Zandvoort ’78: Andretti’s and the champion Lotus’s last
The 2026 Dutch Grand Prix concluded a few days ago, and today there is total certainty that the Zandvoort circuit will no longer be present from next season onwards. A track that, throughout its history, has been the scene of historic milestones, just as it happened in 1978, when an American driver born in Italy celebrated his last victory in F1: Mario Andretti. A success that, together with the 2nd place of teammate Ronnie Peterson, coincided with the last double win for Lotus in F1, as well as the last Constructors’ Championship victory for the same British team.
Read more Porsche denies: the Taycan will not be withdrawn anytime soon
The dominance of the ‘Black Beauty’
In 1978 the car to beat quickly proved to be the Lotus 79, designed by Colin Chapman and going down in history as the ‘Black Beauty’, a nickname due not only to the particular technical features and lines of one of the most winning cars ever, but also to the black livery of the sponsor John Player Special. Out of 16 races on the calendar, the British team won 8, that is half; six of these were won by Mario Andretti, who thanks to his formidable season was crowned world champion for the first and only time, also becoming the second and last American driver to achieve the feat after Phil Hill.
The last times
Arriving in the Netherlands as the championship leader, ‘Bigfoot’ approached the mathematical victory of the title in the last weekend of the month, with the race scheduled for August 27. In a weekend when the signing of Jody Scheckter to Ferrari for the following year was announced, Andretti and Peterson dominated qualifying, with the American on pole position ahead of the Swede. The race was no less exciting: from the start onwards, both drivers steadily maintained their positions until the checkered flag, with reigning world champion Niki Lauda in third place in a season that saw him for the first time at the wheel of the Brabham-Alfa Romeo after his experience at Ferrari. More spectacular, at the same time, was the fight among the drivers outside the podium, with Watson and Fittipaldi recovering several positions by taking advantage of the technical problems of the Ferraris of Reutemann and Villeneuve.
Read more Lepas, the global expansion of the range continues
Andretti, therefore, achieved his 12th career victory, but it turned out to be his last in F1. Remaining with Lotus until 1980, the American born in 1940 in the Province of Istria (then Italian) did not achieve any more success, not even in 1981 with Alfa Romeo and in the few races he started with Ferrari in 1982, when the Maranello team called him following the serious injury of Pironi and the tragic death of Villeneuve. However, at Monza, he achieved his last pole position. Also in Italy, this time in 1978, Andretti won the world title, but in a heavy atmosphere due to the very serious accident involving his teammate Ronnie Peterson, who later died in hospital. Both, in the Netherlands, contributed to the last double win for Lotus in F1, as well as to the 7th and last Constructors’ title.
Lotus and Andretti: crisis and victories
Since then, Lotus began a slow decline, with only 10 victories achieved despite having a future world champion like Ayrton Senna on the team (8 wins for him and 2 for Elio De Angelis) and a three-time world champion like fellow Brazilian Nelson Piquet at the end of the ’80s. The team exited the scene at the end of the 1993 season, before a brief return in 2010 with Kimi Raikkonen, who brought it back to victory on two occasions. Andretti, meanwhile, confirmed himself as the Hero of Two Worlds: returning to the United States, (where he had already won the Indianapolis 500 in 1969), he won the CART title in 1984, then retired definitively from racing ten years later, only to later found his own team together with his son Michael.
