AltF1 1976 - Season over, refer to history books

[pasta_maldonado]

B&S urges the FISA to write Galica's name correctly and not confuse her with a province in northern Spain.

FISA apologises for the spelling error, and offers a free burger and tea from the burger van in recourse.

[DemocalypseNow]

B&S urges the FISA to write Galica's name correctly and not confuse her with a province in northern Spain.

"Have you met my older brother, Estrella?"

[John Rafael]

Oh great, my first ever qualifying to a true Formula 1 Event!

[pasta_maldonado]

Qualifying


Carlos Reutemann takes his second pole position of the year ahead of Patrick Depailler in his first race For Ferrari. James Hunt is willed on by the passionate British crowd to start fourth on the grid, whereas the Lotuses showed improved pace but were unable to get a completely clean lap in. Int he midfield, Williams seem to have the upper hand over Ensign, Fittipaldi are again in a promsing position, whereas Watson and Pryce will be disappointed with their showing at home. Thistle will start their first-ever Grand Prix in the hands of Jody Pulver, with both B&S Fabrication cars also making the start. Watching from the sidelines will be Gianfranco Brancatelli and Thistle team owner, Amos Saxon.

[Klon]

McLaren has made the decision to end Jochen Mass' contract and offers a contract for the rest of the 1976 season and the 1977 season to Al Unser.

[pasta_maldonado]

Race


Fastest Lap: Mario Andretti - 1:28.613
Drive of the Race: Carlos Reutemann - Dominated proceedings, lapping all but one car.
Reject of the Race: Emerson Fittipaldi - spun the car out from what would've possibly become a points scoring position.

Carlos Reutemann got the best getaway, and retained the lead into turn one ahead of Scheckter and Depailler. And that's how it'd stay until the second round of stops, Reutemann pitting first and falling behind the South African. However, the Ferrari was reeled in, and Reutemann sprinted off into the distance, leaving Scheckter to pit from second. Depailler was running third, but his Ferrari engine gave way less than 10 laps from the finish.

Hunt was also robbed of what was 5th position with transmission failure, whilst Lombardi was robbed further of her dignity after a race challenging the backmarkers thanks to Fittipaldi damaging her rear wing at the start. von Gottorp would go on to take the third 7th in 4 races for Fittipaldi, and Williams capitalised on a double Ensign retirement with both cars into the points.

At the back, it was celebrations for B&S Fabrications, Thistle and Boro. B&S and thistle were delighted to finish their first Grand Prix starts, with Andersson retiring but classified for B&S, whilst Boro are now out of Pre-Qualifying thanks to Tyrrell finishing 10th and 11th.

Pre-Qualifying Shuffle

This time, there's actual shuffling to be done - in a shock development, Tyrrell fall to pre-qualifying.
Clearing Pre-Q: Boro ( CC:11th, Best Finish: 8th x1)
Remaining in Pre-Q: Penske (CC:13th, Best Finish: 9th x1) Hesketh (CC:14th, Best Finish: 11th x2)
Dropping to Pre-Q: Tyrrell (CC:12th, Best Finish: 9th x3)

As always, any privateer teams will join Penske, Hesketh and Boro in Pre-Q for the next three rounds.

Race Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQIVfEXeDaA&feature=youtu.be

[pasta_maldonado]

Driver RNGs

Al Unser Sr.
McLaren offer Al Unser Sr £130,000 for 6 races. That's not to be sniffed at, and he knows the McLaren is one of the best in the field. However, he still feels strong ties to AOWS, and with a decent chassis under him he feels he can challenge for the USAC title, having just won at Pocono.

1-50 McLaren
51-100 Rejects to continue in USAC
100 - "no"

Tom Sneva
Sneva is just starting to make a name for himself in USAC. However, he is more open minded about competing in Formula One.

1-65 McLaren
66-100 Rejects to continue in USAC
40! - Sneva signs for 6 races and £70,000

[Normal32]

Moscow Motors will enter Germany with the following line-up:

Driver 1: Angelina Sokoloff (SSR)
Driver 2: Ulli Melkus (DDR) - PD

Chassis: Estonia 17M (Lola)
Engine: Volga (Ford '75)

[pi314159]

Team Name: Scuderia Everest
Chassis: March 751
Engine: Ford Cosworth (1975)
Driver 1: Giancarlo Martini Maurizio Flammini (pay-driver if possible)
Driver 2: Lamberto Leoni (pay-driver if possible)
Rounds entered: Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Italy

[pasta_maldonado]

Pre-Race

Pre-Qualifying

[pasta_maldonado]

Qualifying


Ferrari return to the top of the timesheets, but with Patrick Depailler scoring his first pole for Ferrari ahead of Jody Scheckter. Tom Sneva repays the faith put in him by Teddy Mayer to start third on his debut, whilst Reutemann could only find the 5th best time. The top 12 were fairly close together, followed by a gap of over a second to Fittipaldi back in 13th, who will be hoping for better luck today. At the back of the grid, Tyrrell easily qualified, both Everests made the grid, with Henton succumbing to yet another DNQ in the B&S March along with Hector Rebaque.

