1978 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1978 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 21 May 1978 at Zolder.[1] 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.

1978 Belgian Grand Prix
Race 6 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Race details
Date 21 May 1978
Location Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
Course length 4.262 km (2.648 miles)
Distance 70 laps, 298.340 km (185.380 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:20.90
Fastest lap
Driver Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford
Time 1:23.13 on lap 66
Podium
First Lotus-Ford
Second Lotus-Ford
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders

Qualifying

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Pre-qualifying classification

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Pos. Driver Constructor Time
1 Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 1:23,76
2 Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford 1:24,46
3 René Arnoux Martini-Ford 1:24,58
4 Bruno Giacomelli McLaren-Ford 1:24,65
5 Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:24,91
6 Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 1:25,10
7 Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:26,69

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

Qualifying classification

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Pos. Driver Constructor Time No
1 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:20,90 1
2 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:21,69 2
3 Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:21,70 3
4 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:21,77 4
5 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:22,12 5
6 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:22,50 6
7 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:22,62 7
8 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:23,25 8
9 John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:23,26 9
10 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:23,58 10
11 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:23,71 11
12 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:23,78 12
13 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:23,82 13
14 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:23,90 14
15 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:24,11 15
16 Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 1:24,14 16
17 Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 1:24,14 17
18 Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 1:24,18 18
19 René Arnoux Martini-Ford 1:24,28 19
20 Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford 1:24,47 20
21 Bruno Giacomelli McLaren-Ford 1:24,81 21
22 Jacky Ickx Ensign-Ford 1:24,82 22
23 Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:24,85 23
24 Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:24,99 24
25 Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 1:25,40 DNQ
26 Derek Daly Hesketh-Ford 1:25,69 DNQ
27 Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford 1:25,87 DNQ
28 Alberto Colombo ATS-Ford 1:26,01 DNQ

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

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Report

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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

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Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5   Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 70 1:39:52.02 1 9
2 6   Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford G 70 + 9.90 7 6
3 11   Carlos Reutemann Ferrari M 70 + 24.34 2 4
4 12   Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 70 + 47.04 4 3
5 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra G 69 Accident 14 2
6 3   Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford G 69 + 1 Lap 23 1
7 30   Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford G 69 + 1 Lap 24
8 33   Bruno Giacomelli McLaren-Ford G 69 + 1 Lap 21
9 31   René Arnoux Martini-Ford G 68 + 2 Laps 19
10 27   Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 68 + 2 Laps 11
11 9   Jochen Mass ATS-Ford G 68 + 2 Laps 16
12 22   Jacky Ickx Ensign-Ford G 64 + 6 Laps 22
13 19   Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford G 63 Engine 12
Ret 16   Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford G 56 Spun Off 10
NC 15   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault M 56 + 14 Laps 20
Ret 20   Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford G 53 Spun Off 5
Ret 4   Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford G 51 Gearbox 13
Ret 17   Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford G 40 Transmission 18
Ret 35   Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford G 31 Suspension 8
Ret 36   Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford G 26 Spun Off 17
Ret 2   John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 18 Accident 9
Ret 1   Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 0 Accident 3
Ret 7   James Hunt McLaren-Ford G 0 Accident 6
Ret 14   Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 0 Accident 15
DNQ 18   Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford G
DNQ 24   Derek Daly Hesketh-Ford G
DNQ 32   Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford G
DNQ 10   Alberto Colombo ATS-Ford G
DNPQ 25   Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford G
DNPQ 37   Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford G
DNP 23   Bernard de Dryver Ensign-Ford G
DNP 29   Patrick Nève March-Ford G
Source:[2][3]

Notes

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

Championship standings after the race

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

References

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  1. ^ "1978 Belgian Grand Prix Entry list".
  2. ^ "1978 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. ^ "1978 Belgian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 21 May 1978. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Belgium 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.


Previous race:
1978 Monaco Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1978 season
Next race:
1978 Spanish Grand Prix
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1977 Belgian Grand Prix
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1979 Belgian Grand Prix