The 1977 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Österreichring on 14 August 1977. It was the twelfth race of the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors.
Since the previous year's race, the Hella-Licht corner had been converted to a fast chicane, thus increasing the length of the circuit to . The race was held over 54 laps of the circuit for a race distance of .
The race was won by Australian driver and future World Champion, Alan Jones, driving a Shadow-Ford. It was Jones's first Formula One victory, and the only victory for the Shadow team in its eight-year F1 history. Local hero Niki Lauda finished second in his Ferrari, having started from pole position, with West Germany's Hans-Joachim Stuck third in a Brabham-Alfa Romeo.
Qualifying Qualifying classification Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo1 Niki LaudaFerrari1:39,3212 James HuntMcLaren-Ford1:39,4523 Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:39,7434 Hans-Joachim StuckBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:39,9745 Carlos ReutemannFerrari1:40,1256 Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra1:40,2267 Patrick TambayEnsign-Ford1:40,2978 Jody ScheckterWolf-Ford1:40,4089 Jochen MassMcLaren-Ford1:40,44910 Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford1:40,621011 Clay RegazzoniEnsign-Ford1:40,741112 John WatsonBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:40,921213 Vittorio BrambillaSurtees-Ford1:40,931314 Alan JonesShadow-Ford1:41,001415 Ronnie PetersonTyrrell-Ford1:41,131516 Gunnar NilssonLotus-Ford1:41,241617 Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford1:41,401718 Jean-Pierre JarierPenske-Ford1:41,701819 Hans BinderPenske-Ford1:41,711920 Rupert KeeganHesketh-Ford1:41,922021 Arturo MerzarioShadow-Ford1:41,922122 Patrick NèveMarch-Ford1:41,962223 Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:42,152324 Ian ScheckterMarch-Ford1:42,222425 Vern SchuppanSurtees-Ford1:42,312526 Emilio de VillotaMcLaren-Ford1:42,3826 Cut-off27 Brian HentonMarch-Ford1:42,43—28 Ian AshleyHesketh-Ford1:42,52—29 Héctor RebaqueHesketh-Ford1:42,75—30 Alex RibeiroMarch-Fordno time—
Race
Race report Rain had fallen immediately prior to the race start leaving the track wet but would not rain during the race. Tyre choice was split between wets and slicks. Mario Andretti led early until the engine failed in his Lotus 78. The track was drying by this time. Gunnar Nilsson and Jones had starred in the early laps on the wet track. Nilsson moving from 16th to second and Jones progressed from his 14th grid position to fourth. James Hunt became the race leader. Nilsson pitted to replace his ruined wet tyres on his Lotus 78 while Jones moved past Hans-Joachim Stuck's Brabham and Jody Scheckter's Wolf WR3 into second position. Jones would not have progressed further but for an engine failure in Hunt's McLaren M26 late in the race. Nilsson recovered from his pitstop to third until an engine failure claimed its second Lotus of the day. Lauda's poor handling Ferrari came on as the track dried and he moved into second while Stuck survived to claim the final podium position. Scheckter spun off leaving Carlos Reutemann in the second Ferrari 312T2 to finish fourth ahead of Ronnie Peterson in the Tyrrell P34 and the second McLaren of Jochen Mass claimed the final championship point in sixth. Despite the changeable condition, 16 cars finished the race with 17 classified. The seventeenth was Emilio de Villota, who crashed his privately entered McLaren M23 in the closing stages while on his 51st lap.
It had been seven years since the last victory by an Australian (Jack Brabham in the 1970 South African Grand Prix). Jones' win had no effect on the championship points race. Lauda's second place, coupled with retirements to Scheckter, Andretti and Hunt significantly strengthened Lauda's grip on the championship, expanding his lead to 16 points.
According to a misconception claimed by Alan Jones the "Happy Birthday to You" was played for him as a winning driver during the podium ceremony instead of the national anthem of Australia. However, "Advance Australia Fair" was actually played, different from what Jones remembered. Yet "God Save the Queen" was the national anthem of Australia in 1977, being replaced by "Advance Australia Fair" in 1984, and "God Save the Queen" was really not played on the podium.
Classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 17 Alan Jones Shadow-Ford 54 1:37:16.49 14 9 2 11 Niki Lauda Ferrari 54 + 20.13 1 6 3 8 Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo 54 + 34.5 4 4 4 12 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 54 + 34.75 5 3 5 3 Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:02.09 15 2 6 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 9 1 7 24 Rupert Keegan Hesketh-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 20 8 7 John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 53 + 1 Lap 12 9 27 Patrick Nève March-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 22 10 30 Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 17 11 28 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 23 12 33 Hans Binder Penske-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 19 13 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 10 14 34 Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 18 15 19 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 13 16 18 Vern Schuppan Surtees-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 25 17 36 Emilio de Villota McLaren-Ford 50 Accident 26 20 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 45 Spun Off 8 1 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 43 Engine 2 23 Patrick Tambay Ensign-Ford 41 Engine 7 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 38 Engine 16 16 Arturo Merzario Shadow-Ford 29 Gearbox 21 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 21 Oil Leak 6 5 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 11 Engine 3 10 Ian Scheckter March-Ford 2 Accident 24 22 Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 0 Accident 11 38 Brian Henton March-Ford 39 Ian Ashley Hesketh-Ford 25 Héctor Rebaque Hesketh-Ford 9 Alex Ribeiro March-Ford
Notes
This was the 25th podium finish for an Alfa Romeo-powered car.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda* 54 2 Jody Scheckter* 38 1 3 Carlos Reutemann* 34 1 4 Mario Andretti* 32 5 James Hunt* 22Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari* 71 (73) 2 Lotus-Ford* 47 3 Wolf-Ford* 38 4 McLaren-Ford* 35 5 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 27Source:
Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
References