[pasta_maldonado]

Race


Fastest Lap:Tom Sneva - 1:58.994
Drive of the Race: Tom Sneva - Lead on his debut and challenged for the win, the American looked cool, calm and collected amidst the chaos.
Reject of the Race: Carlos Reutemann - Awful start, and needless spin into the gravel on turn 1. Could've scored a whole lot better than 6th.

In a race fraught with incidents and retirements, it was Jody Scheckter who emerged on top after executing a superbly tactical race to take the victory over debutant Tom Sneva. At the start, Reutemann floundered, dropping to 9th, whilst Depailler converted pole into the lead. However, the chaos would start at the Ostkurve. Reutemann moved slightly across the track, causing Fittipaldi to over-react and place two wheels on the grass, and round he went into the path of the field. Most cars managed to avoid him except for Francois Migault, who in trying to avoid the traffic took to the outside, where he careened into Fittipaldi. Further back, Tom Pryce lost his Shadow all on his own, and tore the car apart in the kitty litter before hitting the barriers. All three drivers were taken to the medical centre.

The chaos did not end there.If the start left much to be desired for Reutemann, lap 2 started in all the wrong ways as the championship leader found himself in gravel at the Nord Kurve minus a front wing. He managed to escape the gravel, but a pitstop for repairs put him 30 seconds behind the rest of the field, and in last position. Ronnie Peterson would spin at the Ostkurve from the batle for 4th, being collected by Emilio di Villota, with both drivers needing medical assistance to get out of the car. To top it all off, Patrick Depailler's engine would again cry enough on lap 2, his lead going up in smoke too.

From there, Scheckter lead but would soon be overtaken by Sneva. Snevawould pit early, undercutting Scheckter to go into the lead, but the South African was playing his game perfectly. Overdriving from Sneva necessitated an early second stop, sending Scheckter back into the lead where he controlled the second half of the race. Reutemann maneged to come back to finish 6th, but was helped by a raft of retirements, as Andretti retired from 3rd and Hunt less than 5 laps from the finish from 4th position. Laffite would come home third to round out the podium, with Lombardi trailing in 4th and a lap down to secure her first points of the season. Loris Kessel finished 5th on his debut, but well over a minute behind his team-mate Laffite.

Scuderia Everest were running well, but in almost a freak occurence, both cars retired with engine failure on the same lap just metres from each other.

Race video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nowd1MRWPd8

Injury RNGs:

Emerson Fittipaldi:
1-70 - uninjured
71-80 - one race
81-90 - two races
91-95 - three races
95-100 - season over
41 - not a scratch on him

Francois Migault
1-40 - uninjured
41-50 - one race
51-60 - two races
61-70 - three races
71-90 - four races
91-95 - five races
96-100 - season over
80 - a severely broken ankle will force Migault to miss the next four races.

Tom Pryce
1-80 - uninjured
81-90 - one race
91-100 - two races
5 - Luckily, the gravel slowed the car down enough to give just a few knocks to the Welshman

Ronnie Peterson
1-40 - uninjured
41-50 - one race
51-60 - two races
61-70 - three races
71-90 - four races
91-95 - five races
96-100 - season over
100 - Peterson recieves multiple broken ribs and two broken vertebrae, forcing him to miss the rest of the season.

Emilio di Villota
1-40 - uninjured
41-50 - one race
51-60 - two races
61-70 - three races
71-90 - four races
91-95 - five races
96-100 - season over
32 - di Villota escapes unharmed from the crash with Peterson, albeit with bruises.

Williams and Lotus will need to name replacements for the two drivers by 3PM GMT Saturday 4th February , or else I will provide replacement drivers on a race-by-race basis.

Ligier Appeal Hearing

Video of incident is played to court room
Chair: That is the outline of the incident complete. We will now hear from Ligier.

