1978 British Grand Prix

  1978 British Grand Prix

Race details
Race 10 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Date	July 16, 1978
Location	Brands Hatch, Kent, England
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.206 km (2.613 mi)
Distance	76 laps, 319.656 km (198.588 mi)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:16.80
Fastest lap
Driver	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Time	1:18.60 on lap 72
Podium
First	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari
Second	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Third	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo

James Hunt in a McLaren M26

The 1978 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, England, in the United Kingdom. The race, contested over 76 laps, was the tenth round of the 1978 Formula One season and was won by Ferrari driver Carlos Reutemann.

Report

Lotus took the front row, with Ronnie Peterson beating Mario Andretti to pole, with Jody Scheckter next up on the second row. Andretti took the lead at the start from Peterson, and the two Lotus cars quickly pulled out a gap until Peterson retired with an engine failure. Andretti had a big lead to Scheckter and continued to extend it until he had to pit with a puncture, and he eventually retired when his engine also failed. Scheckter inherited the lead, but Niki Lauda put him under pressure and took the lead before Scheckter went out with gearbox problems. This put Carlos Reutemann up to second, and he then closed down and passed Lauda in the late stages of the race to win. Lauda had to settle for second, and his teammate John Watson took a podium in his home race.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	11	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	76	1:42:12.39	8	9
2	1	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	76	+1.23 secs	4	6
3	2	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	76	+37.25 secs	9	4
4	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	76	+1:13.27	10	3
5	16	Hans Joachim Stuck	Shadow-Ford	75	+1 Lap	18	2
6	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	75	+1 Lap	20	1
7	33	Bruno Giacomelli	McLaren-Ford	75	+1 Lap	16
8	30	Brett Lunger	McLaren-Ford	75	+1 Lap	24
9	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford	75	+1 Lap	25
10	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	73	+3 Laps	7
NC	9	Jochen Mass	ATS-Ford	65	+11 Laps	26
Ret	10	Keke Rosberg	ATS-Ford	59	Suspension	22
Ret	17	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow-Ford	49	Gearbox	17
Ret	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	46	Turbo	12
Ret	35	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	40	Suspension	5
Ret	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	40	Gearbox	19
Ret	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	36	Gearbox	3
Ret	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	32	Engine	11
Ret	37	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	32	Fuel System	23
Ret	22	Derek Daly	Ensign-Ford	30	Wheel	15
Ret	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	28	Engine	2
Ret	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	26	Transmission	6
Ret	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	19	Transmission	13
Ret	25	Hector Rebaque	Lotus-Ford	15	Gearbox	21
Ret	7	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	7	Accident	14
Ret	6	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	6	Fuel System	1
DNQ	18	Rupert Keegan	Surtees-Ford
DNQ	36	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows-Ford
DNQ	23	Geoff Lees	Ensign-Ford
DNQ	40	Tony Trimmer	McLaren-Ford

Notes

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• Lap Leaders: Mario Andretti 23 laps (1-23); Jody Scheckter 10 laps (24-33); Niki Lauda 26 laps (34-59); Carlos Reutemann 17 laps (60-76).

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Mario Andretti 45 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 58 2 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 40 3 Ferrari 31 4 Tyrrell-Ford 28 5 McLaren-Ford 12

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