1978 Dutch Grand Prix

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

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

Qualifying

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
• Bold text indicates the 1978 World Constructors' Champion.
• Competitors marked in bold and with an asterisk still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

References

Name_of_race = Dutch Grand Prix | Year_of_race = 1978 | Previous_race_in_season = 1978 Austrian Grand Prix | Next_race_in_season = 1978 Italian Grand Prix | Previous_year's_race = 1977 Dutch Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 1979 Dutch Grand Prix}}

References

1. "Formula One 1978 Dutch Grand Prix Classification | Motorsport Stats".
2. "1978 Dutch Grand Prix". formula1.com.
3. (27 August 1978). "1978 Dutch Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive".
4. "Netherlands 1978 - Championship • STATS F1".