The 1977 German Grand Prix was held at Hockenheimring on 31 July 1977. It was the eleventh race of the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors. The German Grand Prix was moved to Hockenheim following Niki Lauda’s near-fatal accident at the dangerous Nürburgring in 1976. This was the second time the race was held at Hockenheim, the first being in 1970.
In qualifying, Jody Scheckter took his first pole of the season, ahead of John Watson and then Niki Lauda who headed the second row. Scheckter kept the lead at the first corner with both Watson and Lauda keeping their positions. Watson put pressure on Scheckter until his engine failed on the eighth lap, giving second to Niki Lauda who passed Scheckter soon after and began to pull away. Scheckter battled for second with James Hunt until the defending champion retired with an engine failure, giving third to Watson’s teammate and home driver Hans-Joachim Stuck. That was how it stayed to the end; Niki Lauda winning from Scheckter and Stuck.
The Austrian driver thus extended his lead in the world championship to ten points with an emotional win at the German Grand Prix exactly a year after he had almost died in a horrific accident in the same race: “I have finally killed off the ghost of that crash forever with this win,” he said at the end of the race.
Formula One – German GP 1977 – highlights from the race
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