1978 Dutch Grand Prix

1978 Dutch Grand Prix
1978 Dutch Grand Prix
Race 13 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Race details
Date	27 August 1978
Official name	XXVI Grote Prijs van Nederland
Location	Zandvoort
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.226 km (2.626 miles)
Distance	75 laps, 316.95 km (196.95 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Mario Andretti ;
Time	1:16.36
Fastest lap
Driver	Niki Lauda
Time	1:19.57 on lap 57
Podium
First	Mario Andretti ;
Second	Ronnie Peterson ;
Third	Niki Lauda ;
	Lap leaders ;

Last updated December 13, 2025

The 1978 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zandvoort on 27 August 1978. It was the 13th race of the 1978 Formula One season. It was the final career victory for Mario Andretti, who went on to win the championship after Ronnie Peterson's fatal crash at Monza. It is also the last 1-2 finish for the original Lotus team, and also, the last win for an American Formula One driver, as of the 2025 season.

Report

For the fourth consecutive race, the Lotuses came 1–2 in qualifying with Mario Andretti ahead of Ronnie Peterson. Niki Lauda was third in the Brabham, ahead of the Ferraris of Carlos Reutemann and Gilles Villeneuve. The top ten was completed by Jacques Laffite in the Ligier, James Hunt in the McLaren, John Watson in the second Brabham, Jean-Pierre Jabouille in the Renault, and Emerson Fittipaldi in the Fittipaldi.

At the start of the race, Andretti led from Peterson with Laffite charging up to third, while at the second corner Didier Pironi's Tyrrell collided with Riccardo Patrese's Arrows. Thereafter, the race was relatively uneventful, Peterson dutifully following Andretti while Laffite fell back down the order, enabling Lauda to reclaim third. At the end, Andretti was just over three-tenths of a second ahead of Peterson, with Lauda a further 12 seconds back; the minor points went to Watson, Fittipaldi and Villeneuve.

This fourth 1–2 finish of the season for Lotus meant that, with three races left to run, only Andretti or Peterson could take the Drivers' Championship. It would go to Andretti in the next race at Monza, when Peterson crashed fatally.

Classification

Pre-qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	33	Bruno Giacomelli	McLaren-Ford	1:19.59	—
2	30	Brett Lunger	McLaren-Ford	1:20.01	+0.42
3	37	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	1:20.32	+0.73
4	32	Keke Rosberg	Wolf-Ford	1:20.46	+0.87
5	29	Nelson Piquet	McLaren-Ford	1:20.52	+0.93
6	31	René Arnoux	Martini-Ford	1:20.52	+0.93
7	25	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus-Ford	1:20.95	+1.36
8	23	Harald Ertl	Ensign-Ford	1:21.00	+1.41
9	39	Danny Ongais	Shadow-Ford	1:21.41	+1.82
10	36	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows-Ford	1:22.24	+2.65

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

Qualifying

Pos.	Driver	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	Mario Andretti	Lotus–Ford	1:16.36
2	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus–Ford	+0.61
3	Niki Lauda	Brabham–Alfa Romeo	+0.97
4	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	+0.98
5	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	+1.18
6	Jacques Laffite	Ligier–Matra	+1.19
7	James Hunt	McLaren–Ford	+1.31
8	John Watson	Brabham–Alfa Romeo	+1.37
9	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	+1.92
10	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi–Ford	+1.94
11	Alan Jones	Williams–Ford	+2.06
12	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell–Ford	+2.07
13	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows–Ford	+2.14
14	Patrick Tambay	McLaren–Ford	+2.14
15	Jody Scheckter	Wolf–Ford	+2.21
16	Derek Daly	Ensign–Ford	+3.03
17	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell–Ford	+3.23
18	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow–Ford	+3.26
19	Bruno Giacomelli	McLaren–Ford	+3.47
20	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus–Ford	+3.66
21	Brett Lunger	McLaren–Ford	+3.67
22	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees–Ford	+3.90
23	René Arnoux	Martini–Ford	+3.95
24	Keke Rosberg	Wolf–Ford	+4.11
25	Rupert Keegan	Surtees–Ford	+4.16
26	Nelson Piquet	McLaren–Ford	+4.28
27	Arturo Merzario	Merzario–Ford	+4.28
28	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow–Ford	+4.33
29	Michael Bleekemolen	ATS–Ford	+4.97
30	Jochen Mass	ATS–Ford	+5.46
Source:^[1]

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	G	75	1:41:04.23	1	9
2	6	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	G	75	+ 0.32	2	6
3	1	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	G	75	+ 12.21	3	4
4	2	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	G	75	+ 20.92	8	3
5	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	G	75	+ 21.50	10	2
6	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	M	75	+ 45.95	5	1
7	11	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	M	75	+ 1:00.52	4
8	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	G	74	+ 1 Lap	6
9	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	G	74	+ 1 Lap	14
10	7	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	G	74	+ 1 Lap	7
11	25	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus-Ford	G	74	+ 1 Lap	20
12	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	G	73	+ 2 Laps	15
Ret	33	Bruno Giacomelli	McLaren-Ford	G	60	Spun Off	19
Ret	16	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow-Ford	G	56	Transmission	18
Ret	31	René Arnoux	Martini-Ford	G	40	Chassis	23
Ret	37	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	G	40	Engine	26
DSQ	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford	G	37	Pushed At Start	22
Ret	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	M	35	Engine	9
Ret	30	Brett Lunger	McLaren-Ford	G	35	Engine	21
Ret	32	Keke Rosberg	Wolf-Ford	G	21	Accident	24
Ret	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	G	17	Throttle	11
Ret	29	Nelson Piquet	McLaren-Ford	G	16	Transmission	25
Ret	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	G	13	Engine	12
Ret	22	Derek Daly	Ensign-Ford	G	10	Transmission	16
Ret	35	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	G	0	Accident	13
Ret	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	G	0	Accident	17
DNS	18	Rupert Keegan	Surtees-Ford	G		Injury
DNQ	17	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow-Ford	G
DNQ	10	Michael Bleekemolen	ATS-Ford	G
DNQ	9	Jochen Mass	ATS-Ford	G
DNPQ	23	Harald Ertl	Ensign-Ford	G
DNPQ	39	Danny Ongais	Shadow-Ford	G
DNPQ	36	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows-Ford	G
Source:^[2]^[3]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Mario Andretti	63
2	Ronnie Peterson	51
3	Niki Lauda	35
4	Patrick Depailler	32
5	Carlos Reutemann	31
Source: ^[4]

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Lotus-Ford	85
2	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	44
3	Ferrari	36
4	Tyrrell-Ford	36
5	Ligier-Matra	16
Source: ^[4]

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

↑ "Formula One 1978 Dutch Grand Prix Classification | Motorsport Stats".
↑ "1978 Dutch Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
↑ "1978 Dutch Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 27 August 1978. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
1 2 "Netherlands 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.

Previous race:
1978 Austrian Grand Prix

FIA Formula One World Championship
1978 season

Next race:
1978 Italian Grand Prix

Previous race:
1977 Dutch Grand Prix

Dutch Grand Prix

Next race:
1979 Dutch Grand Prix

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[1] "Formula One 1978 Dutch Grand Prix Classification | Motorsport Stats".

[2] "1978 Dutch Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.

[3] "1978 Dutch Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 27 August 1978. Retrieved 3 November 2021.

[champ-4] 1 2 "Netherlands 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

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