1978 German Grand Prix
# 1978 German Grand Prix

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. 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 |

* Positions in red and an asterisk 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 |
| Source: ||||||

* Positions in red and an asterisk indicate entries that failed to qualify.

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 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: |||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Mario Andretti | 54 |
| 2 | Ronnie Peterson | 36 |
| 3 | Carlos Reutemann | 31 |
| 4 | Niki Lauda | 31 |
| 5 | Patrick Depailler | 26 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Lotus-Ford | 67 |
| 2 | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 40 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 31 |
| 4 | Tyrrell-Ford | 30 |
| 5 | Wolf-Ford | 14 |
| Source: |||

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