Great Britain Grand Prix 1978

 Great Britain Grand Prix 1978

Racing data
10th of 16 races of the 1978 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	XXXI British Grand Prix
Date:	July 16, 1978
Place:	Fawkham
Course:	Brands Hatch Circuit
Length:	319.732 km in 76 laps of 4.207 km
Weather:	sunny and warm
Spectator:	~ 90,000
Pole position
Driver:	Ronnie Peterson	lotus
Time:	1: 16.80 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Niki Lauda	Brabham
Time:	1: 18.60 min
Podium
First:	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari
Second:	Niki Lauda	Brabham
Third:	John Watson	Brabham

The 1978 British Grand Prix took place on July 16 at the Brands Hatch Circuit and was the tenth race of the 1978 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

James Hunt in the McLaren M26

The usual field of participants for the British Grand Prix was supplemented by a factory-supported Ensign N175 , which the private team Mario Deliotti Racing registered for the debutant Geoff Lees , and a private McLaren M23 from the Melchester Racing team for the occasional driver Tony Trimmer .

training

The two Lotus 79 pilots Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson once again lived up to their role as favorites by finishing first and second, although the Swede was exceptionally faster than the American. Jody Scheckter and Niki Lauda formed the second row ahead of Riccardo Patrese and Alan Jones .

John Watson , Gilles Villeneuve and James Hunt , who only finished 9th, 13th and 14th respectively, could not be satisfied with their respective training results.

Among the four pilots who could not qualify for one of the 26 permitted starting positions were three of the five British who had lined up to contest their home race.

run

Andretti already took the lead on the first lap and there were many indications that the two Lotus drivers would dominate again until Peterson was eliminated on the seventh lap due to a problem with the fuel supply. Two laps later, Hunt spun out, leaving the British spectators with Watson in seventh place just a compatriot.

On the 24th lap, Andretti had to go to the pits because of a puncture. He returned to the track in eleventh, but retired four laps later with engine failure. Scheckter, who had reached the top as a result, had to defend himself against Jones until he had to give up a short time later because of a broken cardan shaft. Scheckter, who for his part was struggling with a transmission problem, could not prevent Lauda from taking the lead on lap 34. After Scheckter's retirement, Riccardo Patrese and Carlos Reutemann took second and third place in front of John Watson, Didier Pironi and Keke Rosberg , who drove a strong race in the ATS .

Due to the technical failures of Patrese and Pironi, Rosberg even came in fourth, but came under increasing pressure from Patrick Depailler , who finally overtook him on lap 49.

In the Ferrari 312T3 with newly developed Michelin tires, Reutemann steadily caught up with the leading Lauda. He used a lapping maneuver against Bruno Giacomelli to overtake the reigning world champion. At the same time, Rosberg's promising race ended with a suspension damage, so that Patrick Depailler, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Patrick Tambay finished in points behind the podium places Reutemann, Lauda and Watson.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Parmalat Racing Team	1	Niki Lauda	Brabham BT46	Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12	G
	2	John Watson
Eleven Team Tyrrell	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell 008	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G
	4th	Patrick Depailler
John Player Team Lotus	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus 79		G
	6th	Ronnie Peterson
Marlboro Team McLaren	7th	James Hunt	McLaren M26		G
	8th	Patrick Tambay
	33	Bruno Giacomelli
ATS Racing Team	9	Jochen Mass	ATS HS1		G
	10	Keke Rosberg
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	11	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari 312T3	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12	M.
	12	Gilles Villeneuve
Fittipaldi Automotive	14th	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi F5A	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G
Equipe Renault Elf	15th	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault RS01	Renault EF1 1.5 V6 t	M.
Shadow Racing Team	16	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow DN9	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G
	17th	Clay Regazzoni
Durex Team Surtees	18th	Rupert Keegan	Surtees TS20		G
Beta Team Surtees	19th	Vittorio Brambilla
Walter Wolf Racing	20th	Jody Scheckter	Wolf WR5		G
Team Tissot Ensign	22nd	Derek Daly	Ensign N177		G
Mario Deliotti Racing	23	Geoff Lees	Ensign N175		G
Team Rebaque	25th	Hector Rebaque	Lotus 78		G
Ligier Gitanes	26th	Jacques Laffite	Ligier JS9	Matra MS78 3.0 V12	G
Williams Grand Prix Engineering	27	Alan Jones	Williams FW06	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G
Liggett Group / BS Fabrications	30th	Brett Lunger	McLaren M26		G
Arrows Racing Team	35	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows FA1		G
	36	Rolf Stommelen
Team Merzario	37	Arturo Merzario	Merzario A1		G
Melchester Racing	40	Tony Trimmer	McLaren M23		G

