1978 Belgian Grand Prix

Last updated
1978 Belgian Grand Prix
Race 6 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Circuit Zolder-1975-1985.svg
Race details
Date21 May 1978
Location Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
Course length 4.262 km (2.648 miles)
Distance 70 laps, 298.340 km (185.380 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver
 Lotus-Ford
Time 1:20.90
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford
Time 1:23.13 on lap 66
Podium
First
 Lotus-Ford
Second
 Lotus-Ford
Third
 Ferrari
Lap leaders
  • 1978 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1978 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 21 May 1978 at Zolder. [1] It was the sixth race of the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1978 International Cup for F1 Constructors. The 70-lap race was won from pole position by Mario Andretti, driving the new Lotus 79. Teammate Ronnie Peterson was second in the older Lotus 78, with Carlos Reutemann third in a Ferrari.

Contents

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying classification

Pos.DriverConstructorTime
1Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford1:23,76
2Keke RosbergTheodore-Ford1:24,46
3René ArnouxMartini-Ford1:24,58
4Bruno GiacomelliMcLaren-Ford1:24,65
5Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford1:24,91
6Héctor RebaqueLotus-Ford1:25,10
7Arturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford1:26,69

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to pre-qualify.

Qualifying classification

Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo
1Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:20,901
2Carlos ReutemannFerrari1:21,692
3Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:21,703
4Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:21,774
5Jody ScheckterWolf-Ford1:22,125
6James HuntMcLaren-Ford1:22,506
7Ronnie PetersonLotus-Ford1:22,627
8Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:23,258
9John WatsonBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:23,269
10Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1:23,5810
11Alan JonesWilliams-Ford1:23,7111
12Vittorio BrambillaSurtees-Ford1:23,7812
13Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford1:23,8213
14Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra1:23,9014
15Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:24,1115
16Jochen MassATS-Ford1:24,1416
17Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford1:24,1417
18Clay RegazzoniShadow-Ford1:24,1818
19René ArnouxMartini-Ford1:24,2819
20Hans-Joachim StuckShadow-Ford1:24,4720
21Bruno GiacomelliMcLaren-Ford1:24,8121
22Jacky IckxEnsign-Ford1:24,8222
23Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford1:24,8523
24Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford1:24,9924
25Rupert KeeganSurtees-Ford1:25,40DNQ
26Derek DalyHesketh-Ford1:25,69DNQ
27Keke RosbergTheodore-Ford1:25,87DNQ
28Alberto ColomboATS-Ford1:26,01DNQ

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

Report

The main news before the Belgian Grand Prix was that the new Lotus 79 was now ready to race, and immediately Mario Andretti showed its pace by taking pole comfortably from Carlos Reutemann and Niki Lauda. He converted it to a first-corner lead, whereas Reutemann had a bad start and got swamped by the field, causing a chain reaction in which Lauda was hit by Jody Scheckter and had to retire. This left Gilles Villeneuve second and Ronnie Peterson third but neither could keep pace with Andretti who was able to drive away.

The first 40 laps went without incident until Villeneuve suffered a puncture and had to pit which dropped him back down to fifth, and a few laps later Peterson also pitted for new tyres leaving the charging Reutemann second ahead of Jacques Laffite's Ligier. Peterson on the new tyres was much quicker and was able to pass them both in the closing stages, and Laffite made an attempt to pass Reutemann on the last lap but they collided and Laffite was out. Andretti cruised to an untroubled victory, with Peterson making it a Lotus 1–2, and Reutemann completing the podium.

Classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTyreLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
15 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 701:39:52.0219
26 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford G 70+ 9.9076
311 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Ferrari M 70+ 24.3424
412 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 70+ 47.0443
526 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra G 69Accident142
63 Flag of France.svg Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford G 69+ 1 Lap231
730 Flag of the United States.svg Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford G 69+ 1 Lap24
833 Flag of Italy.svg Bruno Giacomelli McLaren-Ford G 69+ 1 Lap21
931 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Martini-Ford G 68+ 2 Laps19
1027 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 68+ 2 Laps11
119 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass ATS-Ford G 68+ 2 Laps16
1222 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Ensign-Ford G 64+ 6 Laps22
1319 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford G 63Engine12
Ret16 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford G 56Spun Off10
NC15 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault M 56+ 14 Laps20
Ret20 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford G 53Spun Off5
Ret4 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford G 51Gearbox13
Ret17 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford G 40Transmission18
Ret35 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford G 31Suspension8
Ret36 Flag of Germany.svg Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford G 26Spun Off17
Ret2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 18Accident9
Ret1 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 0Accident3
Ret7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt McLaren-Ford G 0Accident6
Ret14 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 0Accident15
DNQ18 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford G
DNQ24 Flag of Ireland.svg Derek Daly Hesketh-Ford G
DNQ32 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford G
DNQ10 Flag of Italy.svg Alberto Colombo ATS-Ford G
DNPQ25 Flag of Mexico.svg Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford G
DNPQ37 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford G
DNP23 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Bernard de Dryver Ensign-Ford G
DNP29 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Patrick Nève March-Ford G
Source: [2] [3]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. ↑ "1978 Belgian Grand Prix Entry list".
  2. ↑ "1978 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "1978 Belgian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 21 May 1978. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Belgium 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
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