1978 German Grand Prix

  1978 German Grand Prix
Race details
Race 11 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season

Date July 30, 1978
Location Hockenheimring
Course Permanent racing facility
6.8 km (4.2 mi)
Distance 45 laps, 306 km (189 mi)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford
Time 1:51.90
Fastest lap
Driver Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford
Time 1:55.62 on lap 26
Podium
First Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford
Second Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford
Third Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra

The 1978 German Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 30 July 1978 at Hockenheimring.

Contents

Report

There were no surprises in qualifying, with Mario Andretti on pole and Ronnie Peterson alongside him, with Niki Lauda third. At the start, Peterson got off better and took the lead from Andretti, but he held it for only four laps before Andretti retook it. Lauda ran third in the early stages, but he was passed by Alan Jones, and the duo battled until Lauda's engine failed yet again. 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, but Andretti was unaffected by that and cruised to his fifth win of the season, with Jody Scheckter second and Jacques Laffite third.

Classification

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

Notes

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Mario Andretti 54
2 Ronnie Peterson 36
3 Carlos Reutemann 31
4 Niki Lauda 31
5 Patrick Depailler 26
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Lotus-Ford 67
2 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 40
3 Ferrari 31
4 Tyrrell-Ford 30
5 Wolf-Ford 14
Previous race:
1978 British Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1978 season
Next race:
1978 Austrian Grand Prix
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1977 German Grand Prix
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1979 German Grand Prix