On race day the weather was very wet with fog and running water at several places on the track. There were intense debates as to whether the race should be started; in the end the organisers decided to go ahead and a majority of drivers did not disagree. Some drivers, including Lauda, were not happy with the decision. Hunt took the lead from the start with Watson and Andretti behind. On the second lap Watson slid down an escape road and Lauda drove into the pits to withdraw, as he believed the weather conditions made the track too dangerous. He later said "my life is worth more than a title."
Larry Perkins made a similar decision after one lap, as did Pace and
Emerson Fittipaldi later in the race. Hunt continued to lead, behind him second place passed between Andretti and Brambilla. On lap 22 Brambilla challenged for the lead but spun out of contention before retiring 15 laps later with electrical problems.
Jochen Mass moved into second before crashing on the 36th lap just before turn 7, promoting
Patrick Depailler into the position with Andretti third. It seemed Hunt was on for an easy win, but as the track began to dry he started to lose positions. He only needed a fourth place finish to win the title, because of Lauda's retirement. On lap 62 Hunt fell behind Depailler and Andretti, but two laps later Depailler's left rear tyre started to deflate and he had to pit. Andretti took the lead, but then Hunt had a similar tyre problem. Hunt pitted, dropped to fifth and set off after Depailler,
Alan Jones and Regazzoni. Depailler overtook both drivers on lap 70 and on the next lap Hunt did the same and overtook both of them in order to win the World Drivers' Championship. There was brief confusion as the immediate unofficial finish marked him as fifth place, but with quick deliberation the official finish was third.
Ferrari won the
Constructors' Championship despite Lauda's retirement. Andretti's victory was his second in Formula One, coming five years, seven months and 18 days after his maiden win at the
1971 South African Grand Prix. , this is the longest period between a first and second victory of a driver in the series.
Race classification • In Japan, the formal name of this Formula One event was not "Japanese Grand Prix" but was "Formula One World Championship in Japan" (F1世界選手権・イン・ジャパン), because an event of the
Japanese Formula 2000 championship had been named "
Japanese Grand Prix" in 1976. • It was initially announced that the fastest lap was set by
Masahiro Hasemi on lap 25, but this was a measurement mistake, and, several days later, the circuit issued a press release to correct the fastest lap holder of the race to
Jacques Laffite with a time of 1:19.97 on lap 70. This press release was promptly made known in Japan, and the
Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and Japanese media corrected the record. But this correction was not made well known outside Japan, thus, Hasemi is credited with the fastest lap of the race in many record books. ==Notes==