1978 Spanish Grand Prix

1978 Spanish Grand Prix
Race 7 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Race details
Date	4 June 1978
Official name	XXIV Gran Premio de España [1]
Location	Jarama, Spain
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	3.404 km (2.115 miles)
Distance	75 laps, 255.3 km (158.625 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:16.39
Fastest lap
Driver	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:20.06 on lap 5
Podium
First	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford
Second	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford
Third	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra
Lap leaders

The 1978 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 4 June 1978 at Jarama. It was the seventh race of the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1978 International Cup for F1 Constructors. The 75-lap race was won from pole position by Mario Andretti, driving a Lotus-Ford, with teammate Ronnie Peterson second and Jacques Laffite third in a Ligier-Matra.

Report

Once again the new Lotus 79 demonstrated its speed, with Mario Andretti on pole and Ronnie Peterson alongside him on the front row, the Swede driving the 79 for the first time. Carlos Reutemann was third in his Ferrari, with James Hunt fourth in his McLaren.

On race day, Hunt made a fast start to lead into the first corner from Andretti and Reutemann, with Peterson dropping to ninth. Andretti re-passed Hunt on lap 6 and then started to pull away. Reutemann ran third until he had to pit for tyres, and so John Watson inherited third until he was passed by Jacques Laffite, but soon the recovering Peterson passed both of them. Hunt now suffered from tyre problems and he also began to drop back, and so Peterson moved into second with Laffite third. This was how it stayed to the end, Andretti winning from Peterson in another Lotus 1–2, and Laffite taking the final spot on the podium. Reutemann had a huge accident on lap 58 when his Ferrari flew 8 feet in the air, cleared the barrier and landed in the debris fencing.

Classification

Pre-qualifying

Pos.	Driver	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus–Ford	1:19.84
2	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows–Ford	+0.13
3	Arturo Merzario	Merzario–Ford	+0.19
4	Brett Lunger	McLaren–Ford	+0.35
5	Keke Rosberg	Theodore–Ford	+1.41

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

Qualifying

Pos.	Driver	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	Mario Andretti	Lotus–Ford	1:16.39
2	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus–Ford	+0.29
3	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	+1.01
4	James Hunt	McLaren–Ford	+1.27
5	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	+1.40
6	Niki Lauda	Brabham–Alfa Romeo	+1.55
7	John Watson	Brabham–Alfa Romeo	+1.59
8	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows–Ford	+1.75
9	Jody Scheckter	Wolf–Ford	+1.85
10	Jacques Laffite	Ligier–Matra	+2.03
11	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	+2.60
12	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell–Ford	+2.67
13	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell–Ford	+2.72
14	Patrick Tambay	McLaren–Ford	+2.89
15	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi–Ford	+2.94
16	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees–Ford	+3.32
17	Jochen Mass	ATS–Ford	+3.59
18	Alan Jones	Williams–Ford	+3.60
19	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows–Ford	+3.64
20	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus–Ford	+3.82
21	Jacky Ickx	Ensign–Ford	+3.97
22	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow–Ford	+4.28
23	Rupert Keegan	Surtees–Ford	+4.38
24	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow–Ford	+4.48
25	Arturo Merzario	Merzario–Ford	+4.52
26	Brett Lunger	McLaren–Ford	+4.78
27	Emilio de Villota	McLaren–Ford	+5.16
28	Alberto Colombo	ATS–Ford	+5.20
Source: [2]

*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	1:41:47.06	1	9
2	6	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	G	75	+ 19.56	2	6
3	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	G	75	+ 37.24	10	4
4	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	G	75	+ 1:00.06	9	3
5	2	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	G	75	+ 1:05.93	7	2
6	7	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	G	74	+ 1 Lap	4	1
7	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford	G	74	+ 1 Lap	16
8	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	G	74	+ 1 Lap	18
9	9	Jochen Mass	ATS-Ford	G	74	+ 1 Lap	17
10	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	M	74	+ 1 Lap	5
11	18	Rupert Keegan	Surtees-Ford	G	73	+ 2 Laps	23
12	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	G	71	+ 4 Laps	13
13	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	M	71	+ 4 Laps	11
14	36	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows-Ford	G	71	+ 4 Laps	19
15	17	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow-Ford	G	67	Fuel Pipe	22
Ret	22	Jacky Ickx	Ensign-Ford	G	64	Engine	21
Ret	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	G	62	Throttle	15
Ret	11	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	M	57	Accident	3
Ret	1	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	G	56	Engine	6
Ret	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	G	51	Engine	12
Ret	16	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow-Ford	G	45	Suspension	24
Ret	35	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	G	21	Engine	8
Ret	25	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus-Ford	G	21	Exhaust	20
Ret	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	G	16	Spun Off	14
DNQ	37	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	G
DNQ	30	Brett Lunger	McLaren-Ford	G
DNQ	28	Emilio de Villota	McLaren-Ford	G
DNQ	10	Alberto Colombo	ATS-Ford	G
DNPQ	32	Keke Rosberg	Theodore-Ford	G
Source: [3] [4]

Notes

• This was the 5th win of the Spanish Grand Prix for Lotus and the 10th Spanish Grand Prix win for a Ford-powered car.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Mario Andretti 36 2 Ronnie Peterson 26 3 Patrick Depailler 23 4 Carlos Reutemann 22 5 Niki Lauda 16 Source: [5]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Ford 45 2 Tyrrell-Ford 25 3 Ferrari 22 4 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 22 5 Ligier-Matra 10 Source: [5]

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

References

1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1978". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
2. "Formula One 1978 Spanish Grand Prix Classification | Motorsport Stats".
3. "1978 Spanish Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
4. "1978 Spanish Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 4 June 1978. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
5. "Spain 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

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