Thread: 1976 - McLaren vs Ferrari

formula 1 crash James Hunt 1976 - YouTube

At the British GP, the two Ferraris had an accident at Paddock Hill Bend which is the first corner of the circuit. Hunt hit Regazzoni and the race was red flagged. Hunt then drove his car up through McLaren rather than the GP circuit to the pits to get the car repaired.

Hunt won the restarted race but Ferrari appealed that because Hunt didn't complete the first lap that he should be disqualified.
Enter four months of legal disputes by both McLaren and Ferrari eventually had Hunt DQ'd. It was a lost cause though, because Hunt would eventually win the title by a point.

Legends of Motorsport- 1976 British Grand Prix P1 - YouTube
Legends of Motorsport- 1976 British Grand Prix P2 - YouTube

There's more
In Spain, Hunt's car was disqualified for being something like 2cm too wide "through tyre expansion during the race", giving the race to Lauda. The decision was reversed on appeal. Admittedly Ferrari had nothing to do with the disqualification. But these things lead to legends forming.
Then at Monza the lap times of the Mclaren team were disallowed because they were found to be using fuel of 101.6 octane when the rules said 101. McLaren's defence was that tfuel of that rating was commercially available in Britain. But this was Italy, Ferrari country. Again, the stuff of legend.
Then at Suzuka all the drivers were unhappy about conditions. and held a meeting. One story goes that several drivers agreed to start and withdraw after a token couple of laps. Lauda withdrew on lap 3 along with Perkins, Pace and fittipaldi but Hunt didn't and went on to take 3rd place and win the championship.

If there was bad blood between the teams it did not extend to Hunt and Lauda who remained on the best of terms. For exam le, one story says that on the day of the Japanese Grand Prix, Lauda woke at crack of dawn, changed into racing gear and woke Hunt with the words "Today I will win the Championship". He could only do that as he and Hunt were friends as well as rivals.

Originally Posted by D-Type

But these things lead to legends forming.

I do wonder how the 'feud' came about.

Originally Posted by wedge

I do wonder how the 'feud' came about.

The Yellow Press, of course....

Originally Posted by D-Type

Then at Monza the lap times of the Mclaren team were disallowed because they were found to be using fuel of 101.6 octane when the rules said 101. McLaren's defence was that tfuel of that rating was commercially available in Britain. But this was Italy, Ferrari country.

I recall reading that the octane reading taken from the McLaren fuel was within legal limits, but they were put to the back of the grid anyway! Wasn't Watson's Penske penalised as well?

Originally Posted by wedge

I seem to remember someone posted that the bad blood between the two began in 1976. So what sort of shenanigans went on that year?

In the Name of Glory: 1976 the Greatest Ever Sporting Duel: Amazon.co.uk: Tom Rubython: Books

I think the movie based on the 1976 season starts filming in February 2012.