Editing 1978 Belgian Grand Prix

It would be another two-phase affair for some to qualify for the [[Belgian Grand Prix]] of {{F1|1978}}, with seven of the original 31 entries told to "pre-qualify".<ref name=MM></ref> That session was staged a week before the race, with the fastest four joining the 24 other entries for three "qualifying" sessions.<ref name=MM></ref> Two of those sessions would be staged on the Friday before the race, with the third and final runout on Saturday coming after a "race practice" session.<ref name=MM></ref>

The seven drivers to fight for four qualifying spots would not be a surprise, with the two of the smallest, and newest, constructors, {{Theodore-CON}} and {{Martini-CON}} having [[Keke Rosberg]] and [[René Arnoux]] in action.<ref name=MM></ref> Likewise, privateer racers [[Brett Lunger]] and [[Héctor Rebaque]] would have to get their equipment ready a day early, as would the third factory {{McLaren-CON}} entry of [[Bruno Giacomelli]].<ref name=MM></ref> Completing the septet would be the {{Merzario-CON}} of the eponymous [[Arturo Merzario|Arturo]], as well second {{Arrows-CON}} of [[Rolf Stommelen]], despite the fact that his teammate [[Riccardo Patrese]] had been given a bye to head straight into qualifying.<ref name=MM></ref>

Ultimately, however, Stommelen would have no trouble making it through the full qualifying programme, only just beaten to the top of the time sheets by Giacomelli in the newest [[McLaren M26]].<ref name=MM></ref> Also through were the two [[Formula Two]] aces Arnoux and Rosberg, while Lunger was gifted a slot in qualifying when [[Patrick Tambay]] was officially withdrawn.<ref name=MM></ref> That left Rebaque and Merzario as the non-qualifiers, although machinations by the Belgian organisers could have seen two more drivers relegated out of qualifying.<ref name=MM></ref>

Indeed, the Belgian R.A.C. decided that two of their chargers, [[Patrick Nève]] and [[Bernard de Dryver]], should be given spots in qualifying, and duly added their names to the entry list.<ref name=MM></ref> Seeing this, [[Formula One Constructors Association]] supremo [[Bernie Ecclestone]] declared that his members would quit the event, citing that neither Nève, nor de Dryver, had "qualified".<ref name=MM></ref> Ultimately the Belgian organisers backed down, leaving Nève and de Dryver as spectators for their home race.<ref name=MM></ref>

With pre-qualifying sorted out it was time for the real F1 action to get underway, with most of the teams expecting that the old circuit record, a 1:24.64 set by [[Mario Andretti]] in [[1977 Belgian Grand Prix|1977]] would fall.<ref name=MM></ref> Indeed, the entire [[Circuit Zolder|Zolder]] circuit had been re-surfaced since the 1977 race, and even the slowest pre-qualifiers had come close to beating the mark.<ref name=MM></ref> Instead, the engineers were interested in how much the record would be beaten, although no-one would expect how much Andretti could remove from his old mark early on.<ref name=MM></ref>

Indeed, after a couple of exploratory laps in the new [[Lotus 79]], the American ace duly broke his old record on his first flying lap, before exchanging new lap records with [[Carlos Reutemann]].<ref name=MM></ref> However, as the session entered its final half-hour, the American took the pace up another few levels, ending the session with a stunning 1:21.78, the last of a series of laps in the 1:21.00s.<ref name=MM></ref> Reutemann could only claim a 1:22.60, with everyone else, including Andretti's teammate [[Ronnie Peterson]] in an older [[Lotus 78]], a second or more behind.<ref name=MM></ref>

Elsewhere, Lunger, having only been informed of his retroactive addition to qualifying, was no-where to be seen, the American racer having left Zolder immediately after pre-qualifying having failed to get through.<ref name=MM></ref> He was therefore in a mad rush to get his two McLarens shipped back over the North Sea to Zolder, and it was only because of the fact that Rebaque, Nève and de Dryver had all left that the American was still listed as an entrant.<ref name=MM></ref> On track, meanwhile, {{Renault-CON}} had their usual turbo failure on [[Jean-Pierre Jabouille|Jean-Pierre Jabouille's]] car, [[Hans-Joachim Stuck]] destroyed his only {{Ford Cosworth-ENG}} engine, while [[Jacky Ickx]] had to switch to "de Dryver's" {{Ensign-CON}} after his engine decided to try and fire with water in the spark-plug recess.<ref name=MM></ref>