Ligier have until 12:00PM GMT Saturday 4th February to present their appeal. If I do not hear anything, the appeal will be lost, and sanctions imposed

[Nessafox]

The motivation of Ligier is 'as can be seen on the video, Pescarolo followed his normal racing line and his normal braking point, but totally misjudged the braking point and track position of Lombardi, who was driving around with little confidence after her earlier mistakes.. Therefore this is a racing incident. Also the punishments were too harsh, considering the circumstances.'

[Ataxia]

Lotus would like to offer the opportunity to the following drivers to deputise for Peterson:

Patrick Tambay
Jochen Mass
Brian Henton

[pasta_maldonado]

Lotus would like to offer the opportunity to the following drivers to deputise for Peterson:

Patrick Tambay
Jochen Mass
Brian Henton

Just a reminder about driver replacements and junior drivers, seen as I haven't made this explicitly clear.

Junior drivers are automatically pay-drivers until they have "proven their worth". Once they start achieving, they expect to be paid a wage. This 'upgrade' can only occur in the off-season, and will not occur during a contract.

Rookie drivers with established careers elsewhere,like Tom Sneva, are non-pay drivers. Unless they are complete scrubs.

In the case of fictional drivers, it is up to the DEC holder to state whether or not they are a pay driver. However, those drivers who start off as pay drivers and score good results, must be upgraded to normal stats, and cannot revert to being a pay-driver.

If a driver is injured/deceased you can either: Hire a new driver on the same terms as your injured driver, or offer a new contract.

If a NON pay driver is sacked/his contract is terminated during the season,you do not pay him for the remaining races.

If a PAY driver is sacked/his contract is terminated during the season,you forfeit the money he was supposed to pay you for the rest of the season.

I hope that clears a few things up.

[Ataxia]

Tambay and Henton will be offered the drive under the usual terms, but Mass will be offered a continuation of Peterson's wage should Tambay reject the seat.

[Normal32]

Moscow Motors, alongside their entry at West Germany, will enter Italy.

[pi314159]

As agreed with Nuppiz, Thomas Nurmester will replace the injured Migault for the next four races. If Wheatcroft insist, Williams wouldn't oppose Nurmester running in the Wheatcroft on Friday morning to fail prequalifying before switching to Williams for the remainder of the weekend.

[pasta_maldonado]

Ligier disciplinary hearing, FISA Court of Appeal, Wednesday 4th August 1976

Chair: and on that basis, after listening to all evidence and arguments, and upon revisiting the footage of the incident, it is the court's decision that the disqualification of car number 25 and the resulting £50,000 fine for the entrant Ligier Gitanes shall be upheld.
Chair: It is the court's view that, as the driver on the lead lap, it was Henri Pescarolo's responsibility to leave sufficient space between himself and the lapped car to avoid a collision, space that he failed to give.

Pescarolo's disqualification stands, and the £50,000 fine shall now be applied to Ligier.

Driver RNGs
Ulli Melkus
1-99 Moscow Motors
100 - Declines
13

Patrick Tambay
Tambay is competing for the Formula 2 championship, but, duties at Lotus will not interfere with his Formula 2 obligations.
1-80 Lotus
81-100 Declines to focus on Formula 2
74 - Tambay will start his F1 career at Lotus.

[TomWazzleshaw]

As agreed with Nuppiz, Thomas Nurmester will replace the injured Migault for the next four races. If Wheatcroft insist, Williams wouldn't oppose Nurmester running in the Wheatcroft on Friday morning to fail prequalifying before switching to Williams for the remainder of the weekend.

Tom Wheatcroft have no objections to Williams running Nurmester, as it's plainly obvious that his talents deserve a better ride.

In his place, we'll ask for Mike Wilds or Ray Mallock to replace him as paydrivers

[Nessafox]

As agreed with Nuppiz, Thomas Nurmester will replace the injured Migault for the next four races. If Wheatcroft insist, Williams wouldn't oppose Nurmester running in the Wheatcroft on Friday morning to fail prequalifying before switching to Williams for the remainder of the weekend.

Tom Wheatcroft have no objections to Williams running Nurmester, as it's plainly obvious that his talents deserve a better ride.

