1978 German Grand Prix

The 1978 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 July 1978 at the Hockenheimring. This was the debut race of future world champion Nelson Piquet.

1978 German Grand Prix
Race 11 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Race details
Date July 30, 1978
Official name XL Großer Preis von Deutschland
Location Hockenheimring
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 6.790 km (4.219[1] 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

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

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

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to pre-qualify.

Qualifying
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

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race
PosNoDriverConstructorTyreLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
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:[2][3]

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

References
  1. "1978 German Grand Prix | Motorsport Database".
  2. "1978 German Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. "1978 German Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 30 July 1978. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  4. "Germany 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
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