1978 Swedish Grand Prix
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The 1978 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 17 June 1978 at Scandinavian Raceway.
The 1978 Swedish GP will be remembered for just one thing. The race itself being rather uneventful, it was the winning car that created its own footnote in history by dominating the meeting, thus to great lengths contributing to its uneventfulness in the first place.
Responsible for this overwhelming coup was some clever thinking by Brabham's Gordon Murray, who was trying to eclipse Colin Chapman's ground effect invention on the Lotus 79, the skirted car that had swept the front row since its debut at Zolder. Center of the new Brabham BT46B concept was a large fan which drew air through the engine water radiator which was mounted horizontally over the engine. The fan also took ground effect to a higher level (at least engineering-wise) by sucking air from under the car, creating a partial vacuum and creating an enormous amount of downforce. The car appeared to contravene a rule which stated than moving aerodynamic devices were not allowed, but Brabham argued that the rules had been worded to ban devices whose primary function was aerodynamic. As the fan also cooled the engine, Brabham claimed that this, not aerodynamics, was its primary function.
Its legality was soon protested, but it was allowed to race, Niki Lauda and John Watson qualifying 2nd and 3rd behind the Lotus 79 of Mario Andretti (the two drivers did this as to not draw attention to the remarkable advantage that the fan would provide). Andretti eventually dropped out due to a broken valve, allowing Lauda into the lead. Once a back-marker dropped oil onto the track, the Brabham was in a race of its own, seemingly unaffected by the slippery surface. In Lauda's biography, To Hell And Back, he wrote that whilst other cars had to reduce speed to drive carefully over the oil, the Brabhams could simply accelerate (as the fan was activated by the gearbox to get around regulations, this meant that higher speed produced much higher grip) through the affected parts of the track. Lauda went on to win by 34.6 seconds.
The race stewards deemed the car legal. After the race, the FIA investigated the car, and corroborated Brabham's claim that the fan's primary effect was to cool the car, meeting the letter, if not the spirit, of the rules. The car was judged to have been legal as raced and the Brabham victory stood. The FIA banned further appearance of 'fan cars' before the next race.
[edit] Classification
[edit] Notes
- Pole position: Mario Andretti - 1:22.058
- Fastest Lap: Niki Lauda - 1:24.836
- Lap Leaders: Mario Andretti 38 laps (1-38); Niki Lauda 32 laps (39-70).
| Previous race: 1978 Spanish Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship, 1978 season |
Next race: 1978 French Grand Prix |
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Swedish Grand Prix | Next race: none |