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus Ford	1: 16.80	197.203 km / h	01
02	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	1: 17.06	196.538 km / h	02
03	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	1: 17.37	195.750 km / h	03
04th	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	1: 17.48	195.472 km / h	04th
05	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	1: 18.28	193.475 km / h	05
06th	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	1: 18.36	193.277 km / h	06th
07th	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	1: 18.44	193.080 km / h	07th
08th	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	1: 18.45	193.055 km / h	08th
09	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	1: 18.57	192.761 km / h	09
10	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	1: 18.73	192.369 km / h	10
11	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	1: 18.78	192.247 km / h	11
12	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	1: 18.88	192.003 km / h	12
13	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1: 18.99	191.736 km / h	13
14th	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	1: 19.05	191.590 km / h	14th
15th	Derek Daly	Ensign-Ford	1: 19.13	191.396 km / h	15th
16	Bruno Giacomelli	McLaren-Ford	1: 19.79	189.813 km / h	16
17th	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow Ford	1: 19.83	189.718 km / h	17th
18th	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow Ford	1: 19.98	189.362 km / h	18th
19th	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	1: 19.99	189.339 km / h	19th
20th	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	1: 20.14	188.984 km / h	20th
21st	Hector Rebaque	Lotus Ford	1: 20.24	188.749 km / h	21st
22nd	Keke Rosberg	ATS Ford	1: 20.27	188.678 km / h	22nd
23	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	1: 20.35	188.490 km / h	23
24	Brett Lunger	McLaren-Ford	1: 20.39	188.397 km / h	24
25th	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford	1: 20.70	187.673 km / h	25th
26th	Jochen Mass	ATS Ford	1: 20.71	187.650 km / h	26th
DNQ	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows Ford	1: 20.73	187.603 km / h	-
DNQ	Geoff Lees	Ensign-Ford	1: 21.05	186.862 km / h	-
DNQ	Rupert Keegan	Surtees-Ford	1: 21.10	186.747 km / h	-
DNQ	Tony Trimmer	McLaren-Ford	1: 21.41	186.036 km / h	-

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	76	0	1: 42: 12.39	08th	1: 18.84
02	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	76	0	+ 1.23	04th	1: 18.60
03	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	76	0	+ 37.25	09	1: 19.83
04th	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	76	0	+1: 13.27	10	1: 19.35
05	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow Ford	75	0	+ 1 lap	18th	1: 19.79
06th	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	75	0	+ 1 lap	20th	1: 19.39
07th	Bruno Giacomelli	McLaren-Ford	75	0	+ 1 lap	16	1: 19.89
08th	Brett Lunger	McLaren-Ford	75	0	+ 1 lap	24	1: 20.82
09	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford	75	0	+ 1 lap	25th	1: 21.15
10	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	73	0	+ 3 rounds	07th	1: 19.64
-	Jochen Mass	ATS Ford	66	0	NC	26th	1: 21.71	Unrated
-	Keke Rosberg	ATS Ford	59	0	DNF	22nd	1: 21.05	Suspension damage
-	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow Ford	49	0	DNF	17th	1: 20.39	Gearbox damage
-	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	46	0	DNF	12	1: 20.63	Turbocharger damage
-	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	40	0	DNF	19th	1: 21.40	Engine failure
-	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	40	0	DNF	05		Suspension damage
-	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	36	0	DNF	03	1: 20.91	Gearbox damage
-	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	32	0	DNF	11	1: 20.82	Engine failure
-	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	32	0	DNF	23	1: 22.45	Oil pressure loss
-	Derek Daly	Ensign-Ford	30th	0	DNF	15th	1: 21.19	accident
-	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	28	1	DNF	02	1: 19.39	Engine failure
-	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	26th	0	DNF	06th	1: 21.04	broken PTO shaft
-	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	19th	0	DNF	13	1: 20.75	broken PTO shaft
-	Hector Rebaque	Lotus Ford	15th	0	DNF	21st	1: 21.88	Gearbox damage
-	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	08th	0	DNF	14th	1: 21.92	accident
-	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus Ford	06th	0	DNF	01	1: 20.15	defective fuel pump

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 9, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Mario Andretti lotus 45 02  Ronnie Peterson lotus 36 03  Niki Lauda Brabham 31 04th  Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 31 05  Patrick Depailler Tyrrell 26th 06th  John Watson Brabham 16 07th  Jacques Laffite Ligier 10 08th  James Hunt McLaren 8th 09  Jody Scheckter wolf 8th

Item driver constructor Points 10  Riccardo Patrese Arrows 8th 11  Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi 7th 12  Didier Pironi Tyrrell 5 13  Alan Jones Williams 5 14th  Patrick Tambay McLaren 5 15th  Clay Regazzoni Shadow 4th 16  Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 3 17th  Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow 2

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  lotus 58 02  Brabham 40 03  Ferrari 31 04th  Tyrrell 28 05  McLaren 12 06th  Ligier 10

Item constructor Points 07th  wolf 8th 08th  Arrows 8th 09  Fittipaldi 7th 10  Shadow 6th 11  Williams 5

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Training" ( memento of the original from March 3, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on August 5, 2012)  
2. ^ "Report" (accessed on August 5, 2012)
3. ↑ "World Cup stands" ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on August 5, 2012)  

Web links

Commons : Great Britain Grand Prix 1978  - album containing pictures, videos and audio files

• Race result on the official Formula 1 website