| 1978 British Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 10 of 16 in the1978 Formula One season | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 16 July 1978 | ||
| Official name | XXXI John Player British Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Brands Hatch,Kent,England | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.206 km (2.613 miles) | ||
| Distance | 76 laps, 319.656 km (198.588 miles) | ||
| Weather | Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:16.80 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Niki Lauda | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | |
| Time | 1:18.60 on lap 72 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | ||
| Third | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1978 British Grand Prix (formally theXXXI John Player British Grand Prix) was aFormula Onemotor race held atBrands Hatch on 16 July 1978. It was the tenth race of the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1978 International Cup for F1 Constructors.[1]
The 76-lap race was won by Argentinian driverCarlos Reutemann, driving aFerrari. After starting from eighth position, Reutemann worked his way up the field and took the lead on lap 60, eventually winning by 1.2 seconds from Austrian driverNiki Lauda in theBrabham-Alfa Romeo. Lauda's Northern Irish teammate,John Watson, finished third.
With a total of 31 cars on the entry list, it was decided to forbid theMartini ofRené Arnoux from taking part, thus leaving 30 cars for qualifying.[2]
As expected, theLotuses filled the front row of the grid, although on this occasionRonnie Peterson was ahead ofMario Andretti.Jody Scheckter in theWolf andNiki Lauda in theBrabham made up the second row, while on the third wereRiccardo Patrese in theArrows andAlan Jones in theWilliams. The top ten was completed byJacques Laffite in theLigier,Carlos Reutemann in theFerrari,John Watson in the second Brabham andPatrick Depailler in theTyrrell.
At the start of the race, Andretti took the lead from Peterson, with Scheckter holding third and Jones moving up to fourth. The Lotuses quickly pulled out a large gap, and looked set to dominate, until Peterson retired on lap 7 with a fuel leak. Andretti continued to lead until a puncture forced him to pit on lap 24, before his engine failed five laps later.
Scheckter inherited the lead, closely followed by Jones, Lauda and Patrese. On lap 27, Jones'sdriveshaft failed, before Scheckter began to suffer gearbox problems. On lap 34, Lauda overtook the South African, who retired three laps later. This left Patrese in second, with Reutemann up to third, Watson fourth,Didier Pironi fifth in the second Tyrrell andKeke Rosberg sixth in theATS.[3]
On lap 41, Patrese suffered a rear puncture which led to a suspension failure. Pironi also retired on this lap with gearbox trouble, promoting Rosberg to fourth. The Finn soon came under pressure from Depailler, who got by on lap 49.
Reutemann closed up to Lauda and passed him for the lead on lap 60, as the two were lapping theMcLaren ofBruno Giacomelli. The Argentine held off the Austrian for the remaining laps, eventually taking his third win of the season by 1.2 seconds. Watson finished 36 seconds behind Lauda and 36 ahead of Depailler, while a suspension failure for Rosberg on lap 60 meant that the final points went toHans-Joachim Stuck in theShadow andPatrick Tambay in the McLaren.
*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.
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| Previous race: 1978 French Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1978 season | Next race: 1978 German Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1977 British Grand Prix | British Grand Prix | Next race: 1979 British Grand Prix |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by 1977 British Grand Prix | Formula One Promotional Trophy for Race Promoter 1978 | Succeeded by 1979 Italian Grand Prix |
