Motorsport · 1976 · Oyama, Japan
Hunt Wins the Title in the Fuji Fog
In rain heavy enough that Niki Lauda withdraws for his own safety, James Hunt recovers from a late pit stop to take the world championship by a single point.
1 point
Championship margin
3rd (enough to win title)
Hunt's finish
6
Lauda's crash, weeks prior
Niki Lauda came to the season-deciding 1976 Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway three points clear of James Hunt, six weeks after a near-fatal, fiery crash at the Nürburgring had left him with severe burns and lung damage. Fuji offered thick fog and standing water. Lauda came into the pits after two laps and withdrew, saying afterward that his life was worth more than a championship.
Hunt needed a top-three finish to overhaul Lauda's points total, and led for most of the race until a tyre problem forced an unplanned stop that dropped him out of the podium places. He took third place back over the closing laps, in conditions that were getting worse rather than better.
Third was exactly enough. Hunt won the 1976 Formula 1 World Championship by a single point, one of the closest title deciders the sport has had, and the rivalry that produced it was dramatised in the 2013 film 'Rush'.
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