Date 16 July 1977 Course length 4.719 km (2.932 mi) | Official name XXX British Grand Prix | |
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Location Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, Great Britain Course Permanent racing facility Distance 68 laps, 320.871 km (199.380 mi) | ||
The 1977 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 16 July 1977. It was won by James Hunt driving a McLaren M26, and marked the debut of Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve. The race was the first outing for the first turbocharged Formula One car, the Renault RS01, driven by Jean-Pierre Jabouille. It was the last race to be given the honorific designation of the European Grand Prix.
Contents
Pre-qualifying
Owing to the large number of entrants, a special system of pre-qualification was devised, taking place on the Wednesday before the race. Fourteen cars took part, most from teams which were not members of FOCA. Debutant Gilles Villeneuve also took part, along with Patrick Tambay, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Brett Lunger, Patrick Nève, Mikko Kozarowitzky, another debutant Andy Sutcliffe, Guy Edwards, Tony Trimmer, David Purley, Emilio de Villota, Brian Henton, Arturo Merzario and yet another debutant, Brian McGuire.
Kozarowitzky crashed his RAM March in the first session, and Purley suffered a huge accident in the second session, when the throttle stuck open on his LEC. He suffered multiple fractures and spent many months recovering. He later returned to racing but never appeared in a World Championship Formula One race again. The fastest five drivers after both sessions were Villeneuve, Tambay, Jarier, Lunger and Henton, all of whom went through to the full qualifying sessions. Merzario and Nève were subsequently also allowed through, as was de Villota, who replaced Harald Ertl when the Austrian driver withdrew his entry.
Qualifying
Henton and de Villota were eliminated after the qualifying sessions, along with Alex Ribeiro and Clay Regazzoni.