Date September 12, 1976 | Course length 5.800 km (3.6 mi) | |
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Course Permanent racing facility Distance 52 laps, 301.6 km (187.2 mi) | ||
The 1976 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy on 12 September 1976. The race, contested over 52 laps, was the thirteenth round of the 1976 Formula One season. It was also the 45th running of the Italian Grand Prix, the 23rd which was a part of the World Championship. Ronnie Peterson took the March team's last victory in Formula One, and his only with the team. Ferrari driver Clay Regazzoni finished the race in second position and polesitter Jacques Laffite completed the podium for Ligier.
Contents
The race saw the return of World Championship leader Niki Lauda to the sport after his serious crash at the German Grand Prix - he finished this race in fourth place.
Background
Monza had been modified from the year before. The circuit featured 2 consecutive left-right chicanes creating the Variante Retefilo added before the Curva Grande, and a left-right chicane called Variante della Roggia that was added before the first Lesmo curve.
Qualifying
The qualifying session on Friday was wet, so the dry session on Saturday was to provide the field with their best times. After this session, Brett Lunger, Arturo Merzario and the very slow Otto Stuppacher had failed to qualify. John Watson qualified in eighth position, with James Hunt ninth and Jochen Mass tenth, but their times were later disallowed due to fuel irregularities. This meant that their Friday times counted for their grid positions. As a result, these three drivers were the three slowest and were deemed not to have qualified, allowing Lunger, Merzario and Stuppacher on to the grid.
Stuppacher had already left the circuit and flown back home to Austria, so could not take his place on the grid. This promoted Hunt back into the 26 qualifiers. Merzario withdrew and promoted Mass, and later Guy Edwards also decided to withdraw in order to let Watson race.