1978 Dutch Grand Prix
# 1978 Dutch Grand Prix

The 1978 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zandvoort on 27 August 1978. It was the 13th race of the 1978 Formula One season. It was the final career victory for Mario Andretti, who went on to win the championship after Ronnie Peterson's fatal crash at Monza. It is also the last 1-2 finish for the original Lotus team, and also, the last win for an American Formula One driver, as of the 2023 Season.

## Report

For the fourth consecutive race, the Lotuses came 1–2 in qualifying with Mario Andretti ahead of Ronnie Peterson. Niki Lauda was third in the Brabham, ahead of the Ferraris of Carlos Reutemann and Gilles Villeneuve. The top ten was completed by Jacques Laffite in the Ligier, James Hunt in the McLaren, John Watson in the second Brabham, Jean-Pierre Jabouille in the Renault, and Emerson Fittipaldi in the Fittipaldi.

At the start of the race, Andretti led from Peterson with Laffite charging up to third, while at the second corner Didier Pironi's Tyrrell collided with Riccardo Patrese's Arrows. Thereafter, the race was relatively uneventful, Peterson dutifully following Andretti while Laffite fell back down the order, enabling Lauda to reclaim third. At the end, Andretti was just over three-tenths of a second ahead of Peterson, with Lauda a further 12 seconds back; the minor points went to Watson, Fittipaldi and Villeneuve.

This fourth 1–2 finish of the season for Lotus meant that, with three races left to run, only Andretti or Peterson could take the Drivers' Championship. It would go to Andretti in the next race at Monza, when Peterson crashed fatally.

## Classification

### Pre-qualifying

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 33 | Bruno Giacomelli | McLaren-Ford | 1:19.59 | — |
| 2 | 30 | Brett Lunger | McLaren-Ford | 1:20.01 | +0.42 |
| 3 | 37 | Arturo Merzario | Merzario-Ford | 1:20.32 | +0.73 |
| 4 | 32 | Keke Rosberg | Wolf-Ford | 1:20.46 | +0.87 |
| 5 | 29 | Nelson Piquet | McLaren-Ford | 1:20.52 | +0.93 |
| 6 | 31 | René Arnoux | Martini-Ford | 1:20.52 | +0.93 |
| 7 | 25 | Héctor Rebaque | Lotus-Ford | 1:20.95 | +1.36 |
| 8 | 23 | Harald Ertl | Ensign-Ford | 1:21.00 | +1.41 |
| 9 | 39 | Danny Ongais | Shadow-Ford | 1:21.41 | +1.82 |
| 10 | 36 | Rolf Stommelen | Arrows-Ford | 1:22.24 | +2.65 |

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

### Qualifying

| Pos. | Driver | Constructor | Time/Gap |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Mario Andretti | Lotus–Ford | 1:16.36 |
| 2 | Ronnie Peterson | Lotus–Ford | +0.61 |
| 3 | Niki Lauda | Brabham–Alfa Romeo | +0.97 |
| 4 | Carlos Reutemann | Ferrari | +0.98 |
| 5 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | +1.18 |
| 6 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier–Matra | +1.19 |
| 7 | James Hunt | McLaren–Ford | +1.31 |
| 8 | John Watson | Brabham–Alfa Romeo | +1.37 |
| 9 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | +1.92 |
| 10 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi–Ford | +1.94 |
| 11 | Alan Jones | Williams–Ford | +2.06 |
| 12 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell–Ford | +2.07 |
| 13 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows–Ford | +2.14 |
| 14 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren–Ford | +2.14 |
| 15 | Jody Scheckter | Wolf–Ford | +2.21 |
| 16 | Derek Daly | Ensign–Ford | +3.03 |
| 17 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell–Ford | +3.23 |
| 18 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | Shadow–Ford | +3.26 |
| 19 | Bruno Giacomelli | McLaren–Ford | +3.47 |
| 20 | Héctor Rebaque | Lotus–Ford | +3.66 |
| 21 | Brett Lunger | McLaren–Ford | +3.67 |
| 22 | Vittorio Brambilla | Surtees–Ford | +3.90 |
| 23 | René Arnoux | Martini–Ford | +3.95 |
| 24 | Keke Rosberg | Wolf–Ford | +4.11 |
| 25 | Rupert Keegan | Surtees–Ford | +4.16 |
| 26 | Nelson Piquet | McLaren–Ford | +4.28 |
| 27 | Arturo Merzario | Merzario–Ford | +4.28 |
| 28 | Clay Regazzoni | Shadow–Ford | +4.33 |
| 29 | Michael Bleekemolen | ATS–Ford | +4.97 |
| 30 | Jochen Mass | ATS–Ford | +5.46 |
| Source: ||||

