Гран-при Италии 1978: Трагедия и победа Лауды

Formula One motor race

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. The race was won by Niki Lauda (Brabham Alfa Romeo), after both Mario Andretti (Lotus Ford) and Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari), who had finished first and second, were given a one minute penalty and dropped to sixth and seventh. Lauda's teammate John Watson (Brabham Alfa Romeo) and Carlos Reutemann (Ferrari) completed the podium. With three races remaining, Andretti led the World Drivers' Championship by 12 points from Peterson, who was his teammate. Lauda, in third place, was 28 points behind Andretti; with only 9 points for a win, he could not overtake him. Lotus also led Brabham by 33 points in the Constructors' standings. Andretti initially appealed to the penalty but, upon hearing the news of Peterson's death and having become World Champion, he dropped it. Lauda himself gave the Grand Prix trophy to Andretti. As of F1 season of 2024, this marks the last race win for an Alfa Romeo powered car. Andretti remains the last American and the second ever to win the Formula One World Championship; these remain the final Drivers' (6) and Constructors' (7) titles won by Lotus.

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

DriverConstructorTime1Héctor RebaqueLotus Ford1:39.882Nelson PiquetMcLaren Ford1:40.113Brett LungerMcLaren Ford1:40.24 4Harald ErtlEnsign Ford1:40.27 5Keke RosbergWolf Ford1:40.75 6Rolf StommelenArrows Ford1:40.93 7Alberto ColomboMerzario Ford1:42.55

DriverConstructorTime1Mario AndrettiLotus Ford1:37.52012Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:37.86623Jean Pierre JabouilleRenault1:37.93034Niki LaudaBrabham Alfa Romeo1:38.21545Ronnie PetersonLotus Ford1:38.25656Alan JonesWilliams Ford1:38.27167John WatsonBrabham Alfa Romeo1:38.61078Jacques LaffiteLigier Matra1:38.91789Jody ScheckterWolf Ford1:38.937910James HuntMcLaren Ford1:38.9381011Carlos ReutemannFerrari1:38.9591112Riccardo PatreseArrows Ford1:39.1791213Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi Ford1:39.4211314Didier PironiTyrrell Ford1:39.5311415Clay RegazzoniShadow Ford1:39.6211516Patrick DepaillerTyrrell Ford1:39.6301617Hans Joachim StuckShadow Ford1:39.7011718Derek DalyEnsign Ford1:40.0751819Patrick TambayMcLaren Ford1:40.1631920Bruno GiacomelliMcLaren Ford1:40.1992021Brett LungerMcLaren Ford1:40.3022122Arturo MerzarioMerzario Ford1:40.7022223Vittorio BrambillaSurtees Ford1:40.8052324Nelson PiquetMcLaren Ford1:40.84624 25Héctor RebaqueLotus Ford1:41.063 26Harald ErtlATS Ford1:41.185 27Michael BleekemolenATS Ford1:41.408 28GimaxSurtees Ford1:41.677

The race started at 3:30 pm Central European Time (UTC+1). On the warm up lap, Patrick Tambay went into the pits to have his gear change mechanism looked at. The starter Gianni Restelli was overenthusiastic turning on the green lights before all the cars had lined up, which resulted in several cars in the middle of the field getting 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 twenty 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 in nearby Milan.

Drivers were allowed to use spare cars for the race restart. Non starters included Peterson and Brambilla who were taken to hospital, Stuck who was not allowed to restart due to him suffering from slight concussion after being struck on the head by a flying wheel, Pironi (as the Tyrrell team had one spare car and that was set up for Depailler), and Lunger who had no spare car available. The race was due to be ready for a restart at 5:15 pm. While driving from the pit lane to the grid, 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. Some of the drivers had seen the accident, got out of their cars, and rushed across to race control to get the second start delayed as the Armco barriers were leaning over perilously where Scheckter struck it. Andretti, Hunt, Lauda, Reutemann, and Emerson Fittipaldi all went to the spot where Scheckter crashed. Upon inspection of the state of the barrier, they refused to start until the barrier was repaired, causing more delay. The barrier was later repaired and ready for the restart. There was some level of dispute between the doctors regarding whether all fractures should be immediately fixed or not. During the night, Peterson's condition worsened, and he was diagnosed with fat embolism. By morning, he was in full kidney failure due to the embolism, and was declared dead at 9:55am on 11 September 1978.

As a result of the start line crash, a medical car would follow the cars on the opening lap of every Grand Prix. ABC Sports broadcaster Jim McKay, who was covering the race, said during the broadcast which was shown on the Saturday after the race: "Later Peterson would die, but not until the next morning. Victory so long anticipated and so much earned, now tasted like ashes in Mario's mouth." A week later at the Michigan 150, Andretti was asked about Peterson and he said: "His sincerity I learned to really appreciate that more than anything else and the man is competitive as he was with his skills and I found that this is something that many people in this business like because it's a very selfish business that's basis but he could share with me the basic of the car whatever he found, he changed something even if it was the better." Initially, Andretti had also thought about appealing the penalty, and felt sure he would win it; Lauda himself had given him the Grand Prix's trophy, which he still owns. Upon hearing Peterson's death, Andretti renounced to the appeal, having been declared the 1978 Formula One World Champion. In 2018, he recalled: "There was no celebrating the World Championship. And we forgot about the appeal of the race results. That was my race. I won it. But I let it go. Niki Lauda was given the trophy, but he refused to take it. In fact, I still have it in my house. I remember feeling euphoric happiness, and sadness at its worst. And in a way, that's the legacy of Monza."