In his place, we'll ask for Mike Wilds or Ray Mallock to replace him as paydrivers

I'm afraid this will end his 'either a DNPQ, or a podium' streak

[pasta_maldonado]

Pre-Race
Driver Changes:
- Lotus: With Ronnie Peterson out for the rest of the season, Colin Chapman's team have drafted in French Formula 2 driver Patrick Tambay, who will make his Formula One debut.
- Williams: Thomas Nurmester moves from the horrifically slow Wheatcroft to Wolf-Williams, replacing the injured Migault
- Wheatcroft: Ray Mallock will drive for the team, returning after an outing with the team at the Gold Cup.

-OASC: The unknown Austrian team have arrived in the paddock after competing in the Outlon park Gold Cup. Will Stuppacher and Oppitzhauser be more on the pace?

Pre-Qualifying



1) Tyrrell-Ford 3:27.355
2) Hesketh-Ford 3:28.466
3) Penske-Alfa Romeo 3:29.543
4) March-Ford 3:29.768 (Scuderia Everest)
5) March-Ford 3:33.342 (B&S Fabrications)
6) Wheatcroft-Ford 3:37.233
7) BRM 3:38.972
8) Dywa-Renzo 3:46.238
9) March-Renzo 3:49.657

Alan Jones puts in the lap of his life to go a second faster than the rest, and also secures Tyrrell's position at the top of the Pre-Q timesheets. Hesketh and Penske make it through to Saturday for the first time in two Grand Prix, with Scuderia Everest just missing out on two qualifications by 2 tenths of a second.

Brian Henton again struggled with the B&S March, Wheatcroft will be happy to go faster than Stanley BRM, but a chasm seperated Jones and Stuppacher, who was 13 seconds off the pace.

[AndreaModa]

Am I being blind? Where's Jones in the screenshots?

[pasta_maldonado]

Am I being blind? Where's Jones in the screenshots?

According to the wiki, Harvey Jones was not meant to be racing for BRM at this event.

[AndreaModa]

Am I being blind? Where's Jones in the screenshots?

According to the wiki, Harvey Jones was not meant to be racing for BRM at this event.

Ah my bad, should have checked that. I was working from this you wrote above the screenshots:

Stanley BRM: Louis Stanley continues to try and rescue the once-successful team. Tony Trimmer is out of the car in favour of fellow Brit Damien Magee, fresh from his exploits with Melchester Racing back home. He and Harvey Jones will continue to have a tough time producing anything from this car.

[Nessafox]

Am I being blind? Where's Jones in the screenshots?

According to the wiki, Harvey Jones was not meant to be racing for BRM at this event.

Ah my bad, should have checked that. I was working from this you wrote above the screenshots:

Stanley BRM: Louis Stanley continues to try and rescue the once-successful team. Tony Trimmer is out of the car in favour of fellow Brit Damien Magee, fresh from his exploits with Melchester Racing back home. He and Harvey Jones will continue to have a tough time producing anything from this car.

Well, according to official entry lists and my own statements, Stanley BRM wasn't going to Austria, but to the Netherlands instead....
Being forcibly entered in a race which our headquarters considered 'too far of a distance', we expect some gesture from the FIA.

Of course Harvey iswelcome for the Netherlands, an we'd like Tony Trimmer to rejoin us.

[pasta_maldonado]

Well, according to official entry lists and my own statements, Stanley BRM wasn't going to Austria, but to the Netherlands instead....
Being forcibly entered in a race which our headquarters considered 'too far of a distance', we expect some gesture from the FIA.

Of course Harvey is welcome for the Netherlands, an we'd like Tony Trimmer to rejoin us.

FISA will refund Stanley BRM entry fees on the proviso that BRM formally withdraw from the Austrian Grand Prix.

[pasta_maldonado]

Qualifying



Patrick Depailler takes his second pole position in a row, but it's Carlos Reutemann who'll start alongside. Mario Andretti puts in a brilliant lap to go fourth, Laffite is fifth, and Tom Sneva struggled with the car and could only manage a time good enough for sixth position. Patrick Tambay will start 9th on his Formula One debut, with Thomas Nurmester lining up 11th, just ahead of Gunnar Nilsson. Towards the back of the grid, Emerson Fittipaldi has an awful qualifying and both Heskeths make the race, leaving Brancatelli and Stuck to fail to qualify.

[pasta_maldonado]

Race


Fastest Lap: Jody Scheckter 1:43.116
Drive of the Race: Patrick Depailler - lost the lead at the start of the race, but executed the undercut flawlessly. Closing in at over 4 seconds a lap is no mean feat.
Reject of the Race: Carlos Reutemann - a bad start dropped him down the order, but he could never get above fourth. Appeared to give up before engine failure dropped him out of the race.

