| Type: | F1 |
| Country: | Italy |
| Grand Prix: | Italian |
| Date: | 10 September |
| Year: | 1978 |
| Race No: | 14 |
| Season No: | 16 |
| Course: | Permanent racing facility |
| Course Mi: | 3.6 |
| Course Km: | 5.800 |
| Distance Laps: | 40 |
| Distance Mi: | 144 |
| Distance Km: | 232.000 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 52 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 187.2 |
| Scheduled Km: | 301.600 |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Pole Country: | USA |
| Pole Team: | Lotus-Ford |
| Pole Time: | 1:37.520 |
| Fast Driver: | Mario Andretti |
| Fast Country: | USA |
| Fast Team: | Lotus-Ford |
| Fast Time: | 1:38.230 |
| Fast Lap: | 33 |
| First Country: | Austria |
| First Team: | Brabham-Alfa Romeo |
| Second Driver: | John Watson |
| Second Country: | UK |
| Second Team: | Brabham-Alfa Romeo |
| Third Driver: | Carlos Reutemann |
| Third Country: | Argentina |
| Third Team: | 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. 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, 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.[1]
| Driver | Constructor | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Héctor Rebaque | Lotus-Ford | 1:39.88 | |
| 2 | Nelson Piquet | McLaren-Ford | 1:40.11 | |
| 3 | Brett Lunger | McLaren-Ford | 1:40.24 | |
| 4 | Harald Ertl | Ensign-Ford | 1:40.27 | |
| 5 | Keke Rosberg | Wolf-Ford | 1:40.75 | |
| 6 | Rolf Stommelen | Arrows-Ford | 1:40.93 | |
| 7 | Alberto Colombo | Merzario-Ford | 1:42.55 |
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,[2] 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 which resulted in a skull fracture and was freed from his car by firefighters. Both Brambilla and Peterson were taken to the Niguarda hospital in nearby Milan via ambulance.[3]
Drivers were allowed to use spare cars for the race restart. Non-starters included Peterson and Brambilla who were taken to Niguarda 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 in the startline crash, 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. Scheckter was unhurt and got an ambulance to return him to the pits so he could take the spare car for the restart. 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. Very little information was forthcoming and the crowds began to whistle and shout, not knowing why there was another hold-up. The barrier was later repaired and ready for the restart.[1]
Because of the amount of time clearing up the track after the shunt in the first start and the barrier being repaired, plus Scheckter's crash prior to the second start, at 5:50pm it was announced that the race would take place and the distance would be shortened from 52 laps to 40 laps to avoid sunset. The race was restarted at 6:15pm. Villeneuve overtook Andretti at the restart and at the end of the lap both drivers were side by side; Villeneuve held on to the lead and they pulled away from Jabouille, who was running third with Lauda behind him. After four laps, Regazzoni in the spare Shadow went to the pit lane as he was having his brakes looked at. Jabouille had engine problems after six laps and Lauda took on the pursuit; meanwhile, race control gave Villeneuve and Andretti a one-minute penalty as they were judged to have jumped the start. Andretti took Villeneuve with only five laps remaining. With Jabouille having retired, Lauda finished third ahead of Watson (Brabham), 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 celebrations were muted due to Peterson in hospital. The race was also notable for the first finish for Nelson Piquet with a creditable ninth after dodging the Peterson wreckage in the first start.[1]
After the race, Lotus and Ferrari lodged protests against the one-minute penalty imposed on Andretti and Villeneuve. It was rejected.
At the hospital, Peterson's X-rays showed he had a total of twenty seven fractures in both legs according to the newly appointed Formula One doctor Sid Watkins in his 1996 autobiography Life at the Limit. After discussion with him, Peterson was sent to intensive care so that the surgeons could operate to stabilize the bones.[4] Peterson's parents, May Britt and Bengt Peterson, were watching live on TV and knew he was involved in the lap-one incident. They were contacted in their home in Örebro, Sweden by Peterson's manager, Staffan Svenby, who was in Monza. Ronnie's wife Barbro was in Monaco and she was contacted by Team Lotus boss Colin Chapman an hour after the crash.
