View source for Swedish Grand Prix

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{| border=1 cellspacing=3 cellpadding=4 style="float:right; margin:0 0 .5em 1em; width:250px; background:#505050; border-collapse:collapse; border:1px solid #999; font-size:83%; line-height:1.5; " summary="Infobox Automobile"
|- style="text-align:center; background:#505050;"
| colspan=2 style="padding:0; background:#333333; color:#fff; border-bottom:1px solid #999;" |[[Image:Circuit Anderstorp.png|250px]]
|- style="color:#fff; background:darkred; font-size:larger;"
! colspan=2 |'''[[Sweden|Swedish]] Grand Prix'''
|-
| Flag                    ||   {{flagiconSweden}}
|-
| Circuit                 ||   [[Scandinavian Raceway]]
|-
| Laps                    ||   70
|-
| Circuit length km       ||   4.031
|-
| Race length km          ||   282.170
|-
| Most wins driver        ||   {{flagiconSouth Africa|1928}} [[Jody Scheckter]] (2) <br> {{flagiconAustria}} [[Niki Lauda]] (2)
|-
| Most wins constructor   ||   {{flagiconUK}} [[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]] (2)
|-
| Current year            ||   1978
|-
| Winner                  ||   {{flagiconAustria}} [[Niki Lauda]]
|-
| Winning team            ||   {{flagiconUK}} [[Brabham]]-[[Alfa Romeo in Formula One|Alfa Romeo]]
|-
| Winning time            ||   1:41:00.606
|-
| Pole driver             ||   {{flagiconUSA}} [[Mario Andretti]]
|-
| Pole team               ||   {{flagiconUK}} [[Team Lotus|Lotus]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
|-
| Pole time               ||   1:22.058
|-
| Fastest lap driver      ||   {{flagiconAustria}} [[Niki Lauda]]
|-
| Fastest lap team        ||   {{flagiconUK}} [[Brabham]]-[[Alfa Romeo in Formula One|Alfa Romeo]]
|-
| Fastest lap             ||   1:24.836
|}


The '''Swedish Grand Prix''' was a round of the [[Formula One]] World Championship from [[1973]] to [[1978]].  It took place at the [[Scandinavian Raceway]] in Anderstorp ([[Gislaved Municipality]]), about 30km from [[Jönköping]], in [[Småland]], [[Sweden]].

==History==
===1973 Race===
[[Ronnie Peterson]]'s success with [[Team Lotus|Team Lotus]] was the catalyst for a Swedish Grand Prix and the race was held for the first time in 1973 at the grandly-named Scandinavian Raceway.

Peterson did not disappoint his fans in qualifying, taking pole in his Lotus.

For 70 laps it looked like this was going to be a one-two for Team Lotus with Peterson first and world champion [[Emerson Fittipaldi]] second. However disaster struck when Fittipaldi retired with gearbox failure. Meanwhile, [[Denny Hulme]] was quickly closing the gap on the lead, Peterson having major trouble with tire wear and fighting to stay on the track.

On the 79th and penultimate lap Hulme was able to pass the local hero to snatch victory, the New Zealander's decision to run harder tires on his '''[[Team McLaren|McLaren]]-[[Cosworth]]''' having paid off. Peterson was second. That was as close as any Swede came to winning on home soil.

It is worth noting that during the 1973 season, the [[Cosworth]] DFV V8 engine powered to victory in every single race in the 15 race season, a performance never to be repeated.

===1974 Race===
In 1974 the Swedish Grand Prix was totally dominated by the two '''[[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]]-[[Cosworth]] 007'''s of [[Jody Scheckter]] and [[Patrick Depailler]]. It was the Frenchman who took pole in front of his teammate, however Scheckter beat him by 0.380 sec in the race.

This was the South African's first Grand Prix win. 

===1975 Race===
[[Niki Lauda]] often refers to 1975 as "the unbelievable year".

In his second year with the Ramping Horse the team provided him with the '''Ferrari 312T''' - a car that was technically far superior to any of the competition. He won his first world title that year with 5 wins and a huge margin over second place in the championship.

At Anderstorp he took his third consecutive win of the season after the [[Monaco]] and [[Belgian Grand Prix]].

Qualifying resulted in pole position for [[Vittorio Brambilla]] in his [[March Engineering|March]], Lauda qualified fifth fastest and his teammate [[Clay Regazzoni]] 11th. In the race Brambilla took the lead, but by lap 16 he was overtaken by [[Carlos Reutemann]]'s [[Brabham]]. Meanwhile, Lauda was steadily progressing through the field and on lap 42 he was second. He put a series of fastest laps , closed on Reutemann and overtook him to win the Grand Prix by 6 seconds. Reutemann finished second with Regazzoni in the second Ferrari 312T third.

