1978 Formula One season
It featured the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the International Cup for F1 Constructors,[1] contested concurrently over a sixteen race series[1] which commenced on 15 January and ended on 8 October.
Ronnie Peterson was awarded second place in the Drivers' standings posthumously, having died from medical complications after an accident at Monza during the Italian Grand Prix.
Championship defendants Niki Lauda and Ferrari had parted ways late in 1977, and both parties struggled to repeat the successes they had enjoyed the previous seasons.
Reutemann ran third for a while but then began to drop down the order due to tire problems, so reigning world champion Niki Lauda took third in his Brabham, which became second with ten laps left when Watson's engine blew up.
The typically extreme weather during January in Rio meant that this race was run in oppressively hot and humid conditions.
Hunt ran second until he had to pit for tyres, as a result, Andretti took the place until late in the race when he suffered gearbox issues, which handed second to Fittipaldi and third to Lauda.
After a long break, the season resumed at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa for the 300th World Championship Grand Prix, where defending champion Lauda took his first pole for Brabham with Andretti alongside and Hunt next.
The Ferraris dominated qualifying, with Reutemann taking pole ahead of teammate Gilles Villeneuve, with defending champion Lauda and home hero Andretti on the second row.
When the race started, Watson in fifth late-braked all into turn one, though he ran wide and Villeneuve took the lead, whereas Reutemann dropped down to fourth behind Lauda.
Watson had a good start and led into the first corner, whereas Reutemann collided with Hunt and had to pit for repairs, which left Depailler and Lauda second and third.
The main news before the Belgian GP at Zolder was that the new Lotus 79 was ready to race, and immediately Andretti showed its pace by taking pole comfortably from Reutemann and Lauda.
He converted it to a first-corner lead, whereas Reutemann had a bad start and got swamped by the field, causing a chain reaction in which Lauda was hit by Scheckter and had to retire.
Lauda went on to win the race, his first for Brabham after Andretti's challenge ended due to an engine failure, which left Patrese and Peterson to take second and third.
This left the two Lotus cars running 1–2, and they finished like that, with Andretti taking his third win in four races, and the podium was completed by Hunt, who passed Watson mid-race.
Lotus's hopes of a 1–2 ended when Peterson's gearbox failed, but Andretti was unaffected by that and cruised to his fifth win of the season, with Scheckter second and Laffite third.
On the fourth lap, a heavy rainshower hit the track, and Reutemann spun off and was beached, but the marshals push-started his car as it was in a dangerous position, while Scheckter crashed out, and the race was stopped.
The drivers changed to slicks, but the top 3 remained the same until the end; Peterson won ahead of Depailler, with Villeneuve taking his first-ever podium.
The Lotus cars quickly built up a good gap, while Laffite challenged Lauda early on but then began to drop down the order with tyre issues.
The Italian race was host to round fourteen, and as usual, Andretti took pole with Gilles Villeneuve pleasing the Ferrari fans by qualifying second, ahead of Jabouille's turbocharged Renault.
Seven other drivers were collected: Carlos Reutemann, Hans Joachim Stuck, Patrick Depailler, Didier Pironi, Vittorio Brambilla, and Clay Regazzoni.
Peterson's car broke in two on impact with the barriers and caught fire, and Vittorio Brambilla, who was in the Surtees, was hit on the head by a flying wheel.
Andretti crossed the line first, with Villeneuve close behind, but when their one-minute penalties were added, Lauda emerged the victor ahead of Watson and Reutemann.
In a hospital, Peterson had a clot forming in his bloodstream after an operation on his legs, slipped into a coma overnight, and died the following day.
The season's penultimate round was at Watkins Glen in the United States, and Lotus had hired Jean-Pierre Jarier to replace Peterson.
Patrese could not race because the Grand Prix Drivers Association had deemed him responsible for the accident, ultimately killing Peterson.
New World Champion, and home hero, Andretti was shaken up more than most drivers due to Peterson's death, but it did not stop him from romping to pole ahead of Reutemann, with Alan Jones's Williams heading the second row.
Official FIA results for the 1978 International Cup for F1 Constructors listed the positions as (1) JPS-Lotus (2) Ferrari (3) Brabham-Alfa (4) Elf-Tyrrell (5) Wolf (6) Ligier-Matra (7) Copersucar (8) McLaren (9) Williams & Arrows (11) Shadow (12) Renault (13) Surtees & Ensign.
