| 1978 German Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 16 in the1978 Formula One season | |||
| Race details[1] | |||
| Date | 30 July 1978 | ||
| Official name | XL Großer Preis von Deutschland | ||
| Location | Hockenheimring,West Germany | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 6.790 km (4.219 miles) | ||
| Distance | 45 laps, 305.505 km (189.81 miles) | ||
| Weather | Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:51.90 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:55.62 on lap 26 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Second | Wolf-Ford | ||
| Third | Ligier-Matra | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1978 German Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held on 30 July 1978 at theHockenheimring.Mario Andretti won the race from pole position, ahead ofJody Scheckter andJacques Laffite.
This was the debut race of future world championNelson Piquet.Mario Andretti took pole withRonnie Peterson in second andNiki 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 byAlan Jones, and the duo battled until Lauda's engine failed, his fifth engine related retirement of the year.[2] 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, withJody Scheckter second andJacques Laffite third.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32 | Wolf-Ford | 2:10.13 | — | |
| 2 | 37 | Merzario-Ford | 2:10.82 | +0.69 | |
| 3 | 25 | Lotus-Ford | 2:11.80 | +1.67 | |
| 4* | 31 | Martini-Ford | 2:12.25 | +2.12 | |
| 5* | 30 | McLaren-Ford | 2:12.45 | +2.32 | |
| Source:[3] | |||||
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