1978 Formula One season

The 1978 Formula One season was the 32nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the International Cup for F1 Constructors, contested concurrently over a sixteen race series which commenced on 15 January and ended on 8 October. The season also included the non-championship BRDC International Trophy.
Mario Andretti won the Drivers' World Championship, driving for JPS-Lotus. He remains the last American driver to win the World Championship. His victory at the Dutch Grand Prix is also the last for an American driver. 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. Lotus won the International Cup for F1 Constructors, for the last time.
Championship defendants Niki Lauda and Ferrari had parted ways late in, and both parties struggled to repeat the successes they had enjoyed the previous seasons. Carlos Reutemann finished third in the championship in the lead Ferrari, while Lauda finished fourth with Brabham. Apart from Peterson's death, the year saw another tragedy when Peterson's Swedish compatriot Gunnar Nilsson died from cancer, having been forced to cut his career short after the previous season because of the disease.

Drivers and constructors

The following drivers and constructors contested the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the International Cup for F1 Constructors.

Entrant

Constructor

Chassis

Engine

Tyres

Driver

Rounds

Goodyear

Team and driver changes

Reigning champion Niki Lauda had parted with Ferrari before the end of the season. Gilles Villeneuve replaced him at his home race and stayed for the 1978 season.
Lauda replaced Hans-Joachim Stuck at Brabham, who subsequently moved to Shadow. He would join Alan Jones, were it not for the Australian's new contract with Williams. Williams would enter their first self-made chassis for 1978.
Clay Regazzoni moved to Shadow from Ensign, while his 1977 teammate Patrick Tambay was signed by McLaren. This left Ensign in a search for two new drivers and they found Danny Ongais from the folded Penske team and the inexperienced Lamberto Leoni. Ex-McLaren driver Jochen Mass found a seat at ATS, built on the remains of Penske and March.
Ronnie Peterson made a surprising switch to Lotus, replacing fellow Swede Gunnar Nilsson. Peterson's seat at Tyrrell was filled by debutant Didier Pironi. Nilsson signed with newcomer Arrows, but was diagnosed with terminal testicular cancer and retired before the season started. Ex-Shadow driver Riccardo Patrese and veteran Rolf Stommelen eventually drove for Arrows.
Three teams debuted with their self-made chassis: Martini, Merzario and Theodore. BRM had folded.
Mid-season changes
Eddie Cheever's debut with the Theodore team turned out to be preliminary and he returned to Formula Two. His seat was taken by future champion Keke Rosberg, until he moved to ATS. When Theodore retired their self-made chassis in favour of a private Wolf chassis, Rosberg returned, yet ended the season with ATS.
Bruno Giacomelli drove a third McLaren car whenever his schedule allowed. He went to become the 1978 Formula Two champion.
Hesketh Racing folded after six races.
When the Martini team folded with three races to go, their driver René Arnoux found a new home at Surtees.
At the start of the Italian Grand Prix, James Hunt tried to avoid Riccardo Patrese and collided with Ronnie Peterson. In the ensuing melee, eight other drivers crashed, Peterson's Lotus went hard into the barriers and caught fire. He was rescued from the wreck with minor burns but severe leg injuries. That night in hospital, he was diagnosed with fat embolism, and a subsequent kidney failure was fatal. In the crash, Vittorio Brambilla had been hit in the head by a tyre and sat unconscious in his car. He recovered to return to Formula 1 a full year later. Jean-Pierre Jarier took the seat at Lotus, Beppe Gabbiani fell in at Surtees.
Nelson Piquet entered the last race of the season in a third Brabham car, before his full-season debut in 1979.
Calendar

Calendar changes

The Brazilian Grand Prix was moved from Autodromo de Interlagos in São Paulo to Jacarepaguá in Rio de Janeiro for 1978.
The Spanish Grand Prix was moved from early May to early June, with the slots of the Monaco and Belgian rounds being moved up
The French Grand Prix was moved from Dijon-Prenois to Paul Ricard Circuit, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. Likewise, the British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone to Brands Hatch.
The Canadian Grand Prix was moved from Mosport Park to the Île Notre-Dame Circuit because of track safety and organization problems with the hilly and scenic Mosport Park track.
The Japanese Grand Prix was originally scheduled on 16 April at the Suzuka Circuit after Fuji's contract was torn up, but it was cancelled for safety and financial reasons. The race would take place during the 1987 season
Season report

The 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the International Cup for F1 Constructors were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series.

Race 1: Argentina

The 1978 season started at the varied Parque Almirante Brown circuit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Mario Andretti took pole in his Lotus, with home favourite Carlos Reutemann's Ferrari joining him on the front row and Ronnie Peterson in the other Lotus third on the grid. The start was uneventful, with Andretti and Reutemann easily keeping first and second, with John Watson in the Brabham taking third from Peterson. Watson took second from Reutemann on the seventh lap, but Andretti was uncatchable. 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. Andretti motored on to a crushing victory, with Lauda second and Patrick Depailler's Tyrrell taking the final spot on the podium. This had been an unusual Argentine Grand Prix- although the summer weather had been usually hot, the attrition rate hadn't been as high, nor had the polesitter retired.

Race 2: Brazil

Brazil was the country where the drivers traveled for the second round of the season. Formula One made its first visit to the new Jacarepagua Autodrome in Rio de Janeiro, after six years at the very bumpy and demanding Interlagos circuit in São Paulo – the Jacarepagua circuit was to be visited by Formula One for the rest of the next decade. The typically extreme weather during January in Rio meant that this race was run in oppressively hot and humid conditions. Peterson took pole with James Hunt driving for McLaren beating Andretti to second. At the start, Reutemann beat the trio into the first corner, with Hunt and Andretti following, as Peterson got a bad start. 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. Hunt eventually spun out of the race after being caught out by the hot and humid conditions on lap 26, as did Tambay on lap 35 and Villeneuve one lap later. Reutemann was never headed at the front and went to win comfortably, with double world champion Emerson Fittipaldi in his brother's team finishing second, and Lauda third, with both overhauling an ailing Andretti towards the end, who eventually finished 4th ahead of Regazzoni and Pironi who rounded out the top 6.

Race 3: South Africa

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. Andretti took the lead at the start, and set about building a gap, whereas Lauda dropped behind Jody Scheckter's Wolf. Young Italian Riccardo Patrese was on a charge in the Arrows, passing Lauda for third after 20 laps. As the race continued, both Andretti and Scheckter began to suffer from tyre issues and were passed by Patrese. Depailler was up to second ahead of Lauda, but the latter's engine failed, handing third to Andretti. Patrese, however, seemed to have the race in his pocket until his engine failed, and Depailler took the lead, but his Tyrrell began to trail smoke. Andretti was up to second, but he had to pit for fuel, and thus his teammate Peterson took the place before catching and passing Depailler on the last lap to win after some wheel-banging. Watson completed the podium.

Race 4: United States West

The next race was in the famous Long Beach circuit near Los Angeles in the American state of California. 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. The Ferraris, with the two Brabhams in between, ran together until Watson's engine failed. Alan Jones's Williams was up to fourth and closed in on the now lead trio, which became a duo when Lauda went out with an electrical failure. Villeneuve and Reutemann ran 1–2, with Jones putting both under pressure before Villeneuve also retired after colliding with a backmarker. Jones suffered from fuel pressure problems and began to drop back, handing second to Andretti, to the fans' delight. The rest of the race passed without incident, and with all challengers out of contention, Reutemann won comfortably ahead of Andretti and Depailler.