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1978 French Grand Prix

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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 miles)
Distance 54 laps, 313.686 km (194.915 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Time 1:44.41
Fastest lap
Driver Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari
Time 1:48.56 on lap 48
Podium
First Lotus-Ford
Second Lotus-Ford
Third McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders

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. This would prove to be the final podium for Hunt.

Report

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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

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Qualifying

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Pos. No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3 Gap
1 2 United Kingdom John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:47.20 1:44.41 1:45.97  —
2 5 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:47.50 1:44.46 1:45.02 +0.05
3 1 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:45.52 1:45.02 1:44.71 +0.30
4 7 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:46.20 1:45.32 1:44.92 +0.51
5 6 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:46.46 1:45.10 1:44.98 +0.57
6 8 France Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 1:47.06 1:45.07 1:46.15 +0.66
7 20 South Africa Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:46.10 1:45.20 1:46.33 +0.79
8 11 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:46.50 1:45.35 1:45.82 +0.94
9 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:50.72 1:45.55 1:46.56 +1.14
10 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:47.44 1:45.68 1:45.86 +1.27
11 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:47.34 1:45.73 1:46.84 +1.32
12 35 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:48.30 1:46.39 1:46.32 +1.91
13 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:48.67 1:46.37 1:46.74 +1.96
14 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:47.89 1:46.55 1:46.40 +1.99
15 14 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:47.89 1:47.04 1:46.70 +2.29
16 3 France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:49.36 1:48.10 1:47.12 +2.71
17 17 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 1:50.44 1:48.73 1:48.55 +4.14
18 31 France René Arnoux Martini-Ford 1:49.48 1:48.68 1:49.46 +4.27
19 19 Italy Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:50.39 1:49.23 1:50.07 +4.27
20 16 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford 1:48.89 1:49.07 1:50.18 +4.48
21 36 West Germany Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 1:51.07 1:49.14 1:50.51 +4.73
22 33 Italy Bruno Giacomelli McLaren-Ford 1:54.67 1:50.77 1:49.53 +5.12
23 18 United Kingdom Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 1:52.22 1:50.10 1:49.54 +5.13
24 30 United States Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:51.26 1:49.65 1:49.55 +5.14
25 9 West Germany Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 1:51.53 1:50.10 1:49.90 +5.49
26 10 Finland Keke Rosberg ATS-Ford 1:57.92 1:51.01 1:50.09 +5.68
27 37 Italy Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:50.11 1:50.47 1:50.80 +5.70
28 22 Republic of Ireland Derek Daly Ensign-Ford 1:54.28 1:50.19 1:50.61 +5.78
29 25 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 1:54.03 1:51.54 1:50.40 +5.99
Source:[2]

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 54 1:38:51.92 2 9
2 6 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 54 + 2.93 5 6
3 7 United Kingdom James Hunt McLaren-Ford 54 + 19.80 4 4
4 2 United Kingdom John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 54 + 36.88 1 3
5 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford 54 + 41.81 14 2
6 20 South Africa Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 54 + 54.53 7 1
7 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 54 + 54.74 10
8 35 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 54 + 1:24.88 12
9 8 France Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 54 + 1:27.06 6
10 3 France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:29.98 16
11 16 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 20
12 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 53 + 1 Lap 9
13 9 West Germany Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 25
14 31 France René Arnoux Martini-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 18
15 36 West Germany Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 21
16 10 Finland Keke Rosberg ATS-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 26
17 19 Italy Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 19
18 11 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 49 + 5 Laps 8
Ret 30 United States Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 45 Engine 24
Ret 14 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 43 Suspension 15
Ret 18 United Kingdom Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 40 Engine 23
Ret 33 Italy Bruno Giacomelli McLaren-Ford 28 Engine 22
Ret 1 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 10 Engine 3
Ret 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 10 Engine 13
Ret 17 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 4 Electrical 17
Ret 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1 Engine 11
DNQ 37 Italy Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford
DNQ 22 Republic of Ireland Derek Daly Ensign-Ford
DNQ 25 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford
Source:[3]

Notes

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Championship standings after the race

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

References

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  1. ^ "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1978". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  2. ^ "1978 French Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 2 July 1978. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  3. ^ "1978 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. ^ a b "France 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.


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1978 Swedish Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1978 season
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1978 British Grand Prix
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