Patrick Depailler holds on to win what was one of the best Grands Prix all year. Scheckter got the jump off the line, but he wouldn't be able to get the jump on his team-mate or the McLarens, the top 4 running within 5 seconds for most of the early stage of the race. In a crucial call, Depailler pitted first, and began to close on the leaders at 4 seconds per lap. Catching and dispensing with them each in turn, he took the lead before they had to pit for the first time. It was at this stage that Reutemann, again outpaced by Tom Sneva, began to drop away from the leading trio. Depailler would pit for a second time, and again worked his way up to second position, where Jody Scheckter held out for 10 laps of thrilling battle before Depailler eventually got by, and there the race was won.

Elsewhere, Emerson Fittipaldi and Nilsson again retired, but it was car failure for the Brazilian and a crash for Nilsson this time around. Alan Jones would also end his race in the barriers, having an accident all by himself. Patrick Tambay's debut would be cut short after a promising start, and Thomas Nurmester was potentially in for points before the Wolf Williams let go.

With just five races to go, Scheckter now leads the championship by 2 points. Although everyone up to Clay Regazzoni in 11th is mathematically in with a shot at the title, there is a huge gap of 25 points between Reutemann and Laffite in third, making it most likely the title will be a two horse race. As we enter the closing part of the season, both drivers will have one eye on the championship.

Upgrades
As 11 races of the season have been completed, upgrades can now be purchased again. For a reminder of the upgrade rules, view this post, or the first post. As a reminder, if they have the budget, privateer teams that constructed their own chassis may purchase upgrades.

Teams are eligible to purchase the following upgrades (bear in mind Alpha and Beta upgrades are the only upgrades permitted during this period):

Ferrari: None
Tyrrell: None
Lotus: None
Brabham: None
March: Beta
McLaren: None
Shadow: None
Williams: None
Ensign: None
Hesketh: Alpha
Ligier: Beta
Fittipaldi: None
Boro: None
Penske: None

Budgets have been updated with French GP prize money.
Ligier, Hesketh and March have until 1:00 AM GMTWednesday, 08th February 2017 to post their upgrades.

Race Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_al1sBwvRg&feature=youtu.be

[novitopoli]

Beta upgrade for Beta March Engineering.

[Nessafox]

Well, according to official entry lists and my own statements, Stanley BRM wasn't going to Austria, but to the Netherlands instead....
Being forcibly entered in a race which our headquarters considered 'too far of a distance', we expect some gesture from the FIA.

Of course Harvey is welcome for the Netherlands, an we'd like Tony Trimmer to rejoin us.

FISA will refund Stanley BRM entry fees on the proviso that BRM formally withdraw from the Austrian Grand Prix.

Fair enough. Don't you mean withdrawing from the Dutch GP?
And Ligier will take their Beta upgrade.

B&S will also enter in Italy, offering their seats to Davina Galica and Gijs Van Lennep

[pasta_maldonado]

Fair enough. Don't you mean withdrawing from the Dutch GP?

Well, I meant it as withdraw from the Austrian GP, get fees back, enter Dutch GP. But, if you'd like, you can let your Austrian DNPQs stand and withdraw from the Dutch GP.

B&S will also enter in Italy, offering their seats to Davina Galica and Gijs Van Lennep

B&S have already been entered for Italy, with Torsten Palm and Dieter Quester behind the wheel. Do you wish to cancel their contracts and then make offers to Galica and van Lennep?

[This Could Be You]

Hesketh would purchase an Alpha upgrade, but surely we don't have enough money to afford it (£34000<£50000); otherwise there would be no hesitation.

[Nessafox]

Fair enough. Don't you mean withdrawing from the Dutch GP?

Well, I meant it as withdraw from the Austrian GP, get fees back, enter Dutch GP. But, if you'd like, you can let your Austrian DNPQs stand and withdraw from the Dutch GP.

oh that way. Deleting their austrian appearance and all? Yeah, that's good. They prefer to DNPQ in the Netherlands. That means they can actually do an Alpha upgrade, right? In that case: i request one.

B&S will also enter in Italy, offering their seats to Davina Galica and Gijs Van Lennep

B&S have already been entered for Italy, with Torsten Palm and Dieter Quester behind the wheel. Do you wish to cancel their contracts and then make offers to Galica and van Lennep?

Oh,couldnt find them on the entry list on page 1. In that case, nevermind.

