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1978 French Grand Prix

FieldValue
TypeF1
CountryFrance
Grand PrixFrench
ImagePaul Ricard 1970.png
Official name64e Grand Prix de France
Date2 July
Year1978
Race_No9
Season_No16
LocationCircuit Paul Ricard
Le Castellet, Var, France
CoursePermanent racing facility
Course_mi3.610
Course_km5.809
Distance_laps54
Distance_mi194.915
Distance_km313.686
WeatherDry
Pole_DriverJohn Watson
Pole_CountryUK
Pole_TeamBrabham-Alfa Romeo
Pole_Time1:44.41
Fast_DriverCarlos Reutemann
Fast_CountryArgentina
Fast_TeamFerrari
Fast_Time1:48.56
Fast_Lap48
First_DriverMario Andretti
First_CountryUSA
First_TeamLotus-Ford
Second_DriverRonnie Peterson
Second_CountrySweden
Second_TeamLotus-Ford
Third_DriverJames Hunt
Third_CountryUK
Third_TeamMcLaren-Ford
Lapchart

Le Castellet, Var, France

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

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

Qualifying

Pos.No.DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q3Gap1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829Source:
2UK John WatsonBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:47.20**1:44.41**1:45.97—
5US Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:47.50**1:44.46**1:45.02+0.05
1Austria Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:45.521:45.02**1:44.71**+0.30
7UK James HuntMcLaren-Ford1:46.201:45.32**1:44.92**+0.51
6Sweden Ronnie PetersonLotus-Ford1:46.461:45.10**1:44.98**+0.57
8France Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford1:47.06**1:45.07**1:46.15+0.66
20South Africa Jody ScheckterWolf-Ford1:46.10**1:45.20**1:46.33+0.79
11Argentina Carlos ReutemannFerrari1:46.50**1:45.35**1:45.82+0.94
12Canada Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:50.72**1:45.55**1:46.56+1.14
26France Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra1:47.44**1:45.68**1:45.86+1.27
15France Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1:47.34**1:45.73**1:46.84+1.32
35Italy Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:48.301:46.39**1:46.32**+1.91
4France Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford1:48.67**1:46.37**1:46.74+1.96
27Australia Alan JonesWilliams-Ford1:47.891:46.55**1:46.40**+1.99
14Brazil Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:47.891:47.04**1:46.70**+2.29
3France Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford1:49.361:48.10**1:47.12**+2.71
17Switzerland Clay RegazzoniShadow-Ford1:50.441:48.73**1:48.55**+4.14
31France René ArnouxMartini-Ford1:49.48**1:48.68**1:49.46+4.27
19Italy Vittorio BrambillaSurtees-Ford1:50.39**1:49.23**1:50.07+4.27
16FRG Hans-Joachim StuckShadow-Ford**1:48.89**1:49.071:50.18+4.48
36FRG Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford1:51.07**1:49.14**1:50.51+4.73
33Italy Bruno GiacomelliMcLaren-Ford1:54.671:50.77**1:49.53**+5.12
18UK Rupert KeeganSurtees-Ford1:52.221:50.10**1:49.54**+5.13
30US Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford1:51.261:49.65**1:49.55**+5.14
9FRG Jochen MassATS-Ford1:51.531:50.10**1:49.90**+5.49
10Finland Keke RosbergATS-Ford1:57.921:51.01**1:50.09**+5.68
37Italy Arturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford**1:50.11**1:50.471:50.80+5.70
22Ireland Derek DalyEnsign-Ford1:54.28**1:50.19**1:50.61+5.78
25Mexico Héctor RebaqueLotus-Ford1:54.031:51.54**1:50.40**+5.99

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints123456789101112131415161718RetRetRetRetRetRetRetRetDNQDNQDNQ
5US **Mario Andretti****Lotus-Ford**541:38:51.922**9**
6Sweden **Ronnie Peterson****Lotus-Ford**54+ 2.935**6**
7UK **James Hunt****McLaren-Ford**54+ 19.804**4**
2UK **John Watson****Brabham-Alfa Romeo**54+ 36.881**3**
27Australia **Alan Jones****Williams-Ford**54+ 41.8114**2**
20South Africa **Jody Scheckter****Wolf-Ford**54+ 54.537**1**
26France Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra54+ 54.7410
35Italy Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford54+ 1:24.8812
8France Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford54+ 1:27.066
3France Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford54+ 1:29.9816
16FRG Hans-Joachim StuckShadow-Ford53+ 1 Lap20
12Canada Gilles VilleneuveFerrari53+ 1 Lap9
9FRG Jochen MassATS-Ford53+ 1 Lap25
31France René ArnouxMartini-Ford53+ 1 Lap18
36FRG Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford53