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Championship Watch

1976 Standings

James Hunt won the 1976 Drivers' Championship for McLaren. Final 1976 standings — every driver and constructor ranked by points and wins.

Driver Leader
James Hunt
66 pts · McLaren
Title Gap
2 pts
James Hunt over Niki Lauda
Constructors
Ferrari
79 pts · gap 8
Most Wins
6
James Hunt
Control Tower
Drivers Championship
Season
1976 Season Report

James Hunt won the 1976 Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship driving for McLaren, finishing on 66 points, 2 clear of Niki Lauda. Hunt won 6 races that season.

Ferrari took the Constructors' Championship with 79 points, 8 ahead of McLaren.

7 different drivers won a Grand Prix, and 20 drivers scored championship points.

Championships in this era were decided on a "best results" basis — drivers counted only their highest-scoring finishes towards the title, so season totals can differ from the sum of every race result. Dropped scores were abolished from 1991.

Standings compiled from the Ergast/Jolpica Formula 1 results archive. Spotted an error? Tell us.

Live Table

1976 Driver Order

Pos
Driver
Form
Points
Wins
P1
James Hunt
McLaren
Championship Pace100%
Championship Leader
66
Points
6
Wins
P2
Niki Lauda
Ferrari
Championship Pace97%
2 pts off the lead.
64
Points
5
Wins
P3
Jody Scheckter
Tyrrell
Championship Pace73%
18 pts off the lead.
48
Points
1
Wins
P4
Patrick Depailler
Tyrrell
Championship Pace59%
27 pts off the lead.
39
Points
0
Wins
P5
Clay Regazzoni
Ferrari
Championship Pace47%
35 pts off the lead.
31
Points
1
Wins
P6
Mario Andretti
Team Lotus
Championship Pace33%
44 pts off the lead.
22
Points
1
Wins
P7
John Watson
Penske
Championship Pace30%
46 pts off the lead.
20
Points
1
Wins
P8
Jacques Laffite
Ligier
Championship Pace30%
46 pts off the lead.
20
Points
0
Wins
P9
Jochen Mass
McLaren
Championship Pace29%
47 pts off the lead.
19
Points
0
Wins
P10
Gunnar Nilsson
Team Lotus
Championship Pace17%
55 pts off the lead.
11
Points
0
Wins
P11
Ronnie Peterson
Team Lotus
Championship Pace15%
56 pts off the lead.
10
Points
1
Wins
P12
Tom Pryce
Shadow
Championship Pace15%
56 pts off the lead.
10
Points
0
Wins
P13
Hans-Joachim Stuck
March
Championship Pace12%
58 pts off the lead.
8
Points
0
Wins
P14
Carlos Pace
Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Championship Pace11%
59 pts off the lead.
7
Points
0
Wins
P15
Alan Jones
Surtees
Championship Pace11%
59 pts off the lead.
7
Points
0
Wins
P16
Carlos Reutemann
Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Championship Pace5%
63 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P17
Emerson Fittipaldi
Fittipaldi
Championship Pace5%
63 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P18
Chris Amon
Ensign
Championship Pace3%
64 pts off the lead.
2
Points
0
Wins
P19
Vittorio Brambilla
March
Championship Pace2%
65 pts off the lead.
1
Points
0
Wins
P20
Rolf Stommelen
Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Championship Pace2%
65 pts off the lead.
1
Points
0
Wins
P21
Harald Ertl
Hesketh
Championship Pace0%
66 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P22
Jean-Pierre Jarier
Shadow
Championship Pace0%
66 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P23
Jacky Ickx
Wolf
Championship Pace0%
66 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P24
Larry Perkins
Boro
Championship Pace0%
66 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P25
Henri Pescarolo
Surtees
Championship Pace0%
66 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P26
Arturo Merzario
March
Championship Pace0%
66 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P27
Renzo Zorzi
Williams
Championship Pace0%
66 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P28
Noritake Takahara
Surtees
Championship Pace0%
66 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P29
Michel Leclère
Wolf
Championship Pace0%
66 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P30
Brett Lunger
Surtees
Championship Pace0%
66 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
About the 1976 championships · How F1 points work

James Hunt leads the 1976 Drivers Championship with 66 points, holding a 2-point advantage over Niki Lauda (Ferrari). A gap of fewer than 25 points — one race win — means the title race remains mathematically open every single weekend.

In the 1976 Constructors Championship, Ferrari leads with 79 points — a 8-point margin over McLaren. The Constructors title is decided by the combined points haul of a team's two drivers from every race, making car reliability, pit stop execution, and strategic pairing as important as raw pace.

The current FIA points system awards points to the top ten finishers in every Grand Prix: 25–18–15–12–10–8–6–4–2–1. An additional point goes to the driver who sets the fastest lap of the race, provided they finish inside the top ten. Sprint events — held on Saturday at select rounds — offer a separate points structure: 8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 for the top eight finishers, counting toward both championships independently of the main race result.

A driver must hold an FIA Super Licence and score at least one championship point to register on the standings. DNFs score zero, but a classified finish — completing at least 90% of the race distance — earns the driver’s finishing position even without a points reward.