The FD04's first race was the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix. Driven by Emerson Fittipaldi, it finished 13th. Teammate Hoffmann also from Brazil, finished 11th in the FD03. The team only entered Emerson Fittipaldi for South Africa where he finished seventeenth despite an engine failure. Hoffmann returned for the United States Grand Prix West but failed to qualify and Fittipaldi finished sixth. Hoffmann failed to qualify for Spain and Fittipaldi retired with transmission failure. Fittipaldi failed to qualify for Belgian, finished sixth in Monaco and retired in Sweden due to handling issues on the FD04. Hoffmann returned for the French Grand Prix but failed to qualify and Fittipaldi retired with oil pressure problems. The Brazilian finished sixth in Britain and 13th in Germany. Fittipaldi retired at the Austrian Grand Prix due to an accident. An electrical fault put the Brazilian out of the Dutch Grand Prix. Fittipaldi finished 15th in Italy. Fittipaldi retired at the Canadian Grand Prix due to a broken exhaust. Fittipaldi finished ninth in the United States Grand Prix East and withdrew from Japan after he, Niki Lauda (Ferrari), and the Brabham drivers, Larry Perkins and Carlos Pace, considered the weather conditions made the track too dangerous.