[pasta_maldonado]

Upgrades

March: +67DF, -14BQ
Ligier: +76DF, -86BQ
Stanley BRM:+39DF, -25BQ

Driver RNG

Tony Trimmer
BRM: 1-96
Rejects: 97-100
63

With that, and Hesketh unable to afford an upgrade, upgrades are now closed.

[pasta_maldonado]

Pre-Race
Driver Changes:
- Ensign: Henri Pescarolo will drive the second Ensign for the next two rounds, and will hope not to be disqualified
- Ligier: Ever-disappointing Patrick Neve is brought along in the second Ligier along with some new upgrades
- Stanley BRM: After withdrawing from the Austrian Grand Prix, BRM return with Trimmer and Jones back behind the wheel, and an upgrade package.
- F&S Properties return for their second Grand Prix, Boy Hayje joining Gijs van Lennep this time around
- B&S Fabrications: Torsten Palm and Dieter Quester return after failing to qualify in France

Pre-Qualifying



1) Tyrrell-Ford 2:48.511
2) March-Ford 2:48.950 (Scuderia Everest)
3) Hesketh-Ford 2:49.452
4) Penske-Alfa Romeo 2:50.323
5) March-Ford 2:51.162 (B&S Fabrications)
6) Lola-Ford 2:53.063
7) BRM 2:54.434
8) March-Renzo 3:08.919

Chris Amon sets the fastest time, but it's Tyrrell who top the session yet again. Harald Ertl was dangerously close to dragging Hesketh out of advancement, the team making it in by just 6 tenths over Penske. Marazzi and Flammini continue to impress to send Scuderia Everest through, B&S never threatened throughout the session, and BRM improve, albeit slightly. Both OASC drivers prop up the timesheets, leading to questions being asked, such as "who are these people?"

[pasta_maldonado]

Qualifying


Patrick Depailler takes his third pole position on the bounce in an extremely close qualifying session. Tom Sneva and Jody Scheckter in 2nd and 3rd respectively were separated by just a thousandth of a second, and the top 8 were covered by just one second. Andretti puts in the best performance from Lotus all year, just 3 tenths behind Scheckter, whereas Brabham have an awful qualifying, James Hunt barely managing 10th position. At the back of the field, Roberto Marazzi gets his Everest March-Ford onto the grid, but Maurizio Flamini along with Hector Rebaque fail to qualify.

[pasta_maldonado]

Race


Fastest Lap: Mario Andretti 1:23.862
Drive of the race:Tom Sneva - an absolutely phenomenal drive to take his maiden victory on 38 lap old tyres.
Reject of the race: Ferrari reliability - the team was once again robbed of a fighting chance at taking the victory today, allowing McLaren to re-take the advantage in the WCC

For the second race in a row, the action was enthrealling. For the first twenty or so laps, the lead changed handed multiple times between Scheckter, Sneva, and Depailler, with Reutemann initially involved but dropping back behind Andretti. Depailler would pit first, but before his strategy could work out, the Ferrari was up in flames again and he was out of the race. Scheckter would then take the lead, with Sneva chasing him down on an alternate strategy, before the second Ferrari too retired with mechanical gremlins. This left Tom Sneva in the lead, and with Reutemann and Laffite also retiring, the only opposition was Mario Andretti.

The pair would stop again, Sneva first with 38 laps to go. Andretti would rejoin 18 seconds behind him, and after setting the fastest lap, began to close the gap slowly, expecting Sneva to pit again. But pit Sneva did not. 38 laps later he would cross the line to win his maiden Grand Prix, with the gap down to 12 seconds, and still lapping as fast as Andretti who was on 10 lap younger tyres.

In terms of the championship, a retirement for Scheckter and Reutemann declares this race ineffectual, but Reuteman is clearly on the back throat. He'll need to clear his airways before the F1 circus rolls into Ferrari's stomping ground.

Race Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgYbCrUElZw&feature=youtu.be

[pasta_maldonado]

It's time for the last prequalifying re-shuffle of the season. The last period of pre-qualifying will last for 4 races.

Clearing Pre-Q: None
Remaining in Pre-Q: Tyrrell (CC:12th, Best Finish: 9th x3) Penske (CC:13th, Best Finish: 9th x1) Hesketh (CC:14th, Best Finish: 11th x2)
Dropping to Pre-Q: None

As always, any privateer teams will join Penske, Hesketh and Tyrrell in Pre-Q for the next four rounds.

[Ciaran]

Aw crap, that's us done for at our home race.