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 5 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | G | 75 | 1:41:04.23 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 6 | Ronnie Peterson | Lotus-Ford | G | 75 | + 0.32 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 1 | Niki Lauda | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | G | 75 | + 12.21 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 2 | John Watson | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | G | 75 | + 20.92 | 8 | 3 |
| 5 | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | G | 75 | + 21.50 | 10 | 2 |
| 6 | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | M | 75 | + 45.95 | 5 | 1 |
| 7 | 11 | Carlos Reutemann | Ferrari | M | 75 | + 1:00.52 | 4 | |
| 8 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Matra | G | 74 | + 1 Lap | 6 | |
| 9 | 8 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford | G | 74 | + 1 Lap | 14 | |
| 10 | 7 | James Hunt | McLaren-Ford | G | 74 | + 1 Lap | 7 | |
| 11 | 25 | Héctor Rebaque | Lotus-Ford | G | 74 | + 1 Lap | 20 | |
| 12 | 20 | Jody Scheckter | Wolf-Ford | G | 73 | + 2 Laps | 15 | |
| Ret | 33 | Bruno Giacomelli | McLaren-Ford | G | 60 | Spun Off | 19 | |
| Ret | 16 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | Shadow-Ford | G | 56 | Transmission | 18 | |
| Ret | 31 | René Arnoux | Martini-Ford | G | 40 | Chassis | 23 | |
| Ret | 37 | Arturo Merzario | Merzario-Ford | G | 40 | Engine | 26 | |
| DSQ | 19 | Vittorio Brambilla | Surtees-Ford | G | 37 | Pushed At Start | 22 | |
| Ret | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | M | 35 | Engine | 9 | |
| Ret | 30 | Brett Lunger | McLaren-Ford | G | 35 | Engine | 21 | |
| Ret | 32 | Keke Rosberg | Wolf-Ford | G | 21 | Accident | 24 | |
| Ret | 27 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | G | 17 | Throttle | 11 | |
| Ret | 29 | Nelson Piquet | McLaren-Ford | G | 16 | Transmission | 25 | |
| Ret | 4 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 13 | Engine | 12 | |
| Ret | 22 | Derek Daly | Ensign-Ford | G | 10 | Transmission | 16 | |
| Ret | 35 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford | G | 0 | Accident | 13 | |
| Ret | 3 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 0 | Accident | 17 | |
| DNS | 18 | Rupert Keegan | Surtees-Ford | G | | Injury | | |
| DNQ | 17 | Clay Regazzoni | Shadow-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNQ | 10 | Michael Bleekemolen | ATS-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNQ | 9 | Jochen Mass | ATS-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNPQ | 23 | Harald Ertl | Ensign-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNPQ | 39 | Danny Ongais | Shadow-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNPQ | 36 | Rolf Stommelen | Arrows-Ford | G | | | | |
| Source: |||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Mario Andretti | 63 |
| 2 | Ronnie Peterson | 51 |
| 3 | Niki Lauda | 35 |
| 4 | Patrick Depailler | 32 |
| 5 | Carlos Reutemann | 31 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Lotus-Ford | 85 |
| 2 | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 44 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 36 |
| 4 | Tyrrell-Ford | 36 |
| 5 | Ligier-Matra | 16 |
| Source: |||

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