Formula 1 season

1976

16 championship rounds

Written by Sam

The season in context

Fire and Rain

By 1976, Niki Lauda had established himself as Formula One's benchmark driver. Having comfortably secured Ferrari's first Drivers' Championship in over a decade the previous year, he began the new season in dominant fashion, while McLaren's James Hunt emerged as his fiercest challenger with a series of hard-fought victories.

Everything changed at the Nürburgring. Lauda suffered one of the most horrific accidents in Formula One history, leaving his Ferrari engulfed in flames and sustaining injuries that many believed would end both his season and his career. Remarkably, just six weeks later, he returned to racing with the championship still within reach.

World Drivers' Championship

Driver standings

47 classified

1 James Hunt McLaren 66 points · 6 wins

2 Niki Lauda Ferrari 64 points · 5 wins

3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell 48 points · 1 wins

View full driver standings

4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell 39 points · 0 wins

5 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 31 points · 1 wins

6 Mario Andretti Parnelli 22 points · 1 wins

7 John Watson Penske 20 points · 1 wins

8 Jacques Laffite Ligier 20 points · 0 wins

9 Jochen Mass McLaren 19 points · 0 wins

10 Gunnar Nilsson Team Lotus 11 points · 0 wins

11 Ronnie Peterson March 10 points · 1 wins

12 Tom Pryce Shadow 10 points · 0 wins

13 Hans-Joachim Stuck March 8 points · 0 wins

14 Carlos Pace Brabham-Alfa Romeo 7 points · 0 wins

15 Alan Jones Surtees 7 points · 0 wins

16 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 3 points · 0 wins

17 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi 3 points · 0 wins

18 Chris Amon Wolf 2 points · 0 wins

19 Vittorio Brambilla March 1 points · 0 wins

20 Rolf Stommelen Hesketh 1 points · 0 wins

- Harald Ertl Hesketh 0 points · 0 wins

- Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow 0 points · 0 wins

- Jacky Ickx Ensign 0 points · 0 wins

- Larry Perkins Brabham-Alfa Romeo 0 points · 0 wins

- Henri Pescarolo Surtees 0 points · 0 wins

- Arturo Merzario Wolf 0 points · 0 wins

- Renzo Zorzi Williams 0 points · 0 wins

- Noritake Takahara Surtees 0 points · 0 wins

- Michel Leclère Wolf 0 points · 0 wins

- Brett Lunger Surtees 0 points · 0 wins

- Bob Evans Brabham-Ford 0 points · 0 wins

- Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi Tyrrell 0 points · 0 wins

- Ingo Hoffmann Fittipaldi 0 points · 0 wins

- Masahiro Hasemi Kojima 0 points · 0 wins

- Lella Lombardi Brabham-Ford 0 points · 0 wins

- Loris Kessel Brabham-Ford 0 points · 0 wins

- Alex Ribeiro Hesketh 0 points · 0 wins

- Warwick Brown Wolf 0 points · 0 wins

- Guy Edwards Hesketh 0 points · 0 wins

- Patrick Nève Ensign 0 points · 0 wins

- Hans Binder Wolf 0 points · 0 wins

- Boy Lunger Penske 0 points · 0 wins

- Kazuyoshi Hoshino Tyrrell 0 points · 0 wins

- Ian Ashley BRM 0 points · 0 wins

- Ian Scheckter Tyrrell 0 points · 0 wins

- Conny Andersson Surtees 0 points · 0 wins

- Otto Stuppacher Tyrrell 0 points · 0 wins

World Constructors' Championship

Team standings

20 classified

1 Ferrari Italian 79 points · 6 wins

2 McLaren British 71 points · 6 wins

3 Tyrrell British 67 points · 1 wins

View full team standings

4 Team Lotus British 29 points · 1 wins

5 Penske American 20 points · 1 wins

6 Ligier French 20 points · 0 wins

7 March British 19 points · 1 wins

8 Shadow British 10 points · 0 wins

9 Brabham-Alfa Romeo British 9 points · 0 wins

10 Surtees British 7 points · 0 wins

11 Fittipaldi Brazilian 3 points · 0 wins

12 Ensign British 2 points · 0 wins

13 Parnelli American 1 points · 0 wins

- Hesketh British 0 points · 0 wins

- Wolf Canadian 0 points · 0 wins

- Boro Dutch 0 points · 0 wins

- Williams British 0 points · 0 wins

- Kojima Japanese 0 points · 0 wins

- Brabham-Ford British 0 points · 0 wins

- BRM British 0 points · 0 wins

Season story

The championship race

Points and live top three after every round

Cumulative points

The scale follows the season leader, with a minimum ceiling of 50 points. Gold rings mark wins, red crosses mark DNFs, and black markers with a white cross mark disqualifications. Hover to isolate, click to pin, or Shift-click to compare teammates.

Live championship

Top three

Updates with the graph

Championship calendar

Race results

16 rounds

01 Brazilian Grand Prix Autódromo José Carlos Pace · São Paulo, Brazil 25 January 1976 → 02 South African Grand Prix Kyalami · Midrand, South Africa 6 March 1976 → 03 United States Grand Prix West Long Beach · California, USA 28 March 1976 → 04 Spanish Grand Prix Jarama · Madrid, Spain 2 May 1976 → 05 Belgian Grand Prix Zolder · Heusden-Zolder, Belgium 16 May 1976 → 06 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco · Monte Carlo, Monaco 30 May 1976 → 07 Swedish Grand Prix Scandinavian Raceway · Anderstorp, Sweden 13 June 1976 → 08 French Grand Prix Circuit Paul Ricard · Le Castellet, France 4 July 1976 → 09 British Grand Prix Brands Hatch · Kent, UK 18 July 1976 → 10 German Grand Prix Nürburgring · Nürburg, Germany 1 August 1976 → 11 Austrian Grand Prix Red Bull Ring · Spielberg, Austria 15 August 1976 → 12 Dutch Grand Prix Circuit Park Zandvoort · Zandvoort, Netherlands 29 August 1976 → 13 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza · Monza, Italy 12 September 1976 → 14 Canadian Grand Prix Mosport International Raceway · Ontario, Canada 3 October 1976 → 15 United States Grand Prix Watkins Glen · New York State, USA 10 October 1976 → 16 Japanese Grand Prix Fuji Speedway · Oyama, Japan 24 October 1976 →