1978 Belgian Grand Prix

F1 Belgium Belgian Circuit Zolder-1975-1985.svg 21 May 1978 6 16 Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium 2.648 4.262 70 185.380 298.340 Dry Mario Andretti USA Lotus-Ford 1:20.90 Ronnie Peterson Sweden Lotus-Ford 1:23.13 66 Mario Andretti USA Lotus-Ford Ronnie Peterson Sweden Lotus-Ford Carlos Reutemann Argentina Ferrari BEL The 1978 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 21 May 1978 at Zolder.https://www.racingsportscars.com/covers/_Zolder-1978-05-21e.jpg 1978 Belgian Grand Prix Entry list 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.DriverConstructorTime1Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford1:23.762Keke RosbergTheodore-Ford1:24.463René ArnouxMartini-Ford1:24.584Bruno GiacomelliMcLaren-Ford1:24.655Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford1:24.916Héctor RebaqueLotus-Ford1:25.107Arturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford1:26.69 *Positions in red indicate entries that failed to pre-qualify. Qualifying classification Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo1Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:20.9012Carlos ReutemannFerrari1:21.6923Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:21.7034Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:21.7745Jody ScheckterWolf-Ford1:22.1256James HuntMcLaren-Ford1:22.5067Ronnie PetersonLotus-Ford1:22.6278Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:23.2589John WatsonBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:23.26910Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1:23.581011Alan JonesWilliams-Ford1:23.711112Vittorio BrambillaSurtees-Ford1:23.781213Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford1:23.821314Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra1:23.901415Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:24.111516Jochen MassATS-Ford1:24.141617Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford1:24.141718Clay RegazzoniShadow-Ford1:24.181819René ArnouxMartini-Ford1:24.281920Hans-Joachim StuckShadow-Ford1:24.472021Bruno GiacomelliMcLaren-Ford1:24.812122Jacky IckxEnsign-Ford1:24.822223Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford1:24.852324Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford1:24.992425Rupert KeeganSurtees-Ford1:25.40DNQ Did not qualify26Derek DalyHesketh-Ford1:25.69DNQ Did not qualify27Keke RosbergTheodore-Ford1:25.87DNQ Did not qualify28Alberto ColomboATS-Ford1:26.01DNQ Did not qualify *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 Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 US Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford Goodyear 70 1:39:52.02 1 9 2 6 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford Goodyear 70 +9.90 7 6 3 11 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari Michelin 70 +24.34 2 4 4 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari Michelin 70 +47.04 4 3 5 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra Goodyear 69 Accident 14 2 6 3 France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 69 +1 lap 23 1 7 30 US Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford Goodyear 69 +1 lap 24 8 33 Italy Bruno Giacomelli McLaren-Ford Goodyear 69 +1 lap 21 9 31 France René Arnoux Martini-Ford Goodyear 68 +2 laps 19 10 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford Goodyear 68 +2 laps 11 11 9 FRG Jochen Mass ATS-Ford Goodyear 68 +2 laps 16 12 22 Belgium Jacky Ickx Ensign-Ford Goodyear 64 +6 laps 22 13 19 Italy Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford Goodyear 63 Engine 12 Ret Retired 16 FRG Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford Goodyear 56 Spun off 10 NC Not classified 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault Michelin 56 +14 laps 20 Ret Retired 20 South Africa 1928 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford Goodyear 53 Spun off 5 Ret Retired 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 51 Gearbox 13 Ret Retired 17 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford Goodyear 40 Transmission 18 Ret Retired 35 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford Goodyear 31 Suspension 8 Ret Retired 36 FRG Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford Goodyear 26 Spun off 17 Ret Retired 2 UK John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo Goodyear 18 Accident 9 Ret Retired 1 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo Goodyear 0 Accident 3 Ret Retired 7 UK James Hunt McLaren-Ford Goodyear 0 Accident 6 Ret Retired 14 Brazil 1968 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford Goodyear 0 Accident 15 DNQ Did not qualify 18 UK Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 24 Ireland Derek Daly Hesketh-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 32 Finland Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 10 Italy Alberto Colombo ATS-Ford Goodyear DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 25 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford Goodyear DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 37 Italy Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford Goodyear DNP Did not practice 23 Belgium Bernard de Dryver Ensign-Ford Goodyear DNP Did not practice 29 Belgium Patrick Nève March-Ford Goodyear Source:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1978/414/ 1978 Belgian Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20140903035153/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1978/414/ 3 September 2014https://gparchive.com/formula-1/1978-belgian-grand-prix/ 1978 Belgian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive GPArchive.com 21 May 1978 5 November 2021 Notes This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Italian driver Alberto Colombo. Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 2 1 USA Mario Andretti 27 10px 1 2 FRA Patrick Depailler 23 10px 1 3 ARG Carlos Reutemann 22 10px 1 4 SWE Ronnie Peterson 20 10px 1 5 AUT Niki Lauda 16Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1978/belgique/championnat.aspx Belgium 1978 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 12 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 10px 1 UK Lotus-Ford 36 10px 2 UK Tyrrell-Ford 25 10px 1 3 ITA Ferrari 22 10px 1 4 UK Brabham-Alfa Romeo 20 10px 5 BRA Fittipaldi-Ford 6Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References 30em Belgian Grand Prix 1978 1978 Monaco Grand Prix 1978 Spanish Grand Prix 1977 Belgian Grand Prix 1979 Belgian Grand Prix Belgian Grand Prix Category:Belgian Grand Prix Grand Prix Category:Circuit Zolder Category:Sports competitions in Limburg (Belgium) Belgian Grand Prix