James Hunt in the Mclaren M23 (1976)

The 1976 Formula One season would prove to be extraordinary. The start of the season saw the introduction of a new rule set. The cars required a larger overhang ahead of the driver”s feet, (on the grounds of safety.) The rear wing overhang had to be reduced from 100cm to 80cm. The large air-boxes that had been a feature of the previous seasons were now banned and the width of the rear of the car could be no more than 215cm.

The figure regarding the rear width of the cars had been chosen as it was the width of the widest car that competed in 1975, the McLaren M23. To give the constructors time to adapt to the new rules they were not going to be enforced until the fourth round of the championship, the race at Jarama.

The first three rounds of the championship has seen the dominant force of 1975, Ferrari, sustain their momentum. It was a clean sweep with two wins for Lauda and one for Reggazoni but James Hunt had made a promising start to the season since moving to McLaren.

The new cars took to the Spanish track and come the end of qualifying it was Hunt’s McLaren that sat on pole position, having edged out Lauda’s Ferrari. Lauda got the jump on Hunt at the start of the race but he soon succumbed to the Englishman as the ribs he damaged in a tractor accident the previous week blunted the Austrian’s defenses. Hunt stormed home to his first McLaren victory, thirty-seconds ahead of Lauda. Hunt was ecstatic.

After the race, the scrutineers were all over the cars like a swarm of wasps, measuring the cars to check their conformity with the new rules. All of the cars passed, except one, Hunt’s McLaren, it was 1.8cm too wide. The difference between its width and the 1975 width was accounted for by a change in the profile of its Goodyear tyres but Hunt was disqualified and the victory handed to Lauda.

Originally posted by Tris.