17/03/2001
FEATURE BY CHRIS BALFE
 |
Editor Chris Balfe remembers the 1976 Austrian GP - Osterreichring, 15 August 1976
An interesting race this week... not a classic in the 'purist' sense, but rather an historic and poignant event.
As the teams arrived in Austria for the 1976 Austrian GP, local hero Niki Lauda was in a Mannheim hospital recovering from the horrendous accident which had almost claimed his life two weeks previously at the Nurburgring.
The atmosphere in the Osterreichring paddock was sombre to say the least. Although it was understood that the reigning champion would survive, there were the headlines in Newspapers such as 'Bild' stating that 'he no longer had a face'. Little did anyone know, that less than four weeks later the Austrian would make an amazing comeback at Monza.
Lauda's accident had brought back painful memories for Roger Penske who just a year earlier had lost his close friend, protégé and driver Mark Donohue at the Austrian circuit. During the Sunday morning warm-up Donohue's car suffered a 'blow-out' on one of the fastest parts of the circuit. Although his injuries were not initially thought to be life threatening, the young American died two days later following a brain haemorrhage. Subsequently, Donohue's widow sued Goodyear, who opted for an out of court settlement.
Following Donohue's death, Penske recruited Ulsterman John Watson from the struggling Surtees team in time for 'Wattie' to take part in the American Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. For 1976, Penske opted to keep the bearded Ulsterman on the understanding that should he win a race in one of the American's cars, the beard would go.
Ferrari chose not to attend the Austrian GP, not as a mark of respect for Lauda mind you, but instead a protest by Enzo Ferrari at the FIA's decision to reinstate James Hunt as winner of the Spanish GP . Ferrari had previously contested the legality of the McLaren in Spain and as a result Hunt had been disqualified. In addition to this, Ferrari was furious that Hunt had been allowed to participate in the British GP despite his involvement in an incident which should have eliminated him from the race. When the race was re-started Hunt was allowed to take part despite protests from Ferrari that Hunt had already crashed. Fearing possible crowd trouble the stewards allowed Hunt to participate and he duly went on to win! much to the chagrin of Ferrari. As a result, Ferrari stated that his cars would play no further part in the 1976 World Championship - as it happened they missed two races (Austria and Holland), whilst Hunt was eventually stripped of his British win.
And you thought all this McLaren/Ferrari antagonism was new?
With Ferrari out, the tifosi chose to stay at home, as did the Swiss fans who had hoped to cheer on their hero Regazzoni.
Unseasonal weather conditions played havoc with the practice and qualifying sessions and drivers were at a loss when it came to set-ups and tyre choice. The Osterreichring is similar to Spa in that although it may be dry on one part of the track there could be heavy rain elsewhere.
On Sunday afternoon it was James Hunt who lined up on pole eager to capitalise on Lauda's enforced absence. Alongside Hunt was Watson in the Penske, just 0.8s off the pace. The next few rows of the grid comprised Peterson , Nilsson , Lafitte, Pryce, Brambilla, Pace, Andretti and Scheckter! back in 24th spot was Miss Lella Lombardi in the Brabham.
When the flag dropped it was Hunt and Watson ahead of Peterson, Nilsson Lafitte and Pryce almost four abreast as they headed up the hill towards the first corner. Hunt and Watson went in to the fast first right-hander virtually side by side but it was the Ulsterman who had the line and consequently took the lead. Behind these two, Peterson had taken third and had soon disposed of Hunt to take second position.
The track was already a little damp as the first spots of rain began to fall and Watson clung on to his lead ahead of Peterson, Hunt and Nilsson. As the rain began to fall harder the stewards cast anxious glances to the sky, following the horrendous scenes in Germany two weeks earlier F1 couldn't afford any further bad publicity.
Luckily the rain clouds had soon passed and attention returned to the excitement on track. Peterson was giving Watson a hard time drawing level with the Ulsterman's car on a number of occasions before finally making his move on lap 5. Jody Scheckter meanwhile was on a real charge and had made light work of Nilsson, Hunt and finally Watson before setting off after Peterson.
On lap 10 Scheckter finally got past Peterson but the Swede was in no mood to surrender, fighting tooth and nail with his South African rival. As a result of a 'misunderstanding' with back marker Jarier, Scheckter found himself back behind Watson and Nilsson! tremendous stuff. Two laps later and Watson retook the lead from Peterson with Nilsson, Scheckter, Hunt, Lafitte and Mass all running close behind.
Suddenly something appeared to break on Scheckter's Tyrrell, the car turning sharp right in to the Armco before bouncing back across the track. Scheckter a helpless passenger lurched crazily across the track right in to the paths of Hunt and Lafitte who were both lucky not to get entangled.
Gradually Watson began to pull away from Peterson who in turn was trying to resist the attentions of Nilsson who finally got past his countryman on lap 19. By half distance, Watson was almost 8s clear of Nilsson with Peterson a further 4s behind with Lafitte climbing all over the back of the Swede. On lap 29 Lafitte passed Peterson, however Ronnie was having none of it and promptly re-passed the Frenchman in a stunning manoeuvre at the Texaco Chicane.
On lap 31 Lafitte passed Peterson yet again, only this time James Hunt slipped through as well demoting the Swede from 3rd to 5th in one go.
Out front Watson had extended his lead to almost 15s whilst Nilsson - suffering from an oil pressure problem -was under pressure from Lafitte. For several laps the Swede tried every trick in the book to keep his French rival at bay but it was not to be, on lap 45 Lafitte finally displaced the Swede to take second.
Mario Andretti swept past Peterson to take 5th whilst Hunt failed to make an impression on Nilsson, but out front it was 'Wattie' all the way. The Ulsterman crossed the line almost 12s ahead of Lafitte with Nilsson taking a fine 3rd.
For Watson it was to be the first of five GP victories, whilst the Austrian victory was to be the one and only win for Penske who quit F1 shortly afterwards having sold the outfit to Hans Gunter Schmid of ATS.
John kept his bet with Penske and shaved his beard, though despite what Mike Lawrence might tell you, Watson is not the only bearded driver to have won a GP! Jo Bonnier won in Holland 1959.
So there!