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Home / Seasons / 1976 F1 World Championship Season / 1976 French Grand Prix

1976 French Grand Prix

Date
Winner
Pole position
Fastest lap
CircuitLe Castellet, 54 laps
Round8 of 16
Race numbers

The 1976 French Grand Prix was the:

  • 272nd World Championship race
  • 26th World Championship French Grand Prix
  • 4th World Championship race at Le Castellet
More 1976 season
More French Grands Prix

Race result

PosDriverConstructorLapsTimePoints
1 (GBR) James HuntMcLaren-Ford Cosworth541hr 40m 58.600s9
2+1(FRA) Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford Cosworth54+12.700s6
3+5(GBR) John WatsonPenske-Ford Cosworth54+23.550s4
4+1(BRA) Carlos PaceBrabham-Alfa Romeo54+24.820s3
5+2(USA) Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford Cosworth54+43.920s2
6+3(ZAF) Jody ScheckterTyrrell-Ford Cosworth54+55.070s1
7+10(DEU) Hans-Joachim StuckMarch-Ford Cosworth54+1m 21.550s 
8+8(GBR) Tom PryceShadow-Ford Cosworth54+1m 30.670s 
9+11(ITA) Arturo MerzarioMarch-Ford Cosworth54+1m 53.570s 
10+9(BEL) Jacky IckxWilliams-Ford Cosworth53+1 lap 
11-1(ARG) Carlos ReutemannBrabham-Alfa Romeo53+1 lap 
12+3(FRA) Jean-Pierre JarierShadow-Ford Cosworth53+1 lap 
13+9(FRA) Michel LeclereWilliams-Ford Cosworth53+1 lap 
14-1(FRA) Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra53+1 lap 
15-1(DEU) Jochen MassMcLaren-Ford Cosworth53+1 lap 
16+7(USA) Brett LungerSurtees-Ford Cosworth53+1 lap 
17+8(GBR) Guy EdwardsHesketh-Ford Cosworth53+1 lap 
18+8(BEL) Patrick NeveEnsign-Ford Cosworth53+1 lap 
19-13(SWE) Ronnie PetersonMarch-Ford Cosworth51DNF 
R (AUS) Alan JonesSurtees-Ford Cosworth44DNF 
R (ITA) Vittorio BrambillaMarch-Ford Cosworth28DNF 
R (BRA) Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford Cosworth21DNF 
R (FRA) Henri PescaroloSurtees-Ford Cosworth (privateer)19DNF 
R (CHE) Clay RegazzoniFerrari17DNF 
R (AUT) Niki LaudaFerrari8DNF 
R (SWE) Gunnar NilssonLotus-Ford Cosworth8DNF 
R (AUT) Harald ErtlHesketh-Ford Cosworth4DNF 

Notes

  • Ronnie Peterson ended lap 51 in P3 before retiring on the following lap.
  • Niki Lauda ended lap 8 as the race leader before retiring on the following lap.

Starting grid

Pole time: 1:47.890

PosDriverConstructor
1(GBR) James HuntMcLaren-Ford Cosworth
2(AUT) Niki LaudaFerrari
3(FRA) Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford Cosworth
4(CHE) Clay RegazzoniFerrari
5(BRA) Carlos PaceBrabham-Alfa Romeo
6(SWE) Ronnie PetersonMarch-Ford Cosworth
7(USA) Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford Cosworth
8(GBR) John WatsonPenske-Ford Cosworth
9(ZAF) Jody ScheckterTyrrell-Ford Cosworth
10(ARG) Carlos ReutemannBrabham-Alfa Romeo
11(ITA) Vittorio BrambillaMarch-Ford Cosworth
12(SWE) Gunnar NilssonLotus-Ford Cosworth
13(FRA) Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra
14(DEU) Jochen MassMcLaren-Ford Cosworth
15(FRA) Jean-Pierre JarierShadow-Ford Cosworth
16(GBR) Tom PryceShadow-Ford Cosworth
17(DEU) Hans-Joachim StuckMarch-Ford Cosworth
18(AUS) Alan JonesSurtees-Ford Cosworth
19(BEL) Jacky IckxWilliams-Ford Cosworth
20(ITA) Arturo MerzarioMarch-Ford Cosworth
21(BRA) Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford Cosworth
22(FRA) Michel LeclereWilliams-Ford Cosworth
23(USA) Brett LungerSurtees-Ford Cosworth
24(FRA) Henri PescaroloSurtees-Ford Cosworth (privateer)
25(GBR) Guy EdwardsHesketh-Ford Cosworth
26(BEL) Patrick NeveEnsign-Ford Cosworth
27(AUT) Harald ErtlHesketh-Ford Cosworth

Non-qualifiers

DriverConstructor
(GBR) Damien MageeBrabham-Ford Cosworth (privateer)
(BRA) Ingo HoffmannFittipaldi-Ford Cosworth
(AUT) Harald ErtlHesketh-Ford Cosworth
(CHE) Loris KesselBrabham-Ford Cosworth (privateer)

Championship standings

How the championship standings stood post-race.

Driver

PosDriverPoints
1(AUT) Niki Lauda52
2(GBR) James Hunt26
3(FRA) Patrick Depailler26
4(ZAF) Jody Scheckter24
5(CHE) Clay Regazzoni16
6(FRA) Jacques Laffite10
7(DEU) Jochen Mass10
8(GBR) John Watson6
9(DEU) Hans-Joachim Stuck6
10(GBR) Tom Pryce4
=(SWE) Gunnar Nilsson4
12(BRA) Carlos Pace4
13(ARG) Carlos Reutemann3
14(USA) Mario Andretti3
15(NZL) Chris Amon2
=(AUS) Alan Jones2
17(BRA) Emerson Fittipaldi2

Constructor

PosConstructorPoints
1Ferrari55
2Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth37
3McLaren-Ford Cosworth31
4Ligier-Matra10
5Lotus-Ford Cosworth6
=Penske-Ford Cosworth6
7Brabham-Alfa Romeo6
8March-Ford Cosworth6
9Shadow-Ford Cosworth4
10Ensign-Ford Cosworth2
=Surtees-Ford Cosworth2
12Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth2
13Parnelli-Ford Cosworth1

Stats & milestones

Last start
Michel Leclere
Milestone race start
50th for Henri Pescarolo (30th driver to start 50 races, 4th French driver)
Wins
3rd for James Hunt
17th for McLaren
Podiums
12th for James Hunt
7th for Patrick Depailler
1st for John Watson (126th different podium finisher, 29th British driver)
60th for McLaren (5th constructor to score 60 podiums)
51st for Tyrrell
1st for Penske (34th different podium finisher)
Poles
4th for James Hunt
8th for McLaren
Fastest laps
8th for Niki Lauda
75th for Ferrari
Front row starts
25th for Niki Lauda
6th for James Hunt
Pole & win
2nd for James Hunt