1977 Japanese Grand Prix

  1977 Japanese Grand Prix

Race details
Race 17 of 17 in the 1977 Formula One season
Date	October 23, 1977
Location	Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Shizuoka
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.359 km (2.709 mi)
Distance	73 laps, 318.207 km (197.757 mi)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:12.23
Fastest lap
Driver	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford
Time	1:14.30 on lap 71
Podium
First	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford
Second	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari
Third	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford

The 1977 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 23 October 1977 at Fuji. This was (at the time) the last Japanese Grand Prix due to traveling and financial issues, and safety concerns with the Fuji circuit. The race would return in 1987, held at the better spectated and safer Suzuka Circuit.^[1]

Report

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 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.

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. Rules changed shortly thereafter making the podium celebration mandatory.

Classification

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

Notes

• Lap Leaders: James Hunt 73 laps (1-73).
• This race was the tenth and final win for James Hunt
• A marshal and photographer were killed by debris following a collision involving Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari and Ronnie Peterson's Tyrrell P34 on lap five. They had both been standing in a prohibited area of the track when the accident occurred.^[3]
• This race was the final race of Gunnar Nilsson's career, before his death from cancer in 1978.
• First point for Riccardo Patrese.
• This race was the last occasion when a car (Kunimitsu Takahashi's Tyrrell) used Dunlop tyres in a Formula 1 World Championship Race.^[4]
• Team Lotus used a special red livery for this race, promoting parent company Imperial Tobacco instead of usual sponsor John Player Special.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda 72 2 Jody Scheckter 55 3 Mario Andretti 47 4 Carlos Reutemann 42 5 James Hunt 40

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 95 (97) 2 Lotus-Ford 62 3 McLaren-Ford 60 4 Wolf-Ford 55 5 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 27

• 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