49 years ago today, Hunt won at Fuji and only one driver stood on the podium

The 1977 Japanese Grand Prix was held at Fuji on 23 October 1977, 49 years ago today. It was the 17th and final round of the 1977 Formula One World Championship. At the time, it was widely expected to be the last Grand Prix in Japan.

The race

Mario Andretti and James Hunt were still battling for the title in the final weeks of the season. Andretti took pole position from Hunt, with John Watson lining up second. Hunt took the lead at the start, while Jody Scheckter and Jochen Mass moved up to second and third. Andretti made a poor start and dropped towards the back of the top ten.

On the second lap, Andretti became involved in a collision while trying to gain places, and retired along with Hans Binder and Noritake Takahara. Hunt had no rival left and pulled away. Mass and Watson both retired a lap apart with engine and gearbox failures. Carlos Reutemann moved into second, but Jacques Laffite passed him. Hunt closed out the season with a comfortable win. Laffite ran out of fuel on the last lap and handed second place back to Reutemann, while Patrick Depailler completed the podium.

The fatal accident at Fuji

On lap six, Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari and Ronnie Peterson's Tyrrell P34 collided. Debris struck a marshal and a photographer who were standing in a restricted area of the track. Both died. The marshal was trying to move spectators away from the area.

One driver on the podium and what followed

Hunt and Reutemann left the track as soon as the race ended, heading home. Only Depailler and his engineer remained on the podium. The rules were changed the following year, and from the 1978 Argentine Grand Prix the top three drivers were required to attend the podium ceremony.

March driver Ian Scheckter was not allowed into Japan because he held only a tourist visa, and he was sent out of the country. His brother Jody had a work visa. Japanese authorities' objections to South Africa's apartheid regime were also a live issue at the time.

Kunimitsu Takahashi made his Formula One World Championship debut at this race. Hunt's win was the last F1 victory of his career. The next win by a British driver came from John Watson at the 1981 British Grand Prix. Gunnar Nilsson started his final F1 race.

Money and transport problems, along with safety concerns about the Fuji circuit, were among the reasons Japan dropped off the calendar. Getting to the Far East then meant routing through Anchorage or Hong Kong, because the Soviet Union and China had closed their airspace to Western aircraft. The race returned in 1987 at Suzuka, which offered better and safer conditions for spectators. The next Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji took place in 2007.