| 1977 Canadian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 16 of 17 in the1977 Formula One season | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | October 9, 1977 | ||
| Location | Mosport Park,Canada | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 3.957 km (2.459 miles) | ||
| Distance | 80 laps, 316.56 km (196.72 miles) | ||
| Weather | Cold with temperatures approaching 12 °C (54 °F); wind speeds up to 12.8 kilometres per hour (8.0 mph)[1] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:11.385 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | |
| Time | 1:13.299 on lap 56 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Wolf-Ford | ||
| Second | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
| Third | McLaren-Ford | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1977 Canadian Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held on October 9, 1977, atMosport Park. It was the 16th and penultimate race of the1977 Formula One season.[2]
The field arrived in Canada withoutNiki Lauda who, having clinched the Drivers' Championship at the previous race atWatkins Glen, and having already announced his intention to drive forBrabham in1978, abruptly quitFerrari upon learning that the team would bet on the312T3 model, more conservative, but still technically more outdated in relation to cars with ground effect (which was becoming popular in the category thanks to the success of theLotus 78).
In qualifying,Lotus'sMario Andretti took his sixth pole position of the season, withMcLaren'sJames Hunt alongside him on the front row.Ronnie Peterson was third in his six-wheeledTyrrell, ahead ofGunnar Nilsson in the second Lotus. The top ten was completed byJochen Mass in the second McLaren,Patrick Depailler in the second Tyrrell, theShadows ofAlan Jones andRiccardo Patrese,Jody Scheckter in theWolf, andJohn Watson in the Brabham. But the safety of the bumpy, high-speed Mosport Park track was in question: during practiceIan Ashley'sHesketh crested one of these bumps on the Mario Andretti straight; it flipped, vaulted the barrier and crashed into a television tower, seriously injuring Ashley and ending his Formula One career. The Englishman survived, but it took 40 minutes to remove him from the car and an additional 30 minutes passed until a helicopter arrived. These problems were underlined later that day when Mass crashed at the first corner into a barrier that flattened upon impact.[3]
At the start of the race, Andretti led away from Hunt, with Mass charging up to third. Andretti and Hunt then proceeded to pull away from the rest of the field, such that by three-quarter distance, they were coming up to lap third-placed Mass. As they did so, Hunt pulled ahead of Andretti, only to collide with his McLaren team-mate after a misunderstanding. Unable to continue, a visibly furious and agitated Hunt waved his fist at Mass, before punching a marshal and immediately then apologize who was trying to usher him away. He was subsequently fined $2000 for assaulting a marshal and $750 for walking back to the pit lane in an "unsafe manner".[4] Gilles Villeneuve made his debut with Ferrari at this race and started seventeenth after a qualifying crash leading into Moss corner. He had risen to eighth place before spinning in Moss corner on lap 72, dropping back to tenth.[3]
There was drama in the final four laps. On lap 77, Andretti's engine blew and laid oil in turn 9 as he pulled into the pits. Patrese spun his Shadow in the turn 9 oil and into the second Hesketh ofRupert Keegan, which had crashed earlier in the race and had been left on the side of the track.Vittorio Brambilla then hit the oil and also spun hisSurtees, collecting the wreckages of Keegan's and Patrese's cars.Danny Ongais was next in theInterscopePenske, but was able to continue. Finally Villeneuve spun, staying on the track only to break a driveshaft trying to pull away and retiring.[5][3]
Andretti's retirement meant that Scheckter inherited the win, with Depailler second and the recovered Mass completing the podium. Jones was fourth ahead ofPatrick Tambay in theEnsign, while Brambilla was classified sixth, just ahead of Ongais.
This was the last Formula One race at Mosport Park. Although reasonably popular with drivers and fans, there was criticism that the track was cracked due to the cold Canadian forest weather later in the year (when the race was originally held) and that the drainage was poor, putting the safety of the drivers at risk, and so theCanadian Grand Prix was moved to theCircuit Gilles Villeneuve onNotre Dame Island inMontreal from1978 onwards, where it has remained ever since.
| Pos. | Driver | Constructor | Time | No |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | 1:11,385 | 1 |
| 2 |  James Hunt | McLaren-Ford | 1:11,942 | 2 |
| 3 |  Ronnie Peterson | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:12,752 | 3 |
| 4 | Gunnar Nilsson | Lotus-Ford | 1:12,975 | 4 |
| 5 |  Jochen Mass | McLaren-Ford | 1:13,116 | 5 |
| 6 |  Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:13,207 | 6 |
| 7 |  Alan Jones | Shadow-Ford | 1:13,347 | 7 |
| 8 |  Riccardo Patrese | Shadow-Ford | 1:13,435 | 8 |
| 9 |  Jody Scheckter | Wolf-Ford | 1:13,497 | 9 |
| 10 | John Watson | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 1:13,500 | 10 |
| 11 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Matra | 1:13,739 | 11 |
| 12 |  Carlos Reutemann | Ferrari | 1:13,890 | 12 |
| 13 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 1:13,953 | 13 |
| 14 |  Clay Regazzoni | Ensign-Ford | 1:13,999 | 14 |
| 15 | Vittorio Brambilla | Surtees-Ford | 1:14,229 | 15 |
| 16 | Patrick Tambay | Ensign-Ford | 1:14,464 | 16 |
| 17 |  Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 1:14,465 | 17 |
| 18 | Ian Scheckter | March-Ford | 1:14,855 | 18 |
| 19 |  Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | 1:14,857 | 19 |
| 20 | Brett Lunger | McLaren-Ford | 1:14,930 | 20 |
| 21 |  Patrick Nève | March-Ford | 1:15,510 | 21 |
| 22 | Danny Ongais | Penske-Ford | 1:15,599 | 22 |
| 23 | Alex Ribeiro | March-Ford | 1:15,770 | 23 |
| 24 |  Hans Binder | Surtees-Ford | 1:16,568 | 24 |
| 25 | Ian Ashley | Hesketh-Ford | 1:16,640 | DNS |
| 26 | Rupert Keegan | Hesketh-Ford | 1:17,000 | 25 |
| Cut-off | ||||
| 27 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | 1:18,999 | — |
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| Previous race: 1977 United States Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1977 season | Next race: 1977 Japanese Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1976 Canadian Grand Prix | Canadian Grand Prix | Next race: 1978 Canadian Grand Prix |
