1977 Austrian Grand Prix

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 mi)
Distance	54 laps, 320.868 km (199.378 mi)
Weather	Wet, then drying
Pole position
Driver	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
Time	1:39.32
Fastest lap
Driver	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Time	1:40.96 on lap 52
Podium
First	Alan Jones	Shadow-Ford
Second	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
Third	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Lap leaders

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]

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[]

Qualifying classification[]

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
27	Brian Henton	March-Ford	1:42,43	—
Cut-off
28	Ian Ashley	Hesketh-Ford	1:42,52	—
29	Héctor Rebaque	Hesketh-Ford	1:42,75	—
30	Alex Ribeiro	March-Ford	no time	—

Race[]

Race report[]

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 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.

Classification[]

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:[2]

Championship standings after the race[]

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda 54 2 Jody Scheckter 38 3 Carlos Reutemann 34 4 Mario Andretti 32 5 James Hunt 22 Source: [3]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 71 (73) 2 Lotus-Ford 47 3 Wolf-Ford 38 4 McLaren-Ford 35 5 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 27 Source: [3]

• 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[]