Into the afternoon session and it was, once again, a very quiet session in terms of on-track woe, with the only major failure coming in the second half when [[James Hunt]] suffered an engine failure.<ref name=MM></ref> That put him in Tambay's abandoned McLaren, although this was a footnote to a session that was again dominated by Andretti.<ref name=MM></ref> Indeed, the naturalised American was at it again at the front of the field, finding another three tenths off his morning effort to end the day with a 1:21.48.<ref name=MM></ref>

That lap from Andretti meant that there was a little under seven seconds covering the field, a huge margin given the length of the Zolder circuit.<ref name=MM></ref> Closest to him on the provisional grid overnight would be [[Jody Scheckter]] with a 1:22.12, while Reutemann clipped a dew tenths off his morning effort to claim a 1:22.35.<ref name=MM></ref> At the back, meanwhile, Rosberg was the man who trailed Andretti by the most, although [[Jacques Laffite]] was technically behind him after the {{Ligier-Matra}} decided to have a multitude of minor issues.<ref name=MM></ref>

The Saturday morning "race practice" would pass without issue for most, although [[Alan Jones]] did suffer a brake failure heading towards the chicane, with the {{Williams-CON}} racer subsequently ploughing through the catch fencing.<ref name=MM></ref> Jones climbed out holding his right arm having been struck by an errant post, while the spare Williams was returned with a lot of bodywork damage.<ref name=MM></ref> Fortunately the blow to his arm was not serious and so the Australian ace could join the fray for the final session, although he was not the only driver nursing an injury in the final hour.<ref name=MM></ref>

Indeed, the larger than life Giacomelli had suffered from a rather comical accident at the end of the "race practice" session, literally falling out of his cockpit as he clambered out.<ref name=MM></ref> The Italian was left with a twisted ankle, while a blow to his wrist while trying to stop himself had aggravated an injury sustained a week earlier in Pau.<ref name=MM></ref> That left Hunt with the pick of four McLarens heading into the final hour, although a determined Giacomelli would return to his cockpit during the final blast.<ref name=MM></ref>

Into the final hour of qualifying and there was no stopping Andretti, the American ace again improving to end the session with a 1:20.90, having spent the entire hour in the 1:21.00s.<ref name=MM></ref> Reutemann, meanwhile, put together a more impressive, but still distant, effort of 1:21.69, edging out [[Niki Lauda]] by 0.01s and teammate [[Gilles Villeneuve]] by 0.08s.<ref name=MM></ref> Those were the only four drivers to record a sub-1:22.00 time, with a little over five seconds covering the field come the end of the day.<ref name=MM></ref>

Elsewhere the fight to qualify went to the closing stages, with Lunger grabbing the final spot, having arrived midway though the "race practice" to join the fray.<ref name=MM></ref> His last gasp effort knocked [[Derek Daly]] out of the race, with Rosberg, [[Rupert Keegan]] and [[Alberto Colombo]] also missing the mark.<ref name=MM></ref> That meant that Arnoux had qualified to finally make his much anticipated debut, while Giacomelli and Jones both made it through while injured.<ref name=MM></ref>

Indeed, Giacomelli would get up to some mischief during the session, colliding with [[Jochen Mass]] as the pair misread each other's intentions as the German came to overtake the Italian.<ref name=MM></ref> The {{ATS (Germany)-CON}} was sent skating into the barriers, while Giacomelli limped around to the pits.<ref name=MM></ref> Yellow flags were then displayed to warn the rest of the drivers that there was an accident, only for Daly to slam into the back of Reutemann as the Argentine slowed upon seeing said flags.<ref name=MM></ref> Other incidents would see Jabouille's turbocharger set fire to itself, and Keegan destroy his Cosworth engine, although both had qualified.<ref name=MM></ref>

| '''1:21.69'''^T

| 1:23.16^T

| 1:23.96^T

| 1:24.10^T

| '''1:23.58'''^T

| 1:23.91^T

| 1:26.07^T

| '''1:24.82'''^T

| '''1:25.69'''^T