The 1978 season

Andretti, the Lotus 79 and Monza

Mario Andretti and Lotus dominated the year, but the title was settled on the day the sport lost his teammate Ronnie Peterson.

From the opening race in Buenos Aires, where Mario Andretti won from pole, 1978 belonged to Lotus. The team won eight of the sixteen rounds, and once the Lotus 79 arrived at Zolder in May it was rarely beaten. Andretti won that day with Ronnie Peterson second, and the pair repeated the order at Jarama, Paul Ricard and Zandvoort, with a regularity that left everyone else contesting third.

The calendar

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