Throwback Thursday: 1976 British Grand Prix

As the Formula 1 circuit heads to Silverstone this weekend for the British Grand Prix, the championship battle between Mercedes AMG Petronas teammates, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, could not be much closer. The 10-point difference between the two could decisively change once the green flag is waved on Sunday, just as it did at Brands Hatch (a former location of the event for even-numbered years from 1964-'86) in 1976

That race was the setting for one of the infamous chapters of the battle for the championship between two of F1's most notorious rivals – McLaren's James Hunt and Ferrari's Niki Lauda. The Hunt-Lauda rivalry from that season was also recently adapted to the big screen in the acclaimed 2013 film, RUSH.

Formula 1's return to the Brands Hatch circuit in 1976 was as much a make-or-break race for the championship as it was a homecoming for Hunt, whose return to his homeland was widely celebrated by his rapidly growing army of fans. Lauda temporarily silenced those fans by winning the pole, with Hunt alongside in the second starting position.

The start of the race set the stage for the controversy that would persist even after the checkered flag flew. Hunt got off a weak start when the green flag flew, and while Lauda pulled away by a few car lengths his teammate Clay Regazzoni tried to overtake him going into the first corner. Regazzoni overshot the corner, though, and clipped Lauda, sending the Austrian's Ferrari into a spin. His car was then hit by several behind, one of which was Hunt's (ABOVE). The large amount of debris red-flagged the race, which placed the McLaren, Ferrari and Ligier teams into a precarious situation of deciding whether or not to prepare spare cars for Hunt, Regazzoni, and Jacques Laffite.

However, the race officials announced only drivers who had finished the first lap in their original car could take place in the restarted race. Hunt took his car to the pits to repair the damage, but drove through an access road on Cooper Straight to get there, thus not completing a full lap. The McLaren mechanics ultimately managed to repair the original car, which removed the strategy of having to use the replacement car. Fearing for impending rowdiness from the partisan crowd at seeing Hunt not able to continue, the race officials allowed Hunt to retake his second place starting position for the restart. Regazzoni and Laffite, however took the restart in their replacement cars – which resulted in their disqualification after the race's conclusion.

Once the race commenced, Lauda built a sizeable advantage out front and led the first 45 laps. An unexpected gearshift problem knocked him out of contention, and James Hunt capitalized on Lauda's mechanical issue to take the lead. Hunt went on to win the race, and the victory sent the largely British crowd into a wild celebration.

Afterward, though, the Ferrari, Tyrrell and Copersucar teams protested Hunt's win to the stewards, based on his not completing the full lap back to the pits. The officials still stated that the original results would stand, but Ferrari went on to take its case to the FIA, which held a tribunal in Paris. It upheld Ferrari's appeal and Hunt was disqualified from the race with Lauda declared the winner.

The 1976 British GP was a classic case of a driver's transition from elation to despair, adding a new level of contention to a championship duel that would go on to become one of the most dramatic in the history of the sport.