Sixteen cars entered the race; the eventual winner was Niki Lauda, driving a Brabham-Alfa Romeo. Carlos Reutemann was second in a Lotus-Ford, while Jody Scheckter, who had won the Drivers' Championship at Monza the previous week, was third in his Ferrari. This was the last F1 race of all in which Brabham used Alfa Romeo engines, and Lauda's last race with the team before he quit the sport during practice for the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks later.