The 1977 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Zandvoort on 28 August 1977.
Report
In qualifying, Mario Andretti took his fifth pole of the season with Jacques Laffite alongside on the front row, and James Hunt third. At the start, Hunt jumped both the front row starters to lead but before the end of the first lap, Andretti tried to drive alongside him but some aggressive defending from Hunt forced him to lift, and Laffite took advantage to get second. Five laps later, Andretti had got back past Laffite and was attacking Hunt, who again defended aggressively but this time Andretti did not lift and they collided. Hunt was out on the spot, whereas Andretti spun and rejoined fourth. Brian Henton was disqualified after he was push started after he spun off.
This left Laffite leading from the Ferraris of Niki Lauda and Carlos Reutemann. The latter had a long battle with Andretti for third, repeatedly exchanging places, until the Lotus driver's engine blew up. Soon after, Lauda passed Laffite to take the lead, and he went on build a gap and win comfortably. Laffite finished second. After Andretti's demise, Reutemann ran third until the second Lotus of Gunnar Nilsson attacked him, and the two collided with Nilsson out and Reutemann rejoining at the back. This sensationally left Patrick Tambay in the Ensign third, but he ran out of fuel on the last lap, thus handing the place to Scheckter.
This meant that Lauda had a 21-point lead over Scheckter with four races left.
Classification Qualifying Pos.DriverConstructorTime 1 Mario Andretti Lotus–Ford 1:18.65 2 Jacques Laffite Ligier–Matra +0.62 3 James Hunt McLaren–Ford +0.85 4 Niki Lauda Ferrari +0.89 5 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus–Ford +0.92 6 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari +1.01 7 Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell–Ford +1.20 8 John Watson Brabham–Alfa Romeo +1.28 9 Clay Regazzoni Ensign–Ford +1.28 10 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault +1.48 11 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell–Ford +1.49 12 Patrick Tambay Ensign–Ford +1.58 13 Alan Jones Shadow–Ford +1.59 14 Jochen Mass McLaren–Ford +1.59 15 Jody Scheckter Wolf–Ford +1.59 16 Riccardo Patrese Shadow–Ford +1.78 17 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi–Ford +1.88 18 Hans Binder Penske–Ford +2.19 19 Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham–Alfa Romeo +2.21 20 Brett Lunger McLaren–Ford +2.22 21 Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske–Ford +2.41 22 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees–Ford +2.47 23 Brian Henton Boro–Ford +2.48 24 Alex Ribeiro March–Ford +2.51 25 Ian Scheckter March–Ford +2.54 26 Rupert Keegan Hesketh–Ford +2.88 Cut-off 27 Patrick Nève March–Ford +3.02 28 Arturo Merzario March–Ford +3.14 29 Vern Schuppan Surtees–Ford +3.15 30 Ian Ashley Hesketh–Ford +3.20 31 Boy Hayje March–Ford +3.55 32 Héctor Rebaque Hesketh–Ford +3.84 33 Teddy Pilette BRM +4.42 34 Michael Bleekemolen March–Ford +8.03
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 11 Niki Lauda Ferrari 75 1:41:45.93 4 9 2 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 75 +1.89 secs 2 6 3 20 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 74 + 1 Lap 15 4 4 28 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 74 + 1 Lap 17 3 5 23 Patrick Tambay Ensign-Ford 73 Out of fuel 12 2 6 12 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 73 + 2 Laps 6 1 7 8 Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo 73 + 2 Laps 19 8 35 Hans Binder Penske-Ford 73 + 2 Laps 18 9 30 Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 73 + 2 Laps 20 10 10 Ian Scheckter March-Ford 73 + 2 Laps 25 11 9 Alex Ribeiro March-Ford 72 + 3 Laps 24 12 19 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 67 Accident 22 13 16 Riccardo Patrese Shadow-Ford 67 Engine 16 38 Brian Henton Boro-Ford 52 Push Start 23 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 39 Suspension 10 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 34 Accident 5 17 Alan Jones Shadow-Ford 32 Engine 13 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 31 Engine 11 3 Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford 18 Ignition 7 22 Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 17 Throttle 9 5 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 14 Engine 1 24 Rupert Keegan Hesketh-Ford 8 Accident 26 1 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 5 Collision 3 34 Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford 4 Ignition 21 7 John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 2 Damage / Oil Leak 8 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 0 Accident 14 27 Patrick Nève March-Ford 37 Arturo Merzario March-Ford 18 Vern Schuppan Surtees-Ford 39 Ian Ashley Hesketh-Ford 33 Boy Hayje March-Ford 25 Héctor Rebaque Hesketh-Ford 29 Teddy Pilette BRM 32 Michael Bleekemolen March-Ford
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Dutch driver Michael Bleekemolen. This was the 5th podium finish for Ligier. This was the 6th Dutch Grand Prix win for Ferrari. It broke the previous record set by Lotus at the 1970 Dutch Grand Prix.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda* 63 2 Jody Scheckter* 42 3 Carlos Reutemann* 35 4 Mario Andretti* 32 5 James Hunt 22Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari* 80 (82) 2 Lotus-Ford* 47 3 Wolf-Ford 42 4 McLaren-Ford 35 5 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 27Source:
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. Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
References