Гран-при Великобритании 1976: Драма и дисквалификация Джеймса Ханта

The 1976 British Grand Prix (formally the John Player Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 18 July 1976 at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, England, United Kingdom. The 76 lap race was the ninth round of the 1976 Formula One season. British driver James Hunt was involved in a first corner crash that brought out the red flags. Hunt drove his damaged car back to the pits, but did not complete a full lap of the track to do so, instead driving through an access road on the Cooper Straight. The officials declared that, since he had not been on the circuit when the red flag was waved, Hunt would not be allowed to take part in the restart. This news led to much angry feeling amongst the British crowd, who chanted Hunt's name until the stewards, fearing crowd trouble, announced that Hunt would be allowed to take the restart. Hunt duly won the restarted race. Immediately after the race, the Ferrari, Tyrrell and Fittipaldi teams protested against the inclusion of Hunt's car. In September, two months after the event, a decision was reached and Hunt was disqualified, giving Niki Lauda the race win.

This was the only Formula One Grand Prix in which multiple female racers (Lella Lombardi and Divina Galica) were entered. Neither qualified for the Grand Prix. The Brands Hatch layout had been modified from the previous year. Paddock Hill, Bottom Straight (renamed Cooper Straight) and South Bank (renamed Surtees) had all been slightly modified. The pit lane was extended and many of the corners were renamed, all after racing drivers and teams.

At the start, Hunt made a relatively poor start and allowed Lauda to pull away. By contrast, Clay Regazzoni starting from fourth made a good start from the second row, and attempted to take the lead from Lauda at the first corner. Regazzoni made contact with his Ferrari team mate which resulted in a broken rear wheel on Lauda's car, and him spinning his own car. Regazzoni's car was then hit by cars behind, resulting in damage to several more cars including those of Hunt and Jacques Laffite. Due to the amount of debris covering the track as a result, the race was stopped. The McLaren, Ferrari and Ligier teams set about preparing the spare cars for Hunt, Regazzoni and Laffite respectively in the belief that there was insufficient time for their original cars to be repaired. However, the race stewards announced that no driver would be allowed to take part in the restarted race unless they were in their original car, and that they had finished the first lap of the original race. This meant that the spare cars could not be used, and the drivers that had returned to the pits at the end of the first lap would not be allowed to restart. Some debate then ensued, during which time the McLaren mechanics managed to repair Hunt's damaged McLaren which he had used in the original start. Despite having failed to complete the first lap, Hunt was now at least not in a replacement car, and with the crowds chanting "We Want Hunt" with bottles and other litter thrown to the track with the potential of crowd trouble with the British fans, the stewards relented and allowed Hunt to take the restart. In the event, both Regazzoni and Laffite also took the restart, although both in replacement cars, with the two teams opting to compete anyway and face possible exclusion after the race. At the second attempt to start the race, Lauda again led the field, with Hunt second, Regazzoni third and Scheckter fourth. Laffite retired on lap 32 and Regazzoni on lap 37 due to suspension problems and low oil pressure respectively. Lauda led the race for the first 45 laps, until gearshift problems allowed Hunt to overtake him. Hunt continued to build up a lead from Lauda for the rest of the race, and crossed the finish line in first position.

Immediately following the race, the Ferrari, Tyrrell and Copersucar teams protested the result to the stewards. The three teams believed that as Hunt had not completed a lap following the accident, under the then regulations, he should not have been allowed to take the restart. Following a three hour meeting, the officials dismissed the protests and announced the original result would stand. Ferrari then protested the result to the FIA, which resulted in a tribunal being convened to hear Ferrari's appeal. The tribunal was held in Paris on 25 September, where Ferrari put forward their belief that Hunt's car had been pushed by his mechanics before the race had been halted, breaking the regulation prohibiting outside assistance during the race. McLaren maintained that they had only pushed the car after the race had been stopped. Indeed, then McLaren Team Manager Alastair Caldwell has since stated that the rules at the time stated cars should come to a halt where they were when a red flag is shown. Other drivers continued to complete the first lap at racing speed, attempting to encourage the red flag to be withdrawn as had happened on previous occasions, while McLaren were able to show TV footage proving that Hunt's car had stopped at the red flag, and only after then received outside assistance to return to the pits. In Caldwell's view, the only car which correctly complied with the red flag rules and should have been safe from disqualification from this incident was in fact Hunt's. The decision reached by the tribunal was to uphold the appeal by Ferrari, and disqualify Hunt from the race. This in turn resulted in all the other drivers moving up one position, and hence making Lauda the winner of the race.

