1977 Formula One season

The 1977 Formula One season was the 31st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 28th World Championship of Drivers and the 20th International Cup for Formula 1 Constructors. The season commenced on 9 January 1977 and ended on 23 October after seventeen races, making it the longest Formula One season in the sport's history at the time. The season also included a single non-championship race for Formula One cars, the 1977 Race of Champions.
Niki Lauda won his second championship, despite Mario Andretti winning more races. Lauda did not complete the season, departing Scuderia Ferrari after securing the title at the 1977 United States Grand Prix. Ferrari won its third consecutive Constructors' title, with new driver Carlos Reutemann having a solid season.
The season was marred by a horrific accident during the South African GP: Tom Pryce was unable to avoid hitting 19-year-old race marshal Frederik Jansen van Vuuren, who had tried to cross the track. The latter was killed in the collision, while his fire extinguisher struck and killed Pryce. His car proceeded to the end of the straight where it collided with Jacques Laffite's Ligier. There was further tragedy as Carlos Pace lost his life in an aviation accident, only a couple of weeks later.
At the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix, the last race of the season, Gilles Villeneuve's second race driving for Ferrari ended in tragedy as well when, on lap 6 and, after colliding with Ronnie Peterson's six-wheel Tyrrell P34, and collided with track marshal Kengo Yuasa, who was trying to have trespassing spectators move away from a restricted area of the track. Villeneuve's car also hit photographer Kazuhiro Ohashi. Villeneuve's Ferrari was completely destroyed and, while he escaped uninjured, both Yuasa and Ohashi were killed instantly.

Drivers and constructors

The following drivers and constructors contested the World Championship of Drivers and the International Cup for Formula 1 Constructors:

Entrant

Constructor

Chassis

Engine

Tyres

Driver

Rounds

Goodyear

Team and driver changes

Ferrari opted to sign Carlos Reutemann in the place of Clay Regazzoni, who moved to Ensign. Jacky Ickx had left Ensign after his crash at Watkins Glen. He only competed in Formula 1 sporadically after this.
Tyrrell signed Ronnie Peterson instead of Jody Scheckter, who moved to Wolf. Wolf had separated with Williams after the season. The squad led by Frank Williams bought a March 761 and signed driver Patrick Nève.
The Penske team was bought by ATS Wheels to form the ATS Racing Team, who signed Jean-Pierre Jarier from Shadow. Ex-Penske driver John Watson moved to Brabham and Shadow signed Renzo Zorzi.
At March, Alex Ribeiro bought a seat with sponsorship from a Brazilian bank and a tobacco company, next to Ian Scheckter, older brother of Jody. Vittorio Brambilla had moved from March to Surtees.
Mid-season changes
On 5 March, Tom Pryce was killed during the South African Grand Prix, as was marshal Frederik Jansen van Vuuren. And on 18 March, Carlos Pace was killed in a private light aircraft accident in Brazil. From the race at Long Beach on, Hans-Joachim Stuck replaced Pace at Brabham and Alan Jones replaced Pryce at Shadow.
Hesketh Racing missed the first four races of the season, but expanded their operation to three cars. 1976 British F3 champion Rupert Keegan was their number-one driver.
David Purley returned to Formula 1, after a one-off entry to the 1974 British Grand Prix, with a LEC chassis designed by Mike Pilbeam. He suffered a serious accident during practice at Silverstone when his throttle stuck open, hitting a wall head-on and enduring a 179.8g deceleration.
After winning the 1977 Can-Am season with Haas Lola, Patrick Tambay debuted in Formula 1 with Surtees for one race and then finished the season with Ensign.
Renault entered Formula 1 with their own chassis, powered by their factory-developed 1.5 litre turbocharged engine, and driven by Jean-Pierre Jabouille. Although compression devices like turbos had been allowed since, they were the first constructor that made the investment into the technology on this level.
After securing the Drivers' Championship with two races left on the calendar, Niki Lauda parted from his team and retired from the season. His place was taken by Gilles Villeneuve, in preparation for his full-season drive in.
Calendar

Calendar changes

The Argentine Grand Prix returned to the calendar after it was cancelled in due to economic and political reasons.
The Belgian Grand Prix and Monaco Grand Prix swapped places on the calendar so that the Belgian round followed the Monaco Grand Prix.
The French Grand Prix was moved from Paul Ricard Circuit to Dijon-Prenois, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. Likewise, the British Grand Prix was moved from Brands Hatch to Silverstone.
The German Grand Prix was not held at the Nürburgring due to safety concerns. The 1977 race was held at the Hockenheimring for the first time since.
The United States Grand Prix and Canadian Grand Prix swapped places on the calendar so that the Canadian round followed the US Grand Prix.
Regulation changes
For the first time, the FIA set safety standards for helmets.
Season report

