1977 Dutch Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Netherlands
Grand Prix:Dutch
Official Name:XXIV Grote Prijs van Nederland
Date:August 28
Year:1977
Race No:13
Season No:17
Location:Zandvoort
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:2.626
Course Km:4.226
Distance Laps:75
Distance Mi:196.95
Distance Km:316.95
Weather:Dry
Pole Driver:Mario Andretti
Pole Team:Lotus-Ford
Pole Time:1:18.65
Pole Country:USA
Fast Driver:Niki Lauda
Fast Team:Ferrari
Fast Time:1:19.99
Fast Lap:72
Fast Country:Austria
First Driver:Niki Lauda
First Team:Ferrari
First Country:Austria
Second Driver:Jacques Laffite
Second Team:Ligier-Matra
Second Country:France
Third Driver:Jody Scheckter
Third Team:Wolf-Ford
Third Country:South Africa
Third Flag Suffix:1928

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.[1]

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 AndrettiLotusFord1:18.65
2 Jacques LaffiteLigierMatra+0.62
3 James HuntMcLarenFord+0.85
4 Niki LaudaFerrari+0.89
5 Gunnar NilssonLotusFord+0.92
6 Carlos ReutemannFerrari+1.01
7 Ronnie PetersonTyrrellFord+1.20
8 John WatsonBrabhamAlfa Romeo+1.28
9 Clay RegazzoniEnsignFord+1.28
10 Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault+1.48
11 Patrick DepaillerTyrrellFord+1.49
12 Patrick TambayEnsignFord+1.58
13 Alan JonesShadowFord+1.59
14 Jochen MassMcLarenFord+1.59
15 Jody ScheckterWolfFord+1.59
16 Riccardo PatreseShadowFord+1.78
17 Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldiFord+1.88
18 Hans BinderPenskeFord+2.19
19 Hans-Joachim StuckBrabhamAlfa Romeo+2.21
20 Brett LungerMcLarenFord+2.22
21 Jean-Pierre JarierPenskeFord+2.41
22 Vittorio BrambillaSurteesFord+2.47
23 Brian HentonBoroFord+2.48
24 Alex RibeiroMarchFord+2.51
25 Ian ScheckterMarchFord+2.54
26 Rupert KeeganHeskethFord+2.88
Cut-off
27 Patrick NèveMarchFord+3.02
28 Arturo MerzarioMarchFord+3.14
29 Vern SchuppanSurteesFord+3.15
30 Ian AshleyHeskethFord+3.20
31 Boy HayjeMarchFord+3.55
32 Héctor RebaqueHeskethFord+3.84
33 Teddy PiletteBRM+4.42
34 Michael BleekemolenMarchFord+8.03

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
111 Niki LaudaFerrari751:41:45.9349
226 Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra75+1.89 secs26
320 Jody ScheckterWolf-Ford74+ 1 Lap154
428 Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford74+ 1 Lap173
523 Patrick TambayEnsign-Ford73Out of fuel122
612 Carlos ReutemannFerrari73+ 2 Laps61
78 Hans-Joachim StuckBrabham-Alfa Romeo73+ 2 Laps19 
835 Hans BinderPenske-Ford73+ 2 Laps18 
930 Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford73+ 2 Laps20 
1010 Ian ScheckterMarch-Ford73+ 2 Laps25 
119 Alex RibeiroMarch-Ford72+ 3 Laps24 
1219 Vittorio BrambillaSurtees-Ford67Accident22 
1316 Riccardo PatreseShadow-Ford67Engine16 
DSQ38 Brian HentonBoro-Ford52Push Start23 
Ret15 Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault39Suspension10 
Ret6 Gunnar NilssonLotus-Ford34Accident5 
Ret17 Alan JonesShadow-Ford32Engine13 
Ret4 Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford31Engine11 
Ret3 Ronnie PetersonTyrrell-Ford18Ignition7 
Ret22 Clay RegazzoniEnsign-Ford17Throttle9 
Ret5 Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford14Engine1 
Ret24 Rupert KeeganHesketh-Ford8Accident26 
Ret1 James HuntMcLaren-Ford5Collision3 
Ret34 Jean-Pierre JarierPenske-Ford4Ignition21 
Ret7 John WatsonBrabham-Alfa Romeo2Damage / Oil Leak8 
Ret2 Jochen MassMcLaren-Ford0Accident14 
DNQ27 Patrick NèveMarch-Ford    
DNQ37 Arturo MerzarioMarch-Ford    
DNQ18 Vern SchuppanSurtees-Ford    
DNQ39 Ian AshleyHesketh-Ford    
DNQ33 Boy HayjeMarch-Ford    
DNQ25 Héctor RebaqueHesketh-Ford    
DNQ29 Teddy PiletteBRM    
DNQ32 Michael BleekemolenMarch-Ford    

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Niki Lauda63
2 Jody Scheckter42
3 Carlos Reutemann35
4 Mario Andretti32
5 James Hunt22
Source: [2]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Ferrari80 (82)
2 Lotus-Ford47
3 Wolf-Ford42
4 McLaren-Ford35
5 Brabham-Alfa Romeo27
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dutch GP, 1977 Race Report - GP Encyclopedia - F1 History on Grandprix.com. 2012-06-14. Grandprix.com.
  2. Web site: Netherlands 1977 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 15 March 2019.