometres (194 mi).

The race was won by eventual 1976 world champion James Hunt driving a McLaren M23. Hunt won by twelve seconds over the Tyrrell P34 of Patrick Depailler. It was Hunt's second win for the year and his third career Grand Prix victory, although at this stage his appeal against disqualification from the Spanish Grand Prix win had yet to be upheld. Eleven seconds further back in third was John Watson driving a Penske PC4. It was the first podium finish for both Watson and Penske, although the result only came after Ronnie Peterson's March 761 stopped with three laps to go and after Watson was disqualified for a rear wing irregularity and subsequently reinstated upon appeal.

Fourth place was taken by young Brazilian driver Carlos Pace driving a Brabham BT45 ahead of Mario Andretti (Lotus 77) and the Tyrrell P34 of Jody Scheckter.

Reigning champion Niki Lauda retired his Ferrari 312T2 with an engine failure while leading. While Hunt would eventually prove to be the challenger to Lauda for the 1976 championship Lauda's points lead at this time was over the Tyrrell pair of Patrick Depailler (26 points) and Scheckter (24 points).

## Classification

### Qualifying

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 11 | James Hunt | McLaren-Ford | 1:47.89 | — |
| 2 | 1 | Niki Lauda | Ferrari | 1:48.17 | +0.28 |
| 3 | 4 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:48.59 | +0.70 |
| 4 | 2 | Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari | 1:48.69 | +0.80 |
| 5 | 8 | Carlos Pace | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 1:48.75 | +0.86 |
| 6 | 10 | Ronnie Peterson | March-Ford | 1:49.07 | +1.18 |
| 7 | 5 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | 1:49.19 | +1.30 |
| 8 | 28 | John Watson | Penske-Ford | 1:49.22 | +1.33 |
| 9 | 3 | Jody Scheckter | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:49.63 | +1.74 |
| 10 | 7 | Carlos Reutemann | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 1:49.79 | +1.90 |
| 11 | 9 | Vittorio Brambilla | March-Ford | 1:49.79 | +1.90 |
| 12 | 6 | Gunnar Nilsson | Lotus-Ford | 1:49.83 | +1.94 |
| 13 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Matra | 1:50.06 | +2.17 |
| 14 | 12 | Jochen Mass | McLaren-Ford | 1:50.10 | +2.21 |
| 15 | 17 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Shadow-Ford | 1:50.12 | +2.23 |
| 16 | 16 | Tom Pryce | Shadow-Ford | 1:50.27 | +2.38 |
| 17 | 34 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | March-Ford | 1:50.31 | +2.42 |
| 18 | 19 | Alan Jones | Surtees-Ford | 1:51.11 | +3.22 |
| 19 | 20 | Jacky Ickx | Wolf-Williams-Ford | 1:51.41 | +3.52 |
| 20 | 35 | Arturo Merzario | March-Ford | 1:51.79 | +3.90 |
| 21 | 30 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | 1:52.11 | +4.22 |
| 22 | 21 | Michel Leclère | Wolf-Williams-Ford | 1:52.29 | +4.40 |
| 23 | 18 | Brett Lunger | Surtees-Ford | 1:52.41 | +4.52 |
| 24 | 38 | Henri Pescarolo | Surtees-Ford | 1:52.60 | +4.71 |
| 25 | 25 | Guy Edwards | Hesketh-Ford | 1:52.63 | +4.74 |
| 26 | 22 | Patrick Nève | Ensign-Ford | 1:52.82 | +4.93 |
| 27 | 33 | Damien Magee | Brabham-Ford | 1:53.49 | +5.60 |
| 28 | 31 | Ingo Hoffmann | Fittipaldi-Ford | 1:53.78 | +5.89 |
| 29 | 24 | Harald Ertl | Hesketh-Ford | 1:53.79 | +5.90 |
| 30 | 32 | Loris Kessel | Brabham-Ford | 1:55.30 | +7.41 |
| Source: ||||||

*Drivers with a red background failed to qualify. Ertl had failed to qualify, but he had started on the back of the grid.

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 11 | James Hunt | McLaren-Ford | 54 | 1:40:58.60 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 4 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell-Ford | 54 | + 12.70 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 28 | John Watson | Penske-Ford | 54 | + 23.55 | 8 | 4 |
| 4 | 8 | Carlos Pace | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 54 | + 24.82 | 5 | 3 |
| 5 | 5 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | 54 | + 43.92 | 7 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 | Jody Scheckter | Tyrrell-Ford | 54 | + 55.07 | 9 | 1 |
| 7 | 34 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | March-Ford | 54 | + 1:21.55 | 17 | |
| 8 | 16 | Tom Pryce | Shadow-Ford | 54 | + 1:30.67 | 16 | |
| 9 | 35 | Arturo Merzario | March-Ford | 54 | + 1:53.57 | 20 | |
| 10 | 20 | Jacky Ickx | Wolf-Williams-Ford | 53 | + 1 Lap | 19 | |
| 11 | 7 | Carlos Reutemann | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 53 | + 1 Lap | 10 | |
| 12 | 17 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Shadow-Ford | 53 | + 1 Lap | 15 | |
| 13 | 21 | Michel Leclère | Wolf-Williams-Ford | 53 | + 1 Lap | 22 | |
| 14 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Matra | 53 | + 1 Lap | 13 | |
| 15 | 12 | Jochen Mass | McLaren-Ford | 53 | + 1 Lap | 14 | |
| 16 | 18 | Brett Lunger | Surtees-Ford | 53 | + 1 Lap | 23 | |
| 17 | 25 | Guy Edwards | Hesketh-Ford | 53 | + 1 Lap | 25 | |
| 18 | 22 | Patrick Nève | Ensign-Ford | 53 | + 1 Lap | 26 | |
| 19 | 10 | Ronnie Peterson | March-Ford | 51 | Fuel System | 6 | |
| Ret | 19 | Alan Jones | Surtees-Ford | 44 | Suspension | 18 | |
| Ret | 9 | Vittorio Brambilla | March-Ford | 28 | Oil Pressure | 11 | |
| Ret | 30 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | 21 | Oil Pressure | 21 | |
| Ret | 38 | Henri Pescarolo | Surtees-Ford | 19 | Suspension | 24 | |
| Ret | 2 | Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari | 17 | Engine | 4 | |
| Ret | 1 | Niki Lauda | Ferrari | 8 | Engine | 2 | |
| Ret | 6 | Gunnar Nilsson | Lotus-Ford | 8 | Gearbox | 12 | |
| Ret | 24 | Harald Ertl | Hesketh-Ford | 4 | Differential | 27 | |
| Source: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Niki Lauda | 55 |
| 2 | Patrick Depailler | 26 |
| 3 | Jody Scheckter | 24 |
| 4 | James Hunt | 17 |
| 5 | Clay Regazzoni | 16 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Ferrari | 58 |
| 2 | Tyrrell-Ford | 37 |
| 3 | McLaren-Ford | 23 |
| 4 | Ligier-Matra | 10 |
| 5 | Lotus-Ford | 8 |
| Source: |||

* 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. Points accurate at final declaration of results: before the next race in Britain, Hunt was reinstated as the winner of the Spanish Grand Prix.
