1978 Belgian Grand Prix

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1978 Belgian Grand Prix - Wikipedia

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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	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:20.90
Fastest lap
Driver	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:23.13 on lap 66
Podium
First	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford
Second	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford
Third	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari
Lap leaders

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.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying classification

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

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

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	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

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

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Mario Andretti	27
2	Patrick Depailler	23
3	Carlos Reutemann	22
4	Ronnie Peterson	20
5	Niki Lauda	16
Source: ^[4]

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Lotus-Ford	36
2	Tyrrell-Ford	25
3	Ferrari	22
4	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	20
5	Fittipaldi-Ford	6
Source: ^[4]

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

References

^ "1978 Belgian Grand Prix Entry list".
^ "1978 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
^ "1978 Belgian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 21 May 1978. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ ^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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