Race 1: Argentina

The 1977 season started in Argentina, returning after a year's absence. It was reigning world champion James Hunt who started off his title defence with pole position in his McLaren. Countryman John Watson shared the front row with him in the Brabham, and Patrick Depailler in the six-wheeled Tyrrell was third on the grid. The weather was, as was very often the case in Buenos Aires, oppressively hot, which contributed to the attrition of this race – the track temperature was 51 °C.
Watson took the lead at the start with Hunt second. Watson led for the first 10 laps until Hunt moved ahead and pulled away, with Mario Andretti's Lotus third, but soon the other McLaren of Jochen Mass took the place. Mass had to retire soon after with an engine failure which caused him to spin, and a suspension failure took teammate and race leader Hunt out three laps later. Watson took the lead again, but he also had suspension failures and let teammate Carlos Pace through. Watson eventually retired, and Pace struggled towards the end due to heat in his cockpit and was passed by Jody Scheckter's Wolf and Andretti, but the latter retired then with a wheel bearing failure. Scheckter took the first win of 1977, with Pace second, and home hero Carlos Reutemann completing the podium for Ferrari.

Race 2: Brazil

The second round took place at the longest circuit of the year – the very demanding and difficult 5-mile Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, Brazil. Hunt took pole again with Reutemann second and Andretti third on the grid. Home hero Pace took the lead at the start, with Hunt dropping behind Reutemann as well but soon Hunt was back behind Pace and attacking. There was contact, and Hunt took the lead whereas Pace had to pit for repairs. Hunt led Reutemann until he began to suffer from tyre troubles and was passed by Reutemann. Hunt pitted for new tyres, and rejoined fourth and soon passed Niki Lauda in the Ferrari and Watson to reclaim second. Reutemann marched on to victory, Hunt was second and Lauda third after Watson crashed out.

Race 3: South Africa

The race in South Africa was over a month later, but Hunt still continued his streak of poles, with Pace alongside and Lauda next. Hunt led off at the start, with Lauda and Scheckter following him after Pace struggled. The order stayed put until the seventh lap when Lauda took the lead and was never headed again, with Scheckter taking second from Hunt 11 laps later.
On lap 21, two marshals ran across the track after the Shadow of Renzo Zorzi caught fire. The second marshal, Fredrik Jansen van Vuuren, carrying a fire extinguisher was hit by the car of Tom Pryce at about 270 km/h and was killed instantly by the collision. His fire extinguisher struck Pryce's face, killing and nearly decapitating him.
The race continued however, and Lauda won, his first since his own horror crash last year, with home hero Scheckter second, and Depailler's six-wheeler took third from Hunt in the closing laps.

Race 4: United States GP West

The death of Pryce had shaken the field up, and then before the next round at Long Beach, California in the western United States, there was more news, as Carlos Pace, who had finished second in the opening round in Argentina, was killed in a plane crash.
The field, in a somber mood, went to this relatively new street circuit near Los Angeles, and Lauda took pole ahead of home hero Andretti, with Scheckter third. At the start, it was Scheckter who got the best start, and he passed both Andretti and Lauda, with Reutemann going up an escape road and spinning as he tried to follow Scheckter through. The top three of Scheckter, Andretti and Lauda pulled away from the rest of the pack, and ran closely together but the order did not change. However, a tyre began to deflate for Scheckter, and both Andretti and Lauda passed him with two laps left, with Andretti thus taking a popular home victory ahead of Lauda and a disappointed Scheckter.

Race 5: Spain

The next round was in Spain, at the Jarama circuit near Madrid, where Andretti continued his recent form with pole and Jacques Laffite's Ligier springing a surprise, beating Lauda to second, however Lauda was unable to take part in the race due to a broken rib. At the start, Andretti took the lead with Laffite following. Laffite gave chase to Andretti in the early stages but had to pit with a deflating tyre, leaving Andretti to romp to victory with Reutemann second. Hunt inherited third but retired with a misfire, giving it to Watson until he lost places due to a spin, leaving Scheckter to take the final spot on the podium.

1977 Formula One season

Drivers and constructors

Team and driver changes

Mid-season changes

Calendar