The 1976 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, near Marseille in France, on 4 July 1976. It was the eighth race of the 1976 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1976 International Cup for F1 Constructors. It was the 54th French Grand Prix and the fourth to be held at Paul Ricard. The race was held over 54 laps of the circuit for a race distance of .
The race was won by eventual 1976 world champion James Hunt driving a McLaren M23. Hunt won by twelve seconds over the Tyrrell P34 of Patrick Depailler. It was Hunt's second win for the year and his third career Grand Prix victory, although at this stage his appeal against disqualification from the Spanish Grand Prix win had yet to be upheld. Eleven seconds further back in third was John Watson driving a Penske PC4. It was the first podium finish for both Watson and Penske, although the result only came after Ronnie Peterson's March 761 stopped with three laps to go and after Watson was disqualified for a rear wing irregularity and subsequently reinstated upon appeal.
Fourth place was taken by young Brazilian driver Carlos Pace driving a Brabham BT45 ahead of Mario Andretti (Lotus 77) and the Tyrrell P34 of Jody Scheckter.
Reigning champion Niki Lauda retired his Ferrari 312T2 with an engine failure while leading. While Hunt would eventually prove to be the challenger to Lauda for the 1976 championship Lauda's points lead at this time was over the Tyrrell pair of Patrick Depailler (26 points) and Scheckter (24 points).
Classification Qualifying
Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 11 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:47.89 — 2 1 Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:48.17 +0.28 3 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:48.59 +0.70 4 2 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:48.69 +0.80 5 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:48.75 +0.86 6 10 Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 1:49.07 +1.18 7 5 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:49.19 +1.30 8 28 John Watson Penske-Ford 1:49.22 +1.33 9 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 1:49.63 +1.74 10 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:49.79 +1.90 11 9 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 1:49.79 +1.90 12 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 1:49.83 +1.94 13 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:50.06 +2.17 14 12 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:50.10 +2.21 15 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 1:50.12 +2.23 16 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 1:50.27 +2.38 17 34 Hans-Joachim Stuck March-Ford 1:50.31 +2.42 18 19 Alan Jones Surtees-Ford 1:51.11 +3.22 19 20 Jacky Ickx Wolf-Williams-Ford 1:51.41 +3.52 20 35 Arturo Merzario March-Ford 1:51.79 +3.90 21 30 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:52.11 +4.22 22 21 Michel Leclère Wolf-Williams-Ford 1:52.29 +4.40 23 18 Brett Lunger Surtees-Ford 1:52.41 +4.52 24 38 Henri Pescarolo Surtees-Ford 1:52.60 +4.71 25 25 Guy Edwards Hesketh-Ford 1:52.63 +4.74 26 22 Patrick Nève Ensign-Ford 1:52.82 +4.93 27 33 Damien Magee Brabham-Ford 1:53.49 +5.60 28 31 Ingo Hoffmann Fittipaldi-Ford 1:53.78 +5.89 29 24 Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 1:53.79 +5.90 30 32 Loris Kessel Brabham-Ford 1:55.30 +7.41Source: *Drivers with a red background failed to qualify. Ertl had failed to qualify, but he had started on the back of the grid.
Race
Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 11 James HuntMcLaren-Ford 54 1:40:58.60 19 2 4 Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford 54 + 12.70 36 3 28 John WatsonPenske-Ford 54 + 23.55 84 4 8 Carlos PaceBrabham-Alfa Romeo 54 + 24.82 53 5 5 Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford 54 + 43.92 72 6 3 Jody ScheckterTyrrell-Ford 54 + 55.07 91 7 34 Hans-Joachim StuckMarch-Ford 54 + 1:21.55 17 8 16 Tom PryceShadow-Ford 54 + 1:30.67 16 9 35 Arturo MerzarioMarch-Ford 54 + 1:53.57 20 10 20 Jacky IckxWolf-Williams-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 19 11 7 Carlos ReutemannBrabham-Alfa Romeo 53 + 1 Lap 10 12 17 Jean-Pierre JarierShadow-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 15 13 21 Michel LeclèreWolf-Williams-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 22 14 26 Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra 53 + 1 Lap 13 15 12 Jochen MassMcLaren-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 14 16 18 Brett LungerSurtees-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 23 17 25 Guy EdwardsHesketh-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 25 18 22 Patrick NèveEnsign-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 26 19 10 Ronnie PetersonMarch-Ford 51 Fuel System 6 19 Alan JonesSurtees-Ford 44 Suspension 18 9 Vittorio BrambillaMarch-Ford 28 Oil Pressure 11 30 Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford 21 Oil Pressure 21 38 Henri PescaroloSurtees-Ford 19 Suspension 24 2 Clay RegazzoniFerrari 17 Engine 4 1 Niki LaudaFerrari 8 Engine 2 6 Gunnar NilssonLotus-Ford 8 Gearbox 12 24 Harald ErtlHesketh-Ford 4 Differential 27
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Belgian driver Patrick Nève. This was the 25th Grand Prix start for British constructor Ensign. This was the 1st podium finish for Penske.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda 55 1 2 Patrick Depailler 26 1 3 Jody Scheckter 24 4 4 James Hunt 17 1 5 Clay Regazzoni 16Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 58 2 Tyrrell-Ford 37 3 McLaren-Ford 23 4 Ligier-Matra 10 5 Lotus-Ford 8Source:
References