The 1978 Dutch Grand Prix was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

motor race held at

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

on 27 August 1978. It was the 13th race of the 1978 Formula One season. It was the final career victory for

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an American former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to , and American open-wheel racing, IndyCar from 1964 USAC Championship Car season, 1964 to 1994 IndyCar se ...

, who went on to win the championship after Ronnie Peterson's fatal crash at

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

. It is also the last 1-2 finish for the original Lotus team, and also, the last win for an American Formula One driver, as of the Season.

Report

For the fourth consecutive race, the Lotuses came 1–2 in qualifying with

ahead of

Ronnie Peterson Bengt Ronnie Peterson (; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "Superswede", Peterson twice finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in an ...

Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers' Champ ...

was third in the

Brabham Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham ( ), was a British race car, racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. It was founded in 1960 by the Australian driver Jack Brabham and the British-Australian designer Ron Ta ...

, ahead of the

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

s of

Carlos Reutemann Carlos Alberto "Lole" Reutemann (12 April 1942 – 7 July 2021) was an Argentine racing driver and politician, who competed in Formula One from to and served as the Governor of Santa Fe from 1999 to 2003. Reutemann was runner-up in the Form ...

and

Gilles Villeneuve Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve (; 18 January 1950 – 8 May 1982) was a Canadian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Villeneuve was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari, and won six Grands ...

. The top ten was completed by

Jacques Laffite Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Laffite won six Formula One Grands Prix across 13 seasons. Born and raised in Paris, Laffite trained as ...

in the

Ligier Ligier () is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Cham ...

James Hunt James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) was a British racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Shunt", Hunt won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with McLaren, and wo ...

in the

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

, John Watson in the second Brabham,

Jean-Pierre Jabouille Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille (1 October 1942 – 2 February 2023) was a French racing driver and engineer, who competed in Formula One from to . Jabouille won two Formula One Grands Prix across seven seasons. Jabouille raced in 55 Formula One ...

in the

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

, and

Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Fittipaldi won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with Team ...

in the Fittipaldi. At the start of the race, Andretti led from Peterson with Laffite charging up to third, while at the second corner

Didier Pironi Didier Joseph Louis Pironi (26 March 1952 – 23 August 1987) was a French racing driver and offshore powerboat racing, offshore powerboat racer, who competed in Formula One from to . Pironi was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Cham ...

's Tyrrell collided with

Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Patrese was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Williams, and won six Grands Prix across 17 ...

's Arrows. Thereafter, the race was relatively uneventful, Peterson dutifully following Andretti while Laffite fell back down the order, enabling Lauda to reclaim third. At the end, Andretti was just over three-tenths of a second ahead of Peterson, with Lauda a further 12 seconds back; the minor points went to Watson, Fittipaldi and Villeneuve. This fourth 1–2 finish of the season for Lotus meant that, with three races left to run, only Andretti or Peterson could take the Drivers' Championship. It would go to Andretti in the next race at

, when Peterson crashed fatally.

Classification

Pre-qualifying

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to pre-qualify.

Qualifying

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

{{F1GP 70-79

Dutch Grand Prix The Dutch Grand Prix () is an annual Formula One World Championship auto racing event, held at Circuit Zandvoort, North Holland, the Netherlands, from 1950 through 1985, and after a 35 year hiatus, from 2021 to 2026. It has been a part of the ...

Dutch Grand Prix

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...