1978 French Grand Prix

The 1978 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 2 July 1978. It was the ninth race of the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1978 International Cup for F1 Constructors. The 54-lap race was won by Mario Andretti, driving a Lotus-Ford, with teammate Ronnie Peterson second and James Hunt third in a McLaren-Ford.

1978 French Grand Prix
Race 9 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Race details
Date 2 July 1978
Official name 64e Grand Prix de France[1]
Location Circuit Paul Ricard
Le Castellet, Var, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.809 km (3.610 mi)
Distance 54 laps, 313.686 km (194.915 mi)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Time 1:44.41
Fastest lap
Driver Carlos Reutemann Ferrari
Time 1:48.56 on lap 48
Podium
First Lotus-Ford
Second Lotus-Ford
Third McLaren-Ford

Report

Following the voluntary withdrawal of the "fan car", Brabham had to revert to their previous car again, but it did not deter them, with John Watson on pole and Niki Lauda starting third behind Mario Andretti's Lotus. At the start, Watson led into the first corner, with Andretti following, and Patrick Tambay putting his McLaren in third, but that order did not remain for long as Andretti took the lead from Watson on the first lap. Lauda and Ronnie Peterson were on the move as well, as they passed Watson and Tambay to jump into second and third, but Lauda suffered another engine failure. This left the two Lotus cars running 1–2 and they finished like that with Andretti taking his third win in four races, and the podium was completed by James Hunt who passed Watson mid-race.

Classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 5 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 54 1:38:51.92 2 9
2 6 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 54 + 2.93 5 6
3 7 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 54 + 19.80 4 4
4 2 John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 54 + 36.88 1 3
5 27 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 54 + 41.81 14 2
6 20 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 54 + 54.53 7 1
7 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 54 + 54.74 10
8 35 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 54 + 1:24.88 12
9 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 54 + 1:27.06 6
10 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:29.98 16
11 16 Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 20
12 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 53 + 1 Lap 9
13 9 Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 25
14 31 René Arnoux Martini-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 18
15 36 Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 21
16 10 Keke Rosberg ATS-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 26
17 19 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 19
18 11 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 49 + 5 Laps 8
Ret 30 Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 45 Engine 24
Ret 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 43 Suspension 15
Ret 18 Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 40 Engine 23
Ret 33 Bruno Giacomelli McLaren-Ford 28 Engine 22
Ret 1 Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 10 Engine 3
Ret 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 10 Engine 13
Ret 17 Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 4 Electrical 17
Ret 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1 Engine 11
DNQ 37 Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford
DNQ 22 Derek Daly Ensign-Ford
DNQ 25 Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford
Source:[2]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

  1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1978". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  2. "1978 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. "France 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
Previous race:
1978 Swedish Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1978 season
Next race:
1978 British Grand Prix
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1977 French Grand Prix
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1979 French Grand Prix
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