Pos. DriverConstructorTimeNo1Niki LaudaFerrari1:19,3512James HuntMcLaren Ford1:19,4123Mario AndrettiLotus Ford1:19,7634Clay RegazzoniFerrari1:20,0545Patrick DepaillerTyrrell Ford1:20,1556Chris AmonEnsign Ford1:20,2767Ronnie PetersonMarch Ford1:20,2978Jody ScheckterTyrrell Ford1:20,3189Arturo MerzarioMarch Ford1:20,32910Vittorio BrambillaMarch Ford1:20,361011John WatsonPenske Ford1:20,411112Jochen MassMcLaren Ford1:20,611213Jacques LaffiteLigier Matra1:20,671314Gunnar NilssonLotus Ford1:20,671415Carlos ReutemannBrabham Alfa Romeo1:20,991516Carlos PaceBrabham Alfa Romeo1:21,031617Hans Joachim StuckMarch Ford1:21,201718Brett LungerSurtees Ford1:21,301819Alan JonesSurtees Ford1:21,421920Tom PryceShadow Ford1:21,842021Emerson FittipaldiCopersucar Ford1:22,062122Bob EvansBrabham Ford1:22,472223Jean Pierre JarierShadow Ford1:22,722324Harald ErtlHesketh Ford1:22,752425Guy EdwardsHesketh Ford1:22,762526Henri PescaroloSurtees Ford1:22,7626DNQJacky IckxWolf Williams Ford1:23,32—DNQDivina GalicaSurtees Ford1:25,24—DNQMike WildsShadow Ford1:25,66—DNQLella LombardiBrabham Ford1:27,08—

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Niki Lauda Ferrari 76 1:44:19.66 1 9 2 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell Ford 76 + 16.18 8 6 3 28 John Watson Penske Ford 75 + 1 Lap 11 4 4 16 Tom Pryce Shadow Ford 75 + 1 Lap 20 3 5 19 Alan Jones Surtees Ford 75 + 1 Lap 19 2 6 30 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi Ford 74 + 2 Laps 21 1 7 24 Harald Ertl Hesketh Ford 73 + 3 Laps 23   8 8 Carlos Pace Brabham Alfa Romeo 73 + 3 Laps 16   9 17 Jean Pierre Jarier Shadow Ford 70 + 6 Laps 24   DSQ 11 James Hunt McLaren Ford 76 Outside assistance 2   Ret 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus Ford 67 Engine 14   Ret 10 Ronnie Peterson March Ford 60 Fuel system 7   Ret 18 Brett Lunger Surtees Ford 55 Gearbox 18   Ret 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell Ford 47 Engine 5   Ret 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham Alfa Romeo 46 Oil pressure 15   Ret 35 Arturo Merzario March Ford 39 Engine 9   DSQ 2 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 36 Illegal car change 4   DSQ 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier Matra 31 Illegal car change 13   Ret 32 Bob Evans Brabham Ford 24 Gearbox 22   Ret 9 Vittorio Brambilla March Ford 22 Accident 10   Ret 38 Henri Pescarolo Surtees Ford 16 Fuel system 26   Ret 22 Chris Amon Ensign Ford 8 Water leak 6   Ret 5 Mario Andretti Lotus Ford 4 Ignition 3   Ret 12 Jochen Mass McLaren Ford 1 Clutch 12   Ret 34 Hans Joachim Stuck March Ford 0 Accident 17   Ret 25 Guy Edwards Hesketh Ford 0 Accident 25   DNQ 20 Jacky Ickx Wolf Williams Ford         DNQ 13 Divina Galica Surtees Ford         DNQ 40 Mike Wilds Shadow Ford         DNQ 33 Lella Lombardi Brabham Ford        Sources: