The 1976 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp, Sweden on 13 June 1976. It was the seventh round of the 1976 Formula One season and the ninth Swedish Grand Prix. The race was contested over 72 laps of the 4.0 km circuit for a race distance of 290 kilometres.
It saw the first and only win of a six-wheel car – the Tyrrell P34. The theory was that its four front wheels would increase mechanical front-end grip – with more rubber on the road – and thus eliminate understeer while at the same time improve cornering and braking. When it was revealed it was the instant sensation of the 1976 season.
Tyrrell's Jody Scheckter took pole, with Patrick Depailler in fourth. In the race it was Mario Andretti in the Lotus 77 who led for much of the race. Andretti however had been penalised sixty seconds for jumping the start. Andretti's engine failed on lap 46 while attempting to build his lead over the two Tyrrells. They went on to finish first and second, Jody Scheckter leading Patrick Depailler to the line for his second Swedish Grand Prix victory.
Eight laps before Andretti's retirement Chris Amon crashed his Ensign N176 after a suspension failure, allowing championship leader Niki Lauda to move into the position that became third in his Ferrari 312T2. Jacques Laffite continued to show the promise of the Ligier JS5 in fourth. James Hunt was fifth in his McLaren M23 and Clay Regazzoni climbed into the final point in the second Ferrari late in the race.
Classification Qualifying Driver Constructor Time/Gap 1 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell–Ford 1:25.659 2 Mario Andretti Lotus–Ford +0.349 3 Chris Amon Ensign–Ford +0.504 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell–Ford +0.703 5 Niki Lauda Ferrari +0.782 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus–Ford +0.911 7 Jacques Laffite Ligier–Matra +1.114 8 James Hunt McLaren–Ford +1.299 9 Ronnie Peterson March–Ford +1.381 10 Carlos Pace Brabham–Alfa Romeo +1.474 11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari +1.498 12 Tom Pryce Shadow–Ford +1.868 13 Jochen Mass McLaren–Ford +1.909 14 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow–Ford +1.959 15 Vittorio Brambilla March–Ford +1.981 16 Carlos Reutemann Brabham–Alfa Romeo +2.103 17 John Watson Penske–Ford +2.406 18 Alan Jones Surtees–Ford +2.548 19 Arturo Merzario March–Ford +2.562 20 Hans-Joachim Stuck March–Ford +2.571 21 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi–Ford +3.011 22 Larry Perkins Boro–Ford +3.156 23 Harald Ertl Hesketh–Ford +3.226 24 Brett Lunger Surtees–Ford +3.684 25 Michel Leclère Wolf-Williams–Ford +3.938 26 Loris Kessel Brabham–Ford +4.361 27 Jac Nellemann Brabham–Ford +4.600 Source:Formula One 1976 Swedish Grand Prix Classification | Motorsport Stats *Drivers with a red background failed to qualify.
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 72 1:46:53.729 1 9 2 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 72 + 19.766 4 6 3 1 Niki Lauda Ferrari 72 + 33.866 5 4 4 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 72 + 55.819 7 3 5 11 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 72 + 59.483 8 2 6 2 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 72 + 1:00.366 11 1 7 10 Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 72 + 1:03.493 9 8 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 72 + 1:11.613 10 9 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 71 + 1 lap 12 10 9 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 71 + 1 Lap 15 11 12 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 71 + 1 Lap 13 12 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 71 + 1 Lap 14 13 19 Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 71 + 1 Lap 18 14 35 Arturo Merzario March-Ford 70 Engine 19 15 18 Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford 70 + 2 Laps 24 24 Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 54 Spun Off 23 34 Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 52 Engine 20 5 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 45 Engine 2 22 Chris Amon Ensign-Ford 38 Accident 3 21 Michel Leclère Wolf-Williams-Ford 20 Engine 25 37 Larry Perkins Boro-Ford 18 Engine 22 30 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 10 Handling 21 32 Loris Kessel Brabham-Ford 5 Accident 26 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 2 Accident 6 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 2 Engine 16 28 John Watson Penske-Ford 0 Accident 17 33 Jac Nellemann Brabham-Ford
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Danish driver Jac Nellemann. This race marked the 200th Grand Prix in which an Italian driver participated. In those 200 races, Italian drivers won 25 Grands Prix, achieved 81 podium finishes, 22 pole positions, 24 fastest laps, 7 Grand Slams and won 3 World Championships. This was the 1st pole position set by a South African driver. This was the 2nd win of a Swedish Grand Prix for Jody Scheckter, breaking the previous record set by Denny Hulme at the 1973 Swedish Grand Prix. Equally, it was Tyrrell's second win of the Swedish Grand Prix, breaking the previous record set by McLaren at the same Grand Prix. This race marked the 200th Grand Prix start for Lotus. In those 200 races, Lotus won 57 Grands Prix, achieved 103 podium finishes, 67 pole positions, 51 fastest laps, 13 Grand Slams, and won 5 Driver's and 6 Constructor's World Championships. This was the 49th and 50th podium finish for Tyrrell. This was the 17th consecutive top-10 finish for Niki Lauda, a record streak that had begun since the 1975 Monaco Grand Prix and that broke the previous record of 14 consecutive top-10 finishes by Juan Manuel Fangio, set between the 1953 French Grand Prix and the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix.
Championship standings after the race Points are accurate at the conclusion of the race and do not reflect final results of the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix as it was under appeal.
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda 55 2 2 Jody Scheckter 23 3 Patrick Depailler 20 2 4 Clay Regazzoni 16 1 5 Jacques Laffite 10Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 58 2 Tyrrell-Ford 31 3 McLaren-Ford 14 4 Ligier-Matra 10 5 Lotus-Ford 6Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References