Lauda Has an Off Day
Alastair Caldwell in Denial
Sweden: June 11–13, 1976
There was only one opinion prevailing in the paddock as the Formula One circus assembled at Anderstorp for the Swedish Grand Prix on June 13: that Niki Lauda was already as good as world champion and that James Hunt was a busted flush. At that stage it seemed there could be no other possible outcome to the world championship. Hunt was seventh in the championship standings with 6 points, and Lauda was top with 51 points after six races.
Hunt’s own teammate, Jochen Mass, thought so as well and engaged in some very defeatist talk with journalists in the paddock, saying, “You have to be lucky and catch Niki on a bad day if you are going to beat him. Only a puncture or a mechanical failure can stop him these days.”
Lauda and the Ferrari team were exhibiting what was eloquently described in the Daily Express as “the charisma of superiority.”
But history would show that Sweden was Ferrari’s most disappointing performance of the year, as well as McLaren’s, as the race weekend turned into a fight between the resurgent Lotus and Tyrrell teams. The bizarre change of fortune was reflected by the fact that Chris Amon, in his Ensign-Ford car, qualified quicker than both Lauda and Hunt.
But on Friday, the first day of qualifying, it was business as usual, with Lauda on provisional pole. Conversely, Hunt was having a dreadful time and spun his car a total of six times in practice and qualifying. There was a terrible lack of rear-end adhesion, and he was 14th in the first session, 11th in the second session, and 8th in the final session, for a grid position on the fourth row.
Lauda fell apart on the second day of qualifying when the track conditions were significantly faster.
He had plenty to say about the performance of his car, which he described as a “compromise.” For some reason, the track at its optimum did not suit the Ferrari at its optimum. Lauda explained: “It’s going to be as good as it should be. It’s oversteering and understeering like all the others. But you expect that here and you set up the car in a compromise and just drive it.” He added, just so no one was in any doubt, “I’m trying bloody hard.” But it was only good enough for fifth on the grid as the Ferrari team’s confidence suddenly vanished. It was a serious wake-up call and probably saved the rest of their season, as Daniele Audetto realized that Formula One was not a one-way street in Ferrari’s favor and that things could change very quickly and often did. Jody Scheckter’s six-wheeled Tyrrell-Ford qualified on pole, with Mario Andretti’s Lotus-Ford alongside him.
Alastair Caldwell was still in denial about McLaren’s severe technical problems. His was a “wood and trees” problem according to Hunt. But between the second and final qualifying sessions on Saturday, it finally dawned on Caldwell that the car’s problems might have something to do with the changes he had ordered after Spain. So on race morning he woke up his mechanics and ordered the car to be put back to its previous specifications and setup, except for the oil coolers, which couldn’t be changed at the track. Hunt recalled: “We decided in desperation to put the car back exactly to Spanish settings, but it made no difference to the car at all.” McLaren was only saved from total humiliation by the problems that Ferrari was also having.
Race day dawned significantly colder, and that hindered Ferrari even more. For McLaren it didn’t matter; the car was so bad they could not distinguish the change. Lauda was having severe problem with tire temperatures in warm-up; they were 20 degrees lower than they should have been. The car was a mixture of severe understeer and oversteer.
Mario Andretti was the driver of the day. He stormed off into the lead but was then penalized by a minute for a false start. After that, Jody Scheckter led, and on the 45th lap, Andretti, trying so hard to catch him, over-revved his Ford-Cosworth engine and blew it up. So Scheckter and his teammate, Patrick Depailler, scored a Tyrrell-Ford 1-2, with Lauda third and Hunt fifth.
Lauda had driven like a hero to finish third and stepped out of his cockpit in an optimistic mood, as he realized what could be achieved when everything was stacked against him. Hunt was equally optimistic and shared Lauda’s thoughts, saying, “My best drive of the year; I finished miles behind in a very undrivable car.” He had gained two hard-earned points as he had wrestled his car around the Anderstorp track. Those two points earned in Sweden would prove absolutely vital a few months later. Afterwards, Hunt made sure that journalists knew how bad the car really was. It was the only way he felt he could put pressure on Alastair Caldwell to fix the problems, which were by now obviously related to the positioning of the oil coolers.
As the race ended, Lauda was leading Hunt by 47 points in the world championship and Jody Scheckter appeared to be Lauda’s challenger for the world crown. Hunt could have had no ambitions for the championship.