Once Peterson arrived at Niguardia hospital, Svenby was consulted by the doctors on how Peterson should be operated and then phoned Watkins, three Swedish doctors and other Italian doctors for advice. There was some level of dispute between the doctors regarding whether all fractures should be immediately fixed or not. Even Peterson, who was conscious at that point, was presented to the options they have to choose from. Option one was to stay at the hospital in Milan or fly to another hospital where they have large experience from complicated fractures after alpine skiing accidents in countries like Austria, Switzerland, Sweden or England. option two was to wait for an operation, risking a worse result and maybe possibly amputation, and option three was to operate on the bones at once and risking bone marrow embolism. After the consultations, Svenby decided that Peterson was to stay in the Niguardia hospital and that he was to be operated at once with the operating starting after 9:00pm. It lasted two and a half hours and was completed without issue.[5] Over the phone, professor Watkins reassured Barbro that he thought that Peterson will recover, with plans being made for her to get to Milan in the morning. Bernie Ecclestone, who was flying his private plane, got permission to land in the dark at Nice Côte d'Azur Airport. It was past midnight, Chapman and Andretti decide to go back to Villa d'Este in Como where they were staying during the race weekend. Svenby arranged a hotel room for himself and Sid Watkins near the hospital due to them both checking out from their regular hotels in the morning.
At 4am, Svenby received a phone call from the hospital informing him of the situation and then woke up Watkins in the room next door. On their way to the hospital, Svenby told Watkins that "someone claiming to be a doctor had called Barbro during the night, saying that he thought the Italian doctors were killing her husband". Arriving at the intensive care unit, the neurosurgeon informed them that Peterson had developed breathing problems and was being ventilated by a machine in an attempt to keep his blood oxygen levels normal. An X-ray showed that he had developed multiple emboli in his lungs, which had come from the fat in the bone marrow entering his bloodstream; due to this, his kidneys had started to fail. Peterson was unconscious and a neurologigal examination showed signs of serious brain damage. Professor Watkins, inspecting Peterson's eyes, identified fat globules obstructing the small arteries in the retinas. On professor Watkins' suggestion, the neurosurgeon agreed to take a electroencephalogram to get the situation clear on Peterson's brain functions. However, at this point, Peterson had suffered a full kidney failure, and he was declared dead at 9:11am.[6] [7] [8]
Emerson Fittipaldi arrived together with his wife shortly thereafter Svenby, who informed them of the tragic news. Fittipaldi, who was friends with Peterson, said "I just can't believe it. We have been friends for so many years and now he is gone. Racing will change a lot for me. He was one of the greatest drivers and no one will replace him." Mario Andretti, also one of Peterson's friends, was on route and he said "Oh no. I wanted that title so badly, but I did not want to win it like this. What the hell shall I do with it now? I don't feel anything for it. One of my best friends is gone and motor racing will never be the same again. I was really looking forward to next year, he in the McLaren and me in the Lotus and we would have a good fight and afterwards sit down to have a beer and a good laugh about it." Peterson's first manager Sveneric Eriksson said "When Ronnie died, Sweden stopped. All was quiet. In many workplaces noting was done during the day, people only discussed how Ronnie could die that way he did. In schools the children cried. Their great idol was gone. Some schools had to close, and the children were sent home."
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."[9] 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."[10]
After a few days of anguish, Vittorio Brambilla would finally wake up from his coma. He managed to recognize his loved ones and the doctors were reassured, he would not have any after-effects of his skull fracture. On 16 September, ABC Sports revealed that "Brambilla was responding well in a Milan hospital".
| Pos | Driver | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mario Andretti | 64 | ||
| 2 |  Ronnie Peterson | 51 | ||
| 3 |  Niki Lauda | 44 | ||
| 4 |  Carlos Reutemann | 35 | ||
| 5 |  Patrick Depailler | 32 | ||
| Source:[11] | ||||
| Pos | Constructor | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lotus-Ford | 86 | ||
| 2 | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 53 | ||
| 3 |  Ferrari | 40 | ||
| 4 | Tyrrell-Ford | 36 | ||
| 5 | Ligier-Matra | 19 | ||
| Source: | ||||
