1978 United States Grand Prix

August 2023 F1 United States United States Watkins Glen 1975-1983.png XXI Toyota Grand Prix of the United States October 1 1978 15 16 Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race CourseWatkins Glen, New York Permanent road course 3.377 5.435 59 199.24 320.67 Cloudy, dry USA Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:38.114 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Lotus-Ford 1:39.557 55 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford Jody Scheckter South Africa 1928 Wolf-Ford USA The 1978 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 1, 1978, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York.http://www.racingsportscars.com/covers/_Watkins_Glen-1978-10-01e.jpg 1978 United States Grand Prix Entry list This event was also referred to as the United States Grand Prix East in order to distinguish it from the United States Grand Prix West held on April 2, 1978, in Long Beach, California. At the preceding Italian Grand Prix, Mario Andretti had secured the driver's championship. At Watkins Glen, Andretti put his Lotus 79 on the pole before a record crowd of over 150,000 fans, but Ferrari's Carlos Reutemann completed a sweep of the two United States races in 1978 by finishing 19 seconds ahead of Australian Alan Jones. Andretti developed brake problems early on and would retire with a blown engine. Summary Background and practice sessions Ronnie Peterson had been killed following a multiple car pile-up at the Italian Grand Prix. Following the race, the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) had a meeting centering on Riccardo Patrese, who the GPDA blamed for the crash. The GPDA filed an injunction to bar Patrese from participating in the 1978 United States Grand Prix weekend, which was allowed. Patrese, who believed that he was not to blame for the fatal accident at Monza, was furious at this action taken, and he tried unsuccessfully to stop the race from taking place. Replacing the late Peterson for this race and the next one in Canada was Jean-Pierre Jarier. Friday was warm and sunny, and Andretti set a new track record of 1:39.82. He later lowered that to 1:38.92, ahead of the Ferraris of Reutemann and Canadian rookie Gilles Villeneuve, then the two Brabhams of Niki Lauda and John Watson. American Brett Lunger, about to drive in his last Formula One race, was at the wheel of an Ensign for the first time, after his McLaren was damaged in the opening lap crash at Monza that claimed the life of Peterson. Bobby Rahal had been enlisted from Formula Atlantic to partner Jody Scheckter, as Canadian Walter Wolf was running two cars for the first time. Starting carefully in his first F1 drive, Rahal took more than a second off his lap time in the Friday afternoon session, then another half-second on Saturday and qualified 20th. High winds on Saturday meant that only eight drivers improved their times, with Alan Jones jumping up to third spot on his last lap. Despite the wind, Andretti improved his pace-setting time to 1:38.114, more than a second ahead of Reutemann. After Friday's qualifying, Andretti had been so pleased with his car that he said, "We don't know any more that we can do. She is so right. What can I say?"December 2016 Race organizers feared that an Andretti win would trigger pandemonium in the massive crowd, and they had Mario and his wife, Dee Ann, pose for photos on the podium with the winner's trophy before the race.January 2015 Race thumb|right|The race was won by Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Reutemann Sunday produced threatening skies, but no rain. On the last lap of the morning warm-up, the rear stub axle on Andretti's Lotus broke in the left-hander entering The Anvil (nicknamed "Ickx's Corner" after a crash the Belgian had there in 1976). The car spun several times and then hit the barrier, knocking off a rear wheel. Faulty material in the part was blamed, and, with no time to test the spare car, Andretti used his teammate Jean-Pierre Jarier's car for the race. At the start, Andretti took the lead, while Emerson Fittipaldi and Héctor Rebaque (in 13th and 23rd places) both immediately burned out their clutches. Rebaque's race was over, but Fittipaldi managed to get his car in gear, nursed it around for a lap while it cooled off, and then drove through the field to finish fifth. After one lap, Andretti had a four car-length lead over Reutemann and Villeneuve. They were followed by Jones, Lauda, Jarier, Hunt, Watson and Scheckter. Knowing the car had a brake problem, Andretti was hoping he could cope with it, as he had at Monza. Immediately, his lead began to disintegrate. On lap three, Reutemann went by, and on lap four, Villeneuve. As the Ferraris pulled away, Jarier came in on lap 11 from 11th place to change a deflating front tire. After going back out, the car was still bottoming, but once his fuel load lightened, he set the race's fastest lap, which would have qualified him third. Nearing the halfway point, the Ferraris were running first and second. Then, on lap 23, Villeneuve's engine blew a piston, and Jones, who had overtaken Andretti two laps earlier, inherited second, 35 seconds behind Reutemann. On lap 25, Lauda passed Andretti for third, and three laps later, Andretti's engine blew. Scheckter and Jean-Pierre Jabouille's Renault were battling for fourth, which became third when Lauda also blew up just a lap after Andretti. Jarier was immediately behind them and closing rapidly. When Jabouille ran into brake trouble, he was caught by both Scheckter and Jarier. Jarier went by both of them to take third, while Scheckter also passed Jabouille to regain