F1 1976 Season

By mid-season, Lauda had built a substantial lead. It looked like a foregone conclusion; the combination of Lauda’s precision and Ferrari’s reliability seemed unbeatable.

On the second lap, Lauda’s Ferrari inexplicably veered off the track, hit an earth bank, and burst into flames. The car bounced back onto the track and was hit by two other cars (Brett Lunger and Harald Ertl). Lauda was trapped in the inferno. f1 1976 season