1978 German Grand Prix
| 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 |
 Ronnie Peterson | Lotus-Ford | |
| Time | 1:55.62 on lap 26 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Second | Wolf-Ford | ||
| Third | Ligier-Matra | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
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.
Report
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
Pre-qualifying
| 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
- Positions in red and an asterisk indicate entries that failed to qualify.
Race
Notes
- This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Brazilian driver and future World Champion Nelson Piquet.
- This was the 10th Grand Prix start for Arrows and for ATS. It was also the 200th Grand Prix start for Brabham; in those 200 races Brabham won 19 Grands Prix, achieved 83 podium finishes, set 20 pole positions, 26 fastest laps, 3 Grand Slams and won 2 Driver's and 2 Constructor's Championships.
Championship standings after the race
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- ^ "1978 German Grand Prix | Motorsport Database".
- ^ "Niki LAUDA - Retirement". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ^ a b "Germany 1978 - Qualifications". statsf1.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ^ "1978 German Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ "1978 German Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 30 July 1978. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
- ^ "Germany 1978 - Result". statsf1.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ^ a b "Germany 1978 - Championship". statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.