As often happens in the height of the summer season, the days immediately preceding August 15th are characterized by good weather and heat, such as to encourage families or tourists to enjoy their holidays in various locations, or enjoying a typical barbecue. In the past, contrary to what happens today, for motorsport fans there was also the opportunity to attend the Formula 1 GPs. 13th August 1978exactly 44 years agothe day the top flight flew in Austria to play the twelfth round of that world championship. However, the climatic conditions that arose at theÖsterreichring they were anything but summer, both for the public and, above all, for the pilots.
In fact, after four and a half decades since then, the Austrian GP 1978 it is still remembered today for having been one of the most chaotic ever in the history of Formula 1, as well as one of the most memorable for other results achieved at the end of the race. The main element of that weekend, in fact, was unquestionably the rain, to which other episodes were added that generated enormous confusion, on and off the track. Already from the qualifications, even before the bad weather, the tests started late compared to the scheduled time, only to be interrupted by a group of paratroopers who, by mistake, landed on the circuit. In all this, it was the Swede from Lotus who emerged Ronnie Petersonwhich conquered the pole position right in front of his teammate Mario Andretti, world leader. The fastest lap was the 14 ° for the Scandinavian in Formula 1 and, unfortunately, it also turned out the last one of his career.
Twenty-four hours later, unlike in qualifying, the rain hit the track even before the start. However, not being particularly violent, the teams opted to take to the track with dry tires: a choice that turned out to be completely wrong. In the first seven laps, Reutemann and Andretti came into contact with the Italian-American immediately forced to retire. In the immediately following laps, Scheckter also ended prematurely off the track, followed by Pironi and Piquet. In all this, Peterson stably maintained the leadership, at least until the 7th lap: according to the regulations of the time, the Race Direction decided for the suspension of the race in order to allow riders to be able to mount wet tires. In addition to this, the final classification would have been drawn up with the sum of times of the first and second part of the race, and not from the order of arrival at the finish line.
After a further wait of almost an hour, the GP started again under the banner of Peterson, able to maintain the first position and an unattainable race pace, even after switching to dry tires once the rain was over. Behind him, however, the restart of John Watson was disastrous, hit on the grid by Patrese, as well as the performance of the house idol Niki Lauda, also the protagonist of an accident in his first, complex year in Brabham. At the same time, Reutemann faced a disqualification, thanks to the assistance of the marshals in bringing him back to the track after a spin. In all this, they took advantage of it Patrick Depailler and Gilles Villeneuve, in his first full year with Ferrari. The Canadian, thanks to a lower tire grip, lost the final position on the French Tyrrell, 2nd in the standings right in front of theAviatorwhich nevertheless won his own first podium in Formula 1.
Instead, Peterson went on to win the race undisturbed, getting his own tenth and last career victory. Thanks to that result, the Lotus also closed the games for world constructors titlefor the seventh and last time in its history. The 1978 season then ended with the seal of Mario Andretti, but with the drama of the disappearance of Peterson himself: during the start of the Italian GP, the Swede was involved in a terrible accident, following which he died the day after the Niguarda Hospital in Milan for his injuries.
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