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1978 Belgian Grand Prix

FieldValue
TypeF1
CountryBelgium
Grand PrixBelgian
ImageCircuit Zolder-1975-1985.svg
Date21 May
Year1978
Race_No6
Season_No16
LocationCircuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
Course_mi2.648
Course_km4.262
Distance_laps70
Distance_mi185.380
Distance_km298.340
WeatherDry
Pole_DriverMario Andretti
Pole_CountryUSA
Pole_TeamLotus-Ford
Pole_Time1:20.90
Fast_DriverRonnie Peterson
Fast_CountrySweden
Fast_TeamLotus-Ford
Fast_Time1:23.13
Fast_Lap66
First_DriverMario Andretti
First_CountryUSA
First_TeamLotus-Ford
Second_DriverRonnie Peterson
Second_CountrySweden
Second_TeamLotus-Ford
Third_DriverCarlos Reutemann
Third_CountryArgentina
Third_TeamFerrari
Lapchart

The 1978 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 21 May 1978 at Zolder. 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.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying classification

Pos.DriverConstructorTime1234567
Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford**1:23.76**
Keke RosbergTheodore-Ford1:24.46
René ArnouxMartini-Ford1:24.58
Bruno GiacomelliMcLaren-Ford1:24.65
Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford1:24.91
Héctor RebaqueLotus-Ford1:25.10
Arturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford1:26.69

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

Qualifying classification

Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728
Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford**1:20.90**1
Carlos ReutemannFerrari1:21.692
Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:21.703
Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:21.774
Jody ScheckterWolf-Ford1:22.125
James HuntMcLaren-Ford1:22.506
Ronnie PetersonLotus-Ford1:22.627
Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:23.258
John WatsonBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:23.269
Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1:23.5810
Alan JonesWilliams-Ford1:23.7111
Vittorio BrambillaSurtees-Ford1:23.7812
Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford1:23.8213
Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra1:23.9014
Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:24.1115
Jochen MassATS-Ford1:24.1416
Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford1:24.1417
Clay RegazzoniShadow-Ford1:24.1818
René ArnouxMartini-Ford1:24.2819
Hans-Joachim StuckShadow-Ford1:24.4720
Bruno GiacomelliMcLaren-Ford1:24.8121
Jacky IckxEnsign-Ford1:24.8222
Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford1:24.8523
Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford1:24.9924
Rupert KeeganSurtees-Ford1:25.40DNQ
Derek DalyHesketh-Ford1:25.69DNQ
Keke RosbergTheodore-Ford1:25.87DNQ
Alberto 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/RetiredGridPoints12345678910111213RetNCRetRetRetRetRetRetRetRetRetDNQDNQDNQDNQDNPQDNPQDNPDNP
5US **Mario Andretti****Lotus-Ford**701:39:52.021**9**
6Sweden **Ronnie Peterson****Lotus-Ford**70+9.907**6**
11Argentina **Carlos Reutemann****Ferrari**70+24.342**4**
12Canada **Gilles Villeneuve****Ferrari**70+47.044**3**
26France **Jacques Laffite****Ligier-Matra**69Accident14**2**
3France **Didier Pironi****Tyrrell-Ford**69+1 lap23**1**
30US Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford69+1 lap24
33Italy Bruno GiacomelliMcLaren-Ford69+1 lap21
31France René ArnouxMartini-Ford68+2 laps19
27Australia Alan JonesWilliams-Ford68+2 laps11
9FRG Jochen MassATS-Ford68+2 laps16
22Belgium Jacky IckxEnsign-Ford64+6 laps22
19Italy Vittorio BrambillaSurtees-Ford63Engine12
16FRG Hans-Joachim StuckShadow-Ford56Spun off10
15France Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault56+14 laps20
20South Africa Jody ScheckterWolf-Ford53Spun off5
4France Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford51Gearbox13
17Switzerland Clay RegazzoniShadow-Ford40Transmission18
35Italy Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford31Suspension8
36FRG Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford26Spun off17
2UK John WatsonBrabham-Alfa Romeo18Accident9
1Austria Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo0Accident3
7UK James HuntMcLaren-Ford0Accident6
14Brazil Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford0Accident15
18UK Rupert KeeganSurtees-Ford
24Ireland Derek DalyHesketh-Ford
32Finland Keke RosbergTheodore-Ford
10Italy Alberto ColomboATS-Ford
25Mexico Héctor RebaqueLotus-Ford
37Italy Arturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford
23Belgium Bernard de DryverEnsign-Ford
29Belgium Patrick NèveMarch-Ford

Notes

  • This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Italian driver Alberto Colombo.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

PosDriverPointsSource:
[[File:1uparrow_green.svg10px]] 21USA Mario Andretti27
[[File:1downarrow_red.svg10px]] 12FRA Patrick Depailler23
[[File:1downarrow_red.svg10px]] 13ARG Carlos Reutemann22
[[File:1uparrow_green.svg10px]] 14SWE Ronnie Peterson20
[[File:1downarrow_red.svg10px]] 15AUT Niki Lauda16

;Constructors' Championship standings

PosConstructorPointsSource:
[[File:1rightarrow_blue.svg10px]]1UK Lotus-Ford36
[[File:1rightarrow_blue.svg10px]]2UK Tyrrell-Ford25
[[File:1uparrow_green.svg10px]] 13ITA Ferrari22
[[File:1downarrow_red.svg10px]] 14UK Brabham-Alfa Romeo20
[[File:1rightarrow_blue.svg10px]]5BRA Fittipaldi-Ford6
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

| Previous_year's_race = 1977 Belgian Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 1979 Belgian Grand Prix

References

  1. "1978 Belgian Grand Prix Entry list".
  2. "1978 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com.
  3. (21 May 1978). "1978 Belgian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive".
  4. "Belgium 1978 - Championship • STATS F1".
Info: Wikipedia Source

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