1978 German Grand Prix

The 1978 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 July 1978 at the Hockenheimring. Mario Andretti won the race from pole position, ahead of Jody Scheckter and Jacques Laffite.

1978 German Grand Prix
Race 11 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Race details[1]
Date 30 July 1978
Official name XL Großer Preis von Deutschland
Location Hockenheimring, West Germany
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 6.790 km (4.219 miles)
Distance 45 laps, 305.505 km (189.81 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:51.90
Fastest lap
Driver Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford
Time 1:55.62 on lap 26
Podium
First Lotus-Ford
Second Wolf-Ford
Third Ligier-Matra
Lap leaders

Report edit

This was the debut race of future world champion Nelson Piquet. Mario Andretti took pole with Ronnie Peterson in second and Niki Lauda third. At the start, Peterson got off better and took the lead from Andretti, and held it for four laps before Andretti retook it. Lauda ran third in the early stages, before he was passed by Alan Jones, and the duo battled until Lauda's engine failed, his fifth engine related retirement of the year.[2] The two Lotus cars were cruising at the front, and Jones ran third comfortably until he retired with a fuel vaporization problem. Lotus's hopes of a 1–2 ended when Peterson's gearbox failed, Andretti was unaffected by that and cruised to his fifth win of the season, with Jody Scheckter second and Jacques Laffite third.

Classification edit

Pre-qualifying edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 32   Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford 2:10.13
2 37   Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 2:10.82 +0.69
3 25   Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 2:11.80 +1.67
4* 31   René Arnoux Martini-Ford 2:12.25 +2.12
5* 30   Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 2:12.45 +2.32
[3]
  • Positions in red and an asterisk indicate entries that failed to pre-qualify.

Qualifying edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 5   Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:51.90
2 6   Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:51.99 +0.09
3 1   Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:52.29 +0.39
4 20   Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:52.29 +0.78
5 2   John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:52.84 +0.94
6 27   Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:53.50 +1.60
7 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:53.40 +1.50
8 7   James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:53.46 +1.56
9 15   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:53.61 +1.71
10 14   Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:54.03 +2.13
11 8   Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 1:54.04 +2.14
12 11   Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:54.17 +2.27
13 4   Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:54.32 +2.42
14 35   Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:54.34 +2.44
15 12   Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:54.40 +2.50
16 3   Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:54.63 +2.73
17 36   Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 1:55.18 +3.28
18 25   Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 1:55.57 +3.67
19 32   Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford 1:55.57 +3.67
20 19   Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:55.86 +3.96
21 22   Nelson Piquet Ensign-Ford 1:56.15 +4.25
22 9   Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 1:56.21 +4.31
23 23   Harald Ertl Ensign-Ford 1:56.25 +4.35
24 16   Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford 1:56.45 +4.55
25* 17   Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 1:56.57 +4.67
26* 10   Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford 1:57.40 +5.50
27* 18   Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 1:57.86 +5.96
28* 37   Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:58.31 +6.41
Source:[3]
  • Positions in red and an asterisk indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5   Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 45 1:28:00.90 1 9
2 20   Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford G 45 +15.35 secs 4 6
3 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra G 45 +28.01 secs 7 4
4 14   Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 45 +36.88 secs 10 3
5 3   Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford G 45 +57.26 secs 16 2
6 25   Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford G 45 +1:37.86 18 1
7 2   John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 45 +1:39.53 5
8 12   Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 45 +1:56.87 15
9 35   Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford G 44 +1 Lap 14
10 32   Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford G 42 +3 Laps 19
11 23   Harald Ertl Ensign-Ford G 41 Engine 23
DSQ 36   Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford G 42 Illegal Pit Stop 17
Ret 6   Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford G 36 Gearbox 2
DSQ 7   James Hunt McLaren-Ford G 34 Illegal Pit Stop 8
Ret 27   Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 31 Fuel System 6
Ret 22   Nelson Piquet Ensign-Ford G 31 Engine 21
Ret 19   Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford G 24 Fuel System 20
Ret 8   Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford G 16 Accident 11
Ret 11   Carlos Reutemann Ferrari M 14 Fuel System 12
Ret 1   Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 11 Engine 3
Ret 15   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault M 5 Engine 9
Ret 9   Jochen Mass ATS-Ford G 1 Accident 22
Ret 16   Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford G 1 Accident 24
Ret 4   Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford G 0 Accident 13
DNQ 17   Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford G
DNQ 10   Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford G
DNQ 18   Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford G
DNQ 37   Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford G
DNPQ 31   René Arnoux Martini-Ford G
DNPQ 30   Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford G
Source:[4][5][6]

Championship standings after the race edit

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

References edit

  1. ^ "1978 German Grand Prix | Motorsport Database".
  2. ^ "Niki LAUDA - Retirement". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Germany 1978 - Qualifications". statsf1.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  4. ^ "1978 German Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  5. ^ "1978 German Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 30 July 1978. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Germany 1978 - Result". statsf1.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Germany 1978 - Championship". statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.


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1978 British Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1978 season
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1978 Austrian Grand Prix
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1977 German Grand Prix
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