On October 24, 1976 a torrent of rain fell upon the Mount Fuji Circuit in Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan for the first Grand Prix of Japan. The Formula 1 World Championship was waiting to be decided amid the downpour as teams and drivers scrambled to prepare cars for the wet conditions. Niki Lauda sat in first place in the championship by three points over James Hunt, even after his horrific crash at the Nürburgring and the races he missed while recovering.
James Hunt and Team McLaren had arrived before other teams, allowing themselves more time to acclimate to the climate and time change of Japan. The other Formula 1 teams arrived over the Tuesday and Wednesday preceding the race and experienced some trouble acclimating. The field contained the normal contestants as well as a number of local entrants. These were to include Masahiro Hasemi and Noritake Takahara, both successful racers in their own right.
During qualifying Mario Andretti claimed his second pole of the season. He was a slim 0.3s faster than James Hunt, who was a mere 0.2s quicker than rival Niki Lauda. Rain soaked the track and the field took form behind the leaders. Bridgestone was making their Formula 1 debut as well, launching a long lasting partnership with Formula 1 that would find the tyre manufacturer eventually becoming the sole supplier of tyres to the series.
Race day dawned dark, overcast, and pouring rain. In the driver’s meeting everyone, including Niki Lauda and James Hunt, requested the race be postponed until the weather improved. The weather, however, did not improve and Bernie Eccelstone, under pressure from television contracts, requested the drivers to proceed with the race. Teams settled their drivers into the cars and released them from the safety of the pits out into the deluge of rain that fell from the sky.
When the green flag fell James Hunt shot forward, catching Mario Andretti off guard and snatching the lead from the Italian. Hunt led the field into the first corner with John Watson, who had also powered by Andretti, right behind him. Andretti would catch Watson again on the next lap and regain his position from him. The spray from the cars was horrific, making it almost impossible for the drivers to see and making the racing all the more dangerous. Hunt, who maintained the lead, was the only one with a clear view and even then the rain made vision difficult.
As the field came around to complete the third lap, Championship leader Niki Lauda was nowhere to be found. Lauda had pulled into the pits and gotten out of the car, stating the conditions were too dangerous to drive in and he would not continue to do so. Several rumors, as to other reasons the Austrian may have quit the race, began immediately to swirl around the track. Lauda, however, stood firm in his assertion that the conditions were too dangerous to race in. Carlos Pace, driving a Brabham, also came into the pits and decided to retire from the race due to the conditions on the track.
Meanwhile, Mario Andretti had fallen to second to fellow Italian Vittorio Brambilla. Brambilla, however, spun, almost collecting Hunt in the process. Hunt snuck through though and charged on in the wet. At the halfway mark, conditions began to improve somewhat. The track began to dry and the running order settled down, although tyre wear became an issue. Teams began advising their drivers to watch their tyres and to manage them as best they could. The majority of the drivers began to do exactly that, creating a strategy that better controlled the wear and tear on the tyres. James Hunt, always the rebel, didn’t chose that path and continued to charge hard for the lead.
Lap 61 saw Hunt and his McLaren lose the lead. Patrick Depailler and Andretti both passed Hunt, although Hunt would regain second place when Depailler went into the pits for a punctured tyre. Hunt would also experience a puncture and have to go into the pits for repairs. When Hunt came back on the track he was in fifth and charged hard to regain his lost positions.
Andretti retained his lead, however, and led the charge to the chequered flag. Behind him, Depailler held off Hunt for second place. Hunt’s third place finish made him the World Champion. A fact he didn’t believe until after he had returned to the pits and the crew had convinced him it was indeed the situation.
Ferrari would win the Constructor’s Championship that year, however, the loss of the driver’s championship was difficult to swallow. Ferrari made a point to stand behind Niki Lauda, who would give them a championship in 1977, but Enzo Ferrari’s displeasure with Lauda was no secret and Lauda left the team before the end of the 1977 season.
The 1976 Grand Prix of Japan was a race enveloped in controversy. Formula 1 ran one more race there before a ten year break from the country and a 30 year break from the circuit. The dangers of racing were never clearer than at that race where the torrential downpour of rain made everything else invisible.
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