For the 1976 season, the Penske team secured a sponsorship deal with Citibank, which provided a much-needed financial boost. The death of driver Mark Donohue during practice for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix had been a severe blow to Penske, leaving the team without both a driver and a competitive car to continue the season. As a result, the team was forced to put the first version of the PC1 back on track, despite its lack of competitiveness, and hired British driver John Watson. The 1976 season began with the PC3 while the team’s technical director, Geoff Ferris, worked on completing the new Penske PC4.
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| PENSKE PC4, John Watson Brands Hatch, British GP 1976 |
Finally, by mid-season, the new Penske was ready to debut at the Swedish Grand Prix in Anderstorp, with John Watson as the sole driver. To design the new Penske, Ferris used the same chassis as the PC3, retaining its wheelbase and suspension while significantly improving its aerodynamics. The car had a particularly sleek design, featuring a very low nose and long, arrow-shaped sidepods, with radiators mounted longitudinally in front of the rear wheels. Like most cars on the grid, it was powered by the Ford-Cosworth V8 engine, paired with a classic five-speed Hewland DG 400 gearbox.
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| PENSKE PC4, John Watson Brands Hatch, British GP 1976 |
After a disappointing Swedish debut, 17th in qualifying and a first-lap retirement due to a stuck throttle, Ferris quickly made adjustments. He revised the radiator area’s aerodynamics and extended the wheelbase to improve stability, though this resulted in a further weight increase, exceeding 630 kg. Despite this, the new PC4 proved to be quite competitive. At the very next race, Watson secured third place after qualifying eighth.
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| PENSKE PC4, John Watson Brands Hatch, British GP 1976 |
The Northern Irish driver followed up with another third-place finish in his home race in Britain and a seventh-place finish in Germany. Then, in the following race in Austria, Watson claimed his first victory, which also marked Penske’s only Formula 1 win and the last victory for an American-licensed car in the championship. For the remainder of the season, the PC4 lost competitiveness, and Watson only managed one more points finish at Watkins Glen, where he placed sixth.
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| PENSKE PC4, John Watson Mosport, Canadian GP 1976 |
The PC4 earned a total of 18 championship points in 1976, and with the additional 2 points from the PC3, Penske finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship. Watson ranked seventh in the Drivers’ standings. However, despite these solid results, at the end of the season, Roger Penske decided to withdraw from Formula 1, as the series was still not attractive enough in the United States. Instead, he chose to focus exclusively on IndyCar racing. The three assembled PC4 cars and the machinery from the team’s UK headquarters were sold to German businessman Günter Schmid, who raced them under the ATS team banner in 1977.
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