1976 Formula 1.5 Season

The 1976 Formula 1.5 Season was the 27th season of the Formula 1.5 World Championship. Ulsterman, John Watson, won his first World Drivers' Championship with 56 points. Meanwhile, the talented trio of Stuck, Peterson, and Brambilla saw March snatch a closely contested World Constructors' Championship - their third, and final - with 63 points.

1976 saw significant change among the top teams, with reigning champions, Team Tyrrell, returning to F1 and in doing so leaving a bit of a power vacuum behind. Team Penske moved past the tragedy of the previous year, and with 1974 runner-up, John Watson, had a magnificent season with three poles and four wins en-route to the drivers' title. Another one car entry was the new Ligier squad, built around the promising French talent Jacques Laffite. The team would perform well with the...aesthetically interesting JS5 chassis, notching three wins in an impressive debut campaign.

Shadow had probably their best stab at the World Championship in 1976, losing both titles by only minor margins, although admittedly not as tiny as their two point loss in the 1974 WCC. This season would prove to be Tom Pryce's last hurrah, as unfortunately he'd lose his life in an accident involving a marshal at the 1977 South African GP . Shadow would carry on in '77 with Alan Jones as lead driver and have a decent season, again runners-up in the WDC. One wonders though what an on-form Pryce could've done in that car.

With Tyrrell gone, another big name took their place, Brabham. Bernie Ecclestone's squad returning for the first time since their championship success in 1973 with Argentine, Carlos Reutemann. Reutemann was still present at the team, along with another Carlos, Carlos Pace. The Brazilian had appeared in F1.5 before, winning three races with the Surtees outfit, but now he also had an F1 victory over Emerson Fittipaldi to bolster his resume. While Brabham's driver lineup was of top quality, their engines...not so much. Bernie struck up a partnership with Alfa Romeo for 1976 and beyond, acquiring usage of their powerful Flat-12 engines for free. The numerous drawbacks of the big Italian lump proved quite the challenge to overcome however. Ungainly size and proportions, heavy weight, poor fuel economy, and iffy reliability would all continually plague Gordon Murray's cars until the team disposed of it in late 1979.

The title fight would be a nail-biter, primarily between Brits, John Watson and Tom Pryce. In the seasons first half, both Jacques Laffite and Hans-Joachim Stuck performed quite well, but neither could maintain the level of consistency required to sustain their title bids. Carlos Pace started things off quite slowly with mostly minor point scores before finding more success in a couple of podiums and wins mid-year. Both he and Laffite would be knocked out of mathematical contention after the penultimate round of the season, at Watkins Glen. Pryce won the season opener in Brazil and scored at nearly every round, but also managed only one other victory at Zandvoort. Watson meanwhile was going on a tear. After an early win in South Africa, he stormed to the championship lead deep into the European leg of the season with three wins in four races. One of which was an outright victory in Austria, a year on from the passing of Penske's former lead driver, Mark Donohue. Watson lead by six points heading into the season finale at Fuji, meaning Pryce had to win with Watson fifth or lower to capture the championship. Things didn't go too well in qualifying, well not for Pryce anyway. Watson grabbed pole but Shadow somewhat struggled and could only manage seventh and eighth, Pryce ahead of teammate Jarier. On race day the conditions were diabolical, with torrential rain soaking the circuit and delays to the race start never providing better conditions. Numerous drivers struggled, including Watson who went down an escape road on lap two. That wouldn't be John's biggest problem though as his engine failed on lap thirty-three. This left Pryce an opportunity to snatch the title at the final round, as had happened the previous two years for James Hunt and Jody Scheckter. Such a fairytale would be difficult to achieve though, as the Surtees of Alan Jones was running the best it had all season, comfortably leading in the treacherous conditions. That wouldn't matter though to Tom, as thirteen laps after Watson conked out, the Shadow let go too, sealing the drivers' title for Penske and the Ulsterman.

In 2008, Watson would have this to say about his former title rival: "I think that people who are involved in motor racing and have achieved something, have an ability to spot talent. It was abundantly clear that Tom's ability was above and beyond most of his contemporaries."

## Entries

All entrants ran on Goodyear rubber, aside from Japanese teams: Kojima, Heros, and Maki. Heros ran on Bridgestone tyres meanwhile the other two used Dunlops.

\*Stommelen was originally entered in a RAM Racing Brabham BT44B but after the team's cars were impounded by the police, he was transferred into the spare factory Brabham BT45.

### Excluded teams

* Scuderia Ferrari, Elf Team Tyrrell, John Player Team Lotus, and Marlboro Team McLaren

## Results & standings

### World Drivers' Championship standings

Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six finishers at each Grand Prix. Only the seven best results from the first eight races and the seven best results from the last eight races counted towards the World Championship.

Legend: **Bold** = Pole Position; *Italics* = Fastest Lap; (Brackets) = Result/score did not count towards championship total

### World Constructors' Championship standings

Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six finishers at each round, however only the best placed car from each manufacturer was eligible to score points. The best seven results from the first eight races and the best seven results from the last eight races were retained.

Legend: (Brackets) = Result/score did not count towards championship total

### Leader Progression

1. ↑ Ahead of Pryce on countback
2. ↑ Ahead of Pryce on countback