fourth. Jarier's race ended with three and a half laps to go when he ran out of fuel, giving Scheckter the final podium position. Reutemann came home almost twenty seconds ahead of Jones to take the eighth Grand Prix win of his career, the third in the US. Jabouille's fourth place scored the first points for Renault and the first for a turbocharged engine; within a few years, turbocharged engines dominated Formula One. Classification Qualifying Pos. Driver Constructor Time/Gap 1 USA Mario Andretti Lotus–Ford 1:38.114 2 ARG Carlos Reutemann Ferrari +1.065 3 AUS Alan Jones Williams–Ford +1.628 4 CAN Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari +1.706 5 AUT Niki Lauda Brabham–Alfa Romeo +1.868 6 GBR James Hunt McLaren–Ford +1.877 7 GBR John Watson Brabham–Alfa Romeo +1.886 8 FRA Jean-Pierre Jarier Lotus–Ford +1.920 9 FRA Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault +2.022 10 FRA Jacques Laffite Ligier–Matra +2.114 11 RSA 1928 Jody Scheckter Wolf–Ford +2.648 12 FRA Patrick Depailler Tyrrell–Ford +2.714 13 BRA Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi–Ford +2.893 14 FRG Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow–Ford +3.567 15 FIN Keke Rosberg ATS–Ford +3.659 16 FRA Didier Pironi Tyrrell–Ford +3.701 17 SUI Clay Regazzoni Shadow–Ford +3.741 18 FRA Patrick Tambay McLaren–Ford +3.860 19 IRL Derek Daly Ensign–Ford +4.065 20 USA Bobby Rahal Wolf–Ford +4.315 21 FRA René Arnoux Surtees–Ford +4.427 22 FRG Rolf Stommelen Arrows–Ford +4.627 23 MEX Héctor Rebaque Lotus–Ford +4.914 24 USA Brett Lunger Ensign–Ford +4.953 25 NED Michael Bleekemolen ATS–Ford +5.458 26 ITA Arturo Merzario Merzario–Ford +6.172 27 ITA Beppe Gabbiani Surtees–Ford +7.041 Source:https://motorsportstats.com/results/formula-one/1978/united-states-grand-prix/classification/qualifying Formula One 1978 United States Grand Prix Classification | Motorsport Stats *Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify. Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 11 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari Michelin 59 1:40:48.800 2 9 2 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford Goodyear 59 +19.739 secs 3 6 3 20 South Africa 1928 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford Goodyear 59 +45.701 secs 11 4 4 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault Michelin 59 +1:25.007 9 3 5 14 Brazil 1968 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford Goodyear 59 +1:28.089 13 2 6 8 France Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford Goodyear 59 +1:50.210 18 1 7 7 UK James Hunt McLaren-Ford Goodyear 58 +1 Lap 6 8 22 Ireland Derek Daly Ensign-Ford Goodyear 58 +1 Lap 19 9 18 France René Arnoux Surtees-Ford Goodyear 58 +1 Lap 21 10 3 France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 58 +1 Lap 16 11 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra Goodyear 58 +1 Lap 10 12 21 US Bobby Rahal Wolf-Ford Goodyear 58 +1 Lap 20 13 23 US Brett Lunger Ensign-Ford Goodyear 58 +1 Lap 24 14 17 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford Goodyear 56 +3 Laps 17 15 55 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Lotus-Ford Goodyear 55 Out of Fuel 8 16 36 FRG Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford Goodyear 54 +5 Laps 22 Ret Retired 37 Italy Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford Goodyear 46 Gearbox 26 Ret Retired 9 Netherlands Michael Bleekemolen ATS-Ford Goodyear 43 Oil Leak 25 Ret Retired 1 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo Goodyear 28 Engine 5 Ret Retired 5 US Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford Goodyear 27 Engine 1 Ret Retired 2 UK John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo Goodyear 25 Engine 7 Ret Retired 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 23 Wheel 12 Ret Retired 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari Michelin 22 Engine 4 Ret Retired 10 Finland Keke Rosberg ATS-Ford Goodyear 21 Transmission 15 Ret Retired 16 FRG Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford Goodyear 1 Fuel System 14 Ret Retired 25 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford Goodyear 0 Clutch 23 DNQ Did not qualify 19 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Surtees-Ford GoodyearSource:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1978/423/ 1978 USA East Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20141019072236/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1978/423/ 19 October 2014https://gparchive.com/formula-1/1978-usa-east-grand-prix/ 1978 United States Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive GPArchive.com October 1978 3 November 2021 Notes This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Italian driver Beppe Gabbiani and American driver Bobby Rahal. This was the 1st podium finish for Williams. Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 USA Mario Andretti 64 10px 2 SWE Ronnie Peterson 51 10px 1 3 ARG Carlos Reutemann 44 10px 1 4 AUT Niki Lauda 44 10px 5 FRA Patrick Depailler 32Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1978/etats-unis-est/championnat.aspx United States 1978 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 21 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 10px 1 UK Lotus-Ford 86 10px 2 UK Brabham-Alfa Romeo 53 10px 3 ITA Ferrari 49 10px 4 UK Tyrrell-Ford 36 10px 5 FRA Ligier-Matra 19Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Bold text indicates the 1978 World Champions. References 30em Further reading Rob Walker (January, 1979). "19th United States Grand Prix: Mario Unlucky, Carlos Superb". Road & Track, 100–103. 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