===1976 Race===

The 1976 Swedish GP saw the first (and only) win of a 6-wheel car - the '''[[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]] P34'''. The theory was that its four tiny front wheels would increase mechanical front-end grip – with more rubber on the road – and thus eliminate [[understeer]] while at the same time improve cornering and braking.

When it was revealed it was the instant sensation of the 1976 season. The car was a photo opportunity on wheels – six of them, which was precisely why – and must have given [[Elf Aquitaine|Elf]] more free publicity in the 1976 pre-season and beyond than it garnered during the whole of 1974 and 1975.

Tyrrell's [[Jody Scheckter]] took pole, with [[Patrick Depailler]] in fourth. In the race the Tyrrells strode imperiously to a crushing one-two. The South African, who when later probed confided that he thought the six-wheeled concept ridiculous, was beaming on the podium.

However the Swedish walkover proved to be a fluke, and the P34 never won a race again.

===1977 Race===
At Anderstorp, [[Jacques Laffite]] in his [[Gitanes]] sponsored '''[[Ligier]]-[[Matra]]''' put in a commanding display, romping to victory in the 1977 Swedish GP. [[France]] had been put back on the map: that was the first time that a French car with a French engine, backed by a French company, and driven by a French driver had won a Grand Prix.

===1978 Race===
The 1978 Swedish GP 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 BT46|Brabham BT46B]] 'Fancar' ''' concept was a huge fan taking ground effect to a higher level (at least engineering-wise) by pulling a vacuum from under the bottom of the car, thereby creating an enormous amount of downforce. 

Its legality was soon protested, but it was allowed to race, [[Niki Lauda]] and [[John Watson (driver)|John Watson]] qualifying 2nd and 3rd behind the Lotus 79 of [[Mario Andretti]]. 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. Lauda went on to win by 34.6 seconds. Immediately after, the fan was deemed illegal, contravening the rules on moving aerodynamical devices, although the Brabham team claimed its use was primarily for cooling - which wasn't far from the truth, actually. The win was allowed to stand, however, which cost [[Arrows]] their chance of victory in its debut season.

==Demise==
There has been no Swedish Grand Prix after 1978. The deaths in 1978 of both [[Ronnie Peterson]] and [[Gunnar Nilsson]] contributed to the demise of this round of the world championship, as interest for Formula One in Sweden fell following the death of the two Swedish racers.

== Winners of the Swedish Grand Prix ==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%" border=1 cellpadding=3
|- tr BGCOLOR="darkred"
! Year
! Driver 
! Constructor
! Location
! Report
|-
! [[1978 Formula One season|1978]]
| {{flagiconAustria}} [[Niki Lauda]]
| [[Brabham]]
| [[Scandinavian Raceway|Anderstorp]]
| [[1978 Swedish Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1977 Formula One season|1977]]
| {{flagiconFrance}} [[Jacques Laffite]]
| [[Ligier]]
| [[Scandinavian Raceway|Anderstorp]]
| [[1977 Swedish Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1976 Formula One season|1976]]
| {{flagiconSouth Africa|1928}} [[Jody Scheckter]]
| [[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]]
| [[Scandinavian Raceway|Anderstorp]]
| [[1976 Swedish Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1975 Formula One season|1975]]
| {{flagiconAustria}} [[Niki Lauda]]
| [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]]
| [[Scandinavian Raceway|Anderstorp]]
| [[1975 Swedish Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1974 Formula One season|1974]]
| {{flagiconSouth Africa|1928}} [[Jody Scheckter]]
| [[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]]
| [[Scandinavian Raceway|Anderstorp]]
| [[1974 Swedish Grand Prix|Report]]
|-
! [[1973 Formula One season|1973]]
| {{flagiconNew Zealand}} [[Denny Hulme]]
| [[Team McLaren|McLaren]]
| [[Scandinavian Raceway|Anderstorp]]
| [[1973 Swedish Grand Prix|Report]]
|}


== External links ==
*[http://www.allf1.info/tracks/anderstorp.php http://www.allf1.info/tracks/anderstorp.php]
*[http://www.allf1.info/history/sweden.php http://www.allf1.info/history/sweden.php]
*[http://www.algonet.se/~alfisti/Anderstorp.html http://www.algonet.se/~alfisti/Anderstorp.html]

{{Formula One races}}

[[Category:Formula One Grands Prix]]
[[Category:Swedish Grand Prix| ]]