Smiles and controversy
Jody Scheckter, James Hunt and Roger Penske seem to have a pleasant conversation (picture-above) ahead of the 1976 British Grand Prix held at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, England.
The British driver has good reasons to smile: he qualified his McLaren M23 in second, just behind the Ferrari 312T2 of title rival Niki Lauda. Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell P34) is eighth on the grid, while Roger Penske’s driver John Watson qualified his Penske PC5 in eleventh.
But James Hunt was involved in a first corner crash though at the start, that brought out the red flag. Hunt drove his damaged car back to the pits but did not complete a full lap of the track to do so, instead driving through an access road on Cooper Straight.
The officials declared that, since he had not been on the circuit when the red flag was waved, Hunt would not be allowed to take part in the restart. This news led to much angry feeling among the British crowd, who chanted Hunt’s name until the stewards, fearing trouble, announced that Hunt would be allowed to take the restart.
Hunt duly won the restarted race prompting an immediate protest by the Ferrari, Tyrrell and Fittipaldi teams. In September, two months after the event, a decision was reached and Hunt was disqualified, giving Niki Lauda the win in front of Jody Scheckter in his Tyrrell and John Watson in the sole Penske.