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1977 French Grand Prix

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1977 French Grand Prix
Race 9 of 17 in the 1977 Formula One season
Race details
Date 3 July 1977
Location Dijon-Prenois, Dijon, France
Course length 3.801 km (2.361 miles)
Distance 80 laps, 304.08 km (188.88 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:12.21
Fastest lap
Driver United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford
Time 1:13.75 on lap 76
Podium
First Lotus-Ford
Second Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Third McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders
Motor car race

The 1977 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Dijon-Prenois near Dijon, France on 3 July 1977. It was race 9 of 17 in both the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors.

The 80-lap race was won by American driver Mario Andretti, driving a Lotus-Ford, after he started from pole position. Northern Irishman John Watson led for most of the race in his Brabham-Alfa Romeo, before Andretti passed him on the final lap. Watson finished 1.55 seconds behind the American, with Englishman James Hunt third in his McLaren-Ford.

Austrian Niki Lauda finished fifth in his Ferrari to take the lead of the Drivers' Championship from South African Jody Scheckter, who failed to finish in his Wolf-Ford.

Report

Once again it was Mario Andretti on pole with James Hunt second and Gunnar Nilsson third on the grid. Hunt got the best start and led into the first corner from John Watson and Jacques Laffite, with Andretti dropping down to fourth. However, Watson passed Hunt on the fifth lap and started to build a gap until Andretti got up to second and began to reel him in. During the final few laps, leader Watson and Andretti were running nose-to-tail but Watson held him off till the last lap when his engine missed a beat and immediately Andretti was past. Andretti thus took the win ahead of a crestfallen Watson and Hunt.

Classification

Qualifying classification

Pos. No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 5 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:12.21
2 1 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:12.73 +0.52
3 6 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 1:12.79 +0.58
4 7 United Kingdom John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:12.83 +0.62
5 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:13.30 +1.09
6 12 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:13.36 +1.15
7 2 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:13.41 +1.20
8 20 South Africa Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:13.45 +1.24
9 11 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:13.52 +1.31
10 17 Australia Alan Jones Shadow-Ford 1:13.56 +1.35
11 19 Italy Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:13.61 +1.40
12 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:13.66 +1.45
13 8 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:13.67 +1.46
14 24 United Kingdom Rupert Keegan Hesketh-Ford 1:13.71 +1.50
15 16 Italy Riccardo Patrese Shadow-Ford 1:13.87 +1.66
16 22 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 1:13.90 +1.69
17 3 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford 1:13.92 +1.71
18 37 Italy Arturo Merzario March-Ford 1:13.92 +1.71
19 34 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford 1:14.17 +1.96
20 10 South Africa Ian Scheckter March-Ford 1:14.24 +2.03
21 31 United Kingdom David Purley LEC-Ford 1:14.39 +2.18
22 28 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:14.45 +2.24
Cut-off
23 9 Brazil Alex Ribeiro March-Ford 1:14.60 +2.39
24 27 Belgium Patrick Nève March-Ford 1:14.74 +2.53
25 30 United States Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:14.83 +2.62
26 25 Austria Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 1:15.06 +2.85
27 18 Australia Larry Perkins Surtees-Ford 1:15.13 +2.92
28 39 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Hesketh-Ford 1:15.88 +3.67
29 18 France Patrick Tambay Surtees-Ford 1:16.06 +3.85
30 35 Sweden Conny Andersson BRM 1:16.17 +3.96

Race classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 80 1:39:40.13 1 9
2 7 United Kingdom John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 80 + 1.55 4 6
3 1 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 80 + 33.87 2 4
4 6 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 80 + 1:11.08 3 3
5 11 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 80 + 1:14.15 9 2
6 12 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 79 + 1 Lap 6 1
7 22 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 16  
8 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 78 + 2 Laps 5  
9 2 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 7  
10 24 United Kingdom Rupert Keegan Hesketh-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 14  
11 28 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 22  
12 3 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 17  
13 19 Italy Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 11  
NC 10 South Africa Ian Scheckter March-Ford 69 + 11 Laps 20  
Ret 20 South Africa Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 66 Accident 8  
Ret 8 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo 64 Accident 13  
Ret 17 Australia Alan Jones Shadow-Ford 60 Transmission 10  
Ret 37 Italy Arturo Merzario March-Ford 27 Gearbox 18  
Ret 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 21 Accident 12  
Ret 16 Italy Riccardo Patrese Shadow-Ford 6 Engine 15  
Ret 31 United Kingdom David Purley LEC-Ford 5 Accident 21  
Ret 34 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford 4 Accident 19  
DNQ 9 Brazil Alex Ribeiro March-Ford    
DNQ 27 Belgium Patrick Nève March-Ford    
DNQ 30 United States Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford    
DNQ 25 Austria Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford    
DNQ 18 Australia Larry Perkins Surtees-Ford    
DNQ 39 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Hesketh-Ford    
DNQ 18 France Patrick Tambay Surtees-Ford    
DNQ 35 Sweden Conny Andersson BRM        
Source:

Notes

  • This was the Formula One World Championship debut for French driver and future Grand Prix winner Patrick Tambay.
  • This was the 5th Grand Slam for an American driver.
  • This race marked the 200th Grand Prix start for a Swedish driver. In those 200 races, Swedish drivers had won 10 Grands Prix, achieved 24 podium finishes, 12 pole positions, and 6 fastest laps.
  • This was the 25th Grand Prix start for Ligier.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Austria Niki Lauda 33
2 United States Mario Andretti 32
3 South Africa Jody Scheckter 32
4 Argentina Carlos Reutemann 28
5 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson 16
Source:
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Italy Ferrari 50 (52)
2 United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 43
3 Canada Wolf-Ford 32
4 United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 25
5 United Kingdom Brabham-Alfa Romeo 17
Source:

  • 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

  1. "1977 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  2. ^ "France 1977 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.


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