1976 United States Grand Prix West
Going Into This Race
Pre-Race Report
Championship standings
Two wins from two races leave Lauda twelve points clear of Hunt and Depailler in the championship. In the Constructors’ standings, Ferrari lead Tyrrell by nine points and McLaren by eleven.
Previous race
Lauda won in South Africa for his third consecutive victory, leading from start to finish. Hunt dropped to fourth at the start, was waved past by teammate Mass, and recovered to second. Mass took third.
Entrants
This is the first United States Grand Prix West — the first new race added to the Formula One calendar since Brazil and Sweden were introduced in 1973. The Long Beach street circuit is modelled on the Monaco concept. Organisers have limited the field to 20 starters due to the narrow concrete-lined layout; seven cars have failed to qualify. Former world champions Juan Manuel Fangio, Jack Brabham, and Denny Hulme participate in a supporting vintage race.
Drivers are divided on the new circuit. Lauda calls it bumpier than Monaco and harder on the car. Fittipaldi is enthusiastic; Laffite and Depailler are not.
Adapted by AI summarisation from “1976 United States Grand Prix West” on Wikipedia . This adapted text is licensed under CC-BY-SA-4.0 . Modifications: summarised and spoiler-trimmed.
Last 2 Races
Full season →| # | Date | Grand Prix | Pole | P1 | P2 | P3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 Jan | 🇧🇷 Brazilian Grand Prix | Hunt | Lauda | Depailler | Pryce |
| 2 | 6 Mar | 🇿🇦 South African Grand Prix | Hunt | Lauda | Hunt | Mass |
Drivers' Championship
Full standings →| Pos | Driver | Team | Pts | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niki Lauda | Ferrari | 18 | 2 |
| 2 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell | 6 | 0 |
| 3 | James Hunt | McLaren | 6 | 0 |
| 4 | Jochen Mass | McLaren | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | Jody Scheckter | Tyrrell | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | Tom Pryce | Shadow | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | March | 3 | 0 |
| 8 | John Watson | Penske | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | Mario Andretti | Parnelli | 1 | 0 |
| — | Clay Regazzoni | Ferrari | 0 | 0 |