1978 Italian Grand Prix

Italy  1978 Italian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 14 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Date September 10, 1978
Location Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.800 km (3.6 mi)
Distance 40 laps, 232.000 km (144 mi)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:37.520
Fastest lap
Driver United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford
Time 1:38.23 on lap 33
Podium
First Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Second Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Third Ferrari

The 1978 Italian Grand Prix was the 14th motor race of the 1978 Formula One season. It was held on 10 September 1978 at Monza. It was marred by the death of Ronnie Peterson following an accident at the start of the race.

With three races remaining, Mario Andretti (Lotus-Ford) led the World Drivers' Championship by 12 points from his team-mate Ronnie Peterson. Niki Lauda (Brabham-Alfa Romeo), in third place, was 28 points behind Andretti, and, with only 9 points for a win, could not overtake him.

Race recap and Death of Ronnie Peterson

Andretti took pole position alongside Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari), with Jean-Pierre Jabouille (Renault) in third place, Lauda in fourth and Peterson in fifth.

The race starter was overenthusiastic, turning on the red lights before all the cars had lined up, and several cars in the middle of the field got a jump on those at the front. The result was a funneling effect of the cars approaching the chicane, and the cars were tightly bunched together with little room for maneuver. James Hunt was overtaken on the right hand side by Riccardo Patrese and Hunt instinctively veered left and hit the rear right wheel of Peterson's Lotus 78, with Vittorio Brambilla, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Patrick Depailler, Didier Pironi, Derek Daly, Clay Regazzoni and Brett Lunger all involved in the ensuing melee. Peterson's Lotus went into the barriers hard on the right hand side and caught fire. He was trapped, but Hunt, Regazzoni and Depailler managed to free him from the wreck before he received more than minor burns. He was dragged free and laid in the middle of the track fully conscious, but with severe leg injuries. It took 20 minutes before medical help was dispatched to the scene. Brambilla — who had been hit on the head by a flying wheel and rendered unconscious— and Peterson were taken to the Niguarda hospital nearby Milan.

The race was restarted nearly three hours later, during which time on the formation lap for the second race, Jody Scheckter's Wolf lost a wheel and crashed at the second Lesmo curve, bending the Armco barrier that was situated right next to the track. Andretti, Hunt, Lauda, Carlos Reutemann and Emerson Fittipaldi all went to the spot where Scheckter crashed and upon inspection of the state of the barrier, they refused to start until it was repaired; upon which it was, causing more delay. Because of the amount of time between the first and second races; the distance was shortened to 40 laps. At the second start at nearly 6:00 P.M., Villeneuve overtook Andretti at the restart, but both drivers were judged to have gone early and given a one-minute penalty. Andretti re-took the lead with only five laps remaining. With Jabouille having retired, Lauda finished third ahead of John Watson (Brabham), Carlos Reutemann (Ferrari), Jacques Laffite (Ligier-Matra) and Patrick Tambay (McLaren-Ford). Since all of those finished less than a minute behind, Andretti and Villeneuve were dropped to sixth and seventh place. Andretti had won the championship, but with Peterson in hospital, celebrations were muted.

Following surgery, Peterson developed complications and died the following day of an embolism.

A view of Jody Scheckter in the Wolf pits

Classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 40 1:07:04.54 4 9
2 2 United Kingdom John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 40 +1.48 secs 7 6
3 11 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 40 +20.47 secs 11 4
4 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 40 +37.53 secs 8 3
5 8 France Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 40 +40.39 secs 19 2
6 5 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 40 +46.33 secs 1 1
7 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 40 +48.48 secs 2
8 14 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 40 +55.24 secs 13
9 29 Brazil Nelson Piquet McLaren-Ford 40 +1:06.83 24
10 22 Republic of Ireland Derek Daly Ensign-Ford 40 +1:09.11 18
11 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 40 +1:16.57 16
12 20 South Africa Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 39 +1 Lap 9
13 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford 39 +1 Lap 6
14 33 Italy Bruno Giacomelli McLaren-Ford 39 +1 Lap 20
NC 17 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 33 +7 Laps 15
Ret 35 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 28 Engine 12
Ret 7 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 19 Distributor 10
Ret 37 Italy Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 14 Engine 22
Ret 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 6 Engine 3
Ret 6 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 0 Collision/Fatal Crash† 5
Ret 3 France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 0 Collision 14
Ret 16 Germany Hans Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford 0 Collision 17
Ret 30 United States Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 0 Collision 21
Ret 19 Italy Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 0 Collision 23
DNQ 25 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford
DNQ 10 Austria Harald Ertl ATS-Ford
DNQ 9 Netherlands Michael Bleekemolen ATS-Ford
DNQ 18 Italy Gimax Surtees-Ford
DNPQ 23 Austria Harald Ertl Ensign-Ford
DNPQ 32 Finland Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford
DNPQ 36 Germany Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford
DNPQ 38 Italy Alberto Colombo Merzario-Ford
Source:[1]

† Peterson suffered severe leg trauma in a multi-car accident and while in hospital the night following the race he was diagnosed with a fat embolism. He died the following morning as a result of the fat embolism.

Notes

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 United States Mario Andretti 64
2 Sweden Ronnie Peterson 51
3 Austria Niki Lauda 44
4 Argentina Carlos Reutemann 35
5 France Patrick Depailler 32

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 86
2 United Kingdom Brabham-Alfa Romeo 53
3 Italy Ferrari 40
4 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 36
5 France Ligier-Matra 19

References

  1. "1978 Italian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.

External links

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1978 Dutch Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1978 season
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1978 United States Grand Prix
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1977 Italian Grand Prix
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1979 Italian Grand Prix
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