1978 Brazilian Grand Prix

Last updated
1978 Brazilian Grand Prix
Race 2 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Autodromo de Jacarepagua 1978-1995.png
Race details
DateJanuary 29, 1978
Location Jacarepagua, Brazil
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.031 km (3.126 miles)
Distance 63 laps, 316.953 km (196.945 miles)
Weather Very hot and humid, 100.4°F (38°C) [1]
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:40.45
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Ferrari
Time 1:43.07 on lap 35
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Fittipaldi-Ford
Third Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Lap leaders
  • 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 29 January 1978 at Jacarepagua. The race was run at the height of summer in Rio de Janeiro in 100 degree F temperatures, and it was won by Argentine driver Carlos Reutemann driving a Ferrari 312T2 in a flag-to-flag performance. The win also represented the first win for tyre manufacturer Michelin. Local driver Emerson Fittipaldi was second, scoring the first podium finish for the Fittipaldi team with Austrian Brabham driver Niki Lauda finishing third. French driver Didier Pironi took his first points in Formula One, finishing sixth, while Arrows made its F1 debut with Riccardo Patrese finishing tenth, four laps down.

Contents

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo
1 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:40.451
2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:40.532
3 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:40.623
4 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:40.734
5 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 1:40.945
6 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:40.976
7 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:41.507
8 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:41.878
9 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford 1:42.079
10 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:42.0810
11 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:42.1011
12 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:42.1112
13 Flag of the United States.svg Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:42.6513
14 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:42.7114
15 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 1:42.8015
16 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford 1:42.9116
17 Flag of Italy.svg Lamberto Leoni Ensign-Ford 1:43.1719
18 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:43.1918
19 Flag of France.svg Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:43.5519
20 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 1:43.7420
21 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:43.7521
22 Flag of Mexico.svg Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 1:43.8622
23 Flag of the United States.svg Danny Ongais Ensign-Ford 1:43.9423
24 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 1:44.2024
25 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:44.20DNQ
26 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Theodore-Ford 1:44.28DNQ
27 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:44.66DNQ
28 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Divina Galica Hesketh-Ford 1:46.79DNQ

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

Report

The first Formula One race held at Jacarepagua was held in typically extreme weather conditions of January in Rio, meaning the race was held in both hot and humid conditions. Ronnie Peterson took the pole position in the leading Lotus ahead of James Hunt in the leading McLaren, teammate Mario Andretti in the other Lotus, Carlos Reutemann in the leading Ferrari, Patrick Tambay in the second McLaren and Gilles Villeneuve in the other Ferrari.

Peterson got off to a poor start from the pole and dropped back to 4th, whilst into the first corner it was Reutemann from 4th on the grid who got the best start and lead the first lap for Ferrari ahead of Hunt, Andretti, Peterson, Tambay and Villeneuve. Hunt in the leading McLaren and Andretti in the leading Lotus were running 2nd and 3rd behind Reutemann, until Hunt was forced to pit for tyres whilst Andretti soon started to suffer from gearbox problems and dropped to 4th, handing their 2nd and 3rd places over to home favourite Emerson Fittipaldi and reigning world-champion Niki Lauda respectively. Peterson eventually retired after a collision by lap 16. The hot and humid conditions had eventually caused Hunt, Tambay and Villeneuve in the other Ferrari to all spin off and crash by lap 36. Reutemann meanwhile had no challengers for the lead all race long, and won by a comfortable margin ahead of former double world-champion Fittipaldi, Lauda, Andretti in the remaining Lotus, Clay Regazzoni in the Shadow and Didier Pironi in the Tyrrell.

Classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTyreLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
111 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Ferrari M 631:49:59.8649
214 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 63+49.13 secs76
31 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 63+57.02 secs104
45 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 63+1:33.1233
517 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford G 62+1 Lap152
63 Flag of France.svg Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford G 62+1 Lap191
79 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass ATS-Ford G 62+1 Lap20
82 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 61+2 Laps21
926 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra G 61+2 Laps14
1036 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford G 59+4 Laps18
1127 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 58+5 Laps8
Ret25 Flag of Mexico.svg Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford G 40Physical22
Ret12 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 35Spun Off6
Ret8 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford G 34Spun Off5
Ret7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Hunt McLaren-Ford G 25Spun Off2
Ret16 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford G 25Fuel System9
Ret20 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford G 16Accident12
Ret6 Flag of Sweden.svg Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford G 15Collision1
Ret22 Flag of the United States.svg Danny Ongais Ensign-Ford G 13Brakes23
Ret30 Flag of the United States.svg Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford G 11Overheating13
Ret4 Flag of France.svg Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford G 8Accident11
Ret18 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford G 5Accident24
DNS23 Flag of Italy.svg Lamberto Leoni Ensign-Ford G 0Transmission17
DNS10 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford G Mass Drove Car16
DNQ37 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford G
DNQ32 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Theodore-Ford G
DNQ19 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford G
DNQ24 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Divina Galica Hesketh-Ford G
Source: [2] [3]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. "Rio de Janeiro January 29, 1978 Historical Weather (Brazil) - Weather Spark".
  2. "1978 Brazilian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. "1978 Brazilian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 29 January 1978. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Brazil 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
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