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1977 Japanese Grand Prix

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1977 Japanese Grand Prix
Race 17 of 17 in the 1977 Formula One season
Race details
Date 23 October 1977
Official name XII Japanese Grand Prix
Location Fuji Speedway
Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.359 km (2.709 miles)
Distance 73 laps, 318.207[1] km (197.725 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:12.23
Fastest lap
Driver South Africa Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford
Time 1:14.30 on lap 71
Podium
First McLaren-Ford
Second Ferrari
Third Tyrrell-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1977 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 23 October 1977 at Fuji. It was the 17th and final race of the 1977 Formula One World Championship. At the time, this was the last Japanese Grand Prix due to traveling and financial issues (in those days, in order to get to Japan from Europe required going through Anchorage, Alaska in the United States or through Hong Kong, as both the Soviet Union and Red China banned Western aircraft from flying in their airspace) and safety concerns with the Mount Fuji circuit, it was also the last Japanese Grand Prix to be held at Fuji Speedway until 2007. The race would return in 1987, held at the better spectated and safer Suzuka Circuit.[1]

Report

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Mario Andretti and James Hunt continued their late-season battle, with the American pipping Hunt to the pole, with John Watson heading the second row. Hunt took the lead at the start, and Jody Scheckter and Jochen Mass jumped up to second and third, whereas Andretti had a terrible start and was at the tail of the top ten. On the second lap, Andretti was involved in a collision while trying to gain places, putting him out with Binder and Takahara. With Andretti out, Hunt had no challengers left and he built a large gap, with teammate Mass second and Watson passing Scheckter for third. However, both Mass and Watson had to retire within one lap of each other with engine and gearbox failures, and with Scheckter dropping back, Carlos Reutemann was second until he was passed by Jacques Laffite. Hunt went on and capped off the season with a comfortable win, whereas Laffite ran of fuel on the last lap, handing over second to Reutemann and allowing Patrick Depailler to complete the podium.

A marshal and photographer were killed by debris following a collision involving Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari and Ronnie Peterson's Tyrrell P34 on lap six. They had both been standing in a prohibited area of the track when the accident occurred.[2] The marshal was trying to clear spectators away from the area.[3]

After the race concluded, both Hunt and Reutemann left the circuit immediately to catch a flight home, leaving Depailler and his engineer on the podium.[4][5] Rules changed shortly thereafter making the podium celebration mandatory.

March's driver Ian Scheckter was denied entry into and expelled from Japan due to only having a tourist visa passport (unlike his brother Jody Scheckter, who had a working visa) and Japanese objections to the South African apartheid regime.[6]

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos. Driver Constructor Time
1 United States Mario Andretti LotusFord 1:12.23
2 United Kingdom James Hunt McLarenFord +0.16
3 United Kingdom John Watson BrabhamAlfa Romeo +0.26
4 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck BrabhamAlfa Romeo +0.78
5 France Jacques Laffite LigierMatra +0.85
6 South Africa Jody Scheckter WolfFord +0.92
7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari +1.09
8 West Germany Jochen Mass McLarenFord +1.14
9 Italy Vittorio Brambilla SurteesFord +1.14
10 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni EnsignFord +1.29
11 Japan Kazuyoshi Hoshino KojimaFord +1.32
12 Australia Alan Jones ShadowFord +1.33
13 Italy Riccardo Patrese ShadowFord +1.35
14 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson LotusFord +1.43
15 France Patrick Depailler TyrrellFord +1.93
16 France Patrick Tambay EnsignFord +1.99
17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier LigierMatra +2.02
18 Sweden Ronnie Peterson TyrrellFord +2.03
19 Japan Noritake Takahara KojimaFord +2.13
20 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari +2.28
21 Austria Hans Binder SurteesFord +2.50
22 Japan Kunimitsu Takahashi TyrrellFord +2.65
23 Brazil Alex Ribeiro MarchFord +2.78
Source:[7]

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford G 73 1:31:51.68 2 9
2 12 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari G 73 + 1:02.45 7 6
3 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford G 73 + 1:06.39 15 4
4 17 Australia Alan Jones Shadow-Ford G 73 + 1:06.61 12 3
5 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra G 72 Out of Fuel 5 2
6 16 Italy Riccardo Patrese Shadow-Ford G 72 + 1 Lap 13 1
7 8 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 72 + 1 Lap 4
8 19 Italy Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford G 71 + 2 Laps 9
9 50 Japan Kunimitsu Takahashi Tyrrell-Ford D 71 + 2 Laps 22
10 20 South Africa Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford G 71 + 2 Laps 6
11 52 Japan Kazuyoshi Hoshino Kojima-Ford B 71 + 2 Laps 11
12 9 Brazil Alex Ribeiro March-Ford G 69 + 4 Laps 23
Ret 6 Sweden Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford G 63 Gearbox 14
Ret 22 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford G 43 Engine 10
Ret 7 United Kingdom John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 29 Gearbox 3
Ret 2 West Germany Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford G 28 Engine 8
Ret 23 France Patrick Tambay Ensign-Ford G 14 Engine 16
Ret 3 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford G 5 Accident 18
Ret 11 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari G 5 Accident 20
Ret 27 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Matra G 3 Engine 17
Ret 5 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 1 Collision 1
Ret 51 Japan Noritake Takahara Kojima-Ford B 1 Collision 19
Ret 18 Austria Hans Binder Surtees-Ford G 1 Collision 21
Source:[8][9]

Notes

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  • This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Japanese driver Kunimitsu Takahashi.
  • This was the 5th fastest lap set by a South African driver.
  • This race marked the 299th and 300th podium finish for a Ford-powered car.

Championship standings after the race

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  • 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

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  1. ^ a b "Japan 1977". StatsF1.com.
  2. ^ "Major incidents of fan deaths". Tampa Bay Times. 11 June 2005. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  3. ^ "2 Spectator Deaths Mar Hunt's Victory in Japan". The New York Times. October 24, 1977.
  4. ^ "Hunt and Reutemann's podium no-show, Japan 1977". Six of the best - Unusual podium ceremonies. Formula 1.com. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Hunt wins but two die as Villeneuve crashes". ESPN. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  6. ^ Lawrence, Mike (1990). The Story of March. Osceola: Motorbooks International. p. 121. ISBN 0-946627-24-X.
  7. ^ "1977 Formula One Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  8. ^ "1977 Japanese Grand Prix". formula1.com. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  9. ^ "1977 Japanese Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 23 October 1977. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Japan 1977 - Championship". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.


Previous race:
1977 Canadian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1977 season
Next race:
1978 Argentine Grand Prix
Previous race:
1976 Japanese Grand Prix
Japanese Grand Prix Next race:
1987 Japanese Grand Prix