The 1977 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Dijon-Prenois near Dijon, France on 3 July 1977. It was race 9 of 17 in both the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors.
The 80-lap race was won by American driver Mario Andretti, driving a Lotus-Ford, after he started from pole position. Northern Irishman John Watson led for most of the race in his Brabham-Alfa Romeo, before Andretti passed him on the final lap. Watson finished 1.55 seconds behind the American, with Englishman James Hunt third in his McLaren-Ford.
Austrian Niki Lauda finished fifth in his Ferrari to take the lead of the Drivers' Championship from South African Jody Scheckter, who failed to finish in his Wolf-Ford.
Report Once again it was Mario Andretti on pole with James Hunt second and Gunnar Nilsson third on the grid. Hunt got the best start and led into the first corner from John Watson and Jacques Laffite, with Andretti dropping down to fourth. However, Watson passed Hunt on the fifth lap and started to build a gap until Andretti got up to second and began to reel him in. During the final few laps, leader Watson and Andretti were running nose-to-tail but Watson held him off till the last lap when his 12 cylinder Alfa engine ran out of fuel and immediately Andretti was past. Andretti thus took the win ahead of a crestfallen Watson and Hunt.
Lauda was nearly lapped, but picked up Watson for a ride to the podium ceremony, and the lead in the standings, too.
Classification
Qualifying classification Pos. No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 5 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:12.21 2 1 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:12.73 +0.52 3 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 1:12.79 +0.58 4 7 John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:12.83 +0.62 5 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:13.30 +1.09 6 12 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:13.36 +1.15 7 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 1:13.41 +1.20 8 20 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:13.45 +1.24 9 11 Niki Lauda Ferrari 1:13.52 +1.31 10 17 Alan Jones Shadow-Ford 1:13.56 +1.35 11 19 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:13.61 +1.40 12 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:13.66 +1.45 13 8 Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:13.67 +1.46 14 24 Rupert Keegan Hesketh-Ford 1:13.71 +1.50 15 16 Riccardo Patrese Shadow-Ford 1:13.87 +1.66 16 22 Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 1:13.90 +1.69 17 3 Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford 1:13.92 +1.71 18 37 Arturo Merzario March-Ford 1:13.92 +1.71 19 34 Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford 1:14.17 +1.96 20 10 Ian Scheckter March-Ford 1:14.24 +2.03 21 31 David Purley LEC-Ford 1:14.39 +2.18 22 28 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:14.45 +2.24 Cut-off 23 9 Alex Ribeiro March-Ford 1:14.60 +2.39 24 27 Patrick Nève March-Ford 1:14.74 +2.53 25 30 Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:14.83 +2.62 26 25 Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 1:15.06 +2.85 27 18 Larry Perkins Surtees-Ford 1:15.13 +2.92 28 39 Héctor Rebaque Hesketh-Ford 1:15.88 +3.67 29 18 Patrick Tambay Surtees-Ford 1:16.06 +3.85 30 35 Conny Andersson BRM 1:16.17 +3.96
Race classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 80 1:39:40.13 1 9 2 7 John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 80 + 1.55 4 6 3 1 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 80 + 33.87 2 4 4 6 Gunnar Nilsson Lotus-Ford 80 + 1:11.08 3 3 5 11 Niki Lauda Ferrari 80 + 1:14.15 9 2 6 12 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 79 + 1 Lap 6 1 7 22 Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 16 8 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 78 + 2 Laps 5 9 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 7 10 24 Rupert Keegan Hesketh-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 14 11 28 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 22 12 3 Ronnie Peterson Tyrrell-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 17 13 19 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 11 10 Ian Scheckter March-Ford 69 + 11 Laps 20 20 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 66 Accident 8 8 Hans-Joachim Stuck Brabham-Alfa Romeo 64 Accident 13 17 Alan Jones Shadow-Ford 60 Transmission 10 37 Arturo Merzario March-Ford 27 Gearbox 18 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 21 Accident 12 16 Riccardo Patrese Shadow-Ford 6 Engine 15 31 David Purley LEC-Ford 5 Accident 21 34 Jean-Pierre Jarier Penske-Ford 4 Accident 19 9 Alex Ribeiro March-Ford 27 Patrick Nève March-Ford 30 Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 25 Harald Ertl Hesketh-Ford 18 Larry Perkins Surtees-Ford 39 Héctor Rebaque Hesketh-Ford 18 Patrick Tambay Surtees-Ford 35 Conny Andersson BRM
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for French driver and future Grand Prix winner Patrick Tambay. This race marked the 200th Grand Prix start for a Swedish driver. In those 200 races, Swedish drivers had won 10 Grands Prix, achieved 24 podium finishes, 12 pole positions, and 6 fastest laps. This was the 25th Grand Prix start for Ligier.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Niki Lauda 33 2 2 Mario Andretti 32 2 3 Jody Scheckter 32 1 4 Carlos Reutemann 28 1 5 Gunnar Nilsson 16Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 50 (52) 2 Lotus-Ford 43 3 Wolf-Ford 32 4 McLaren-Ford 25 1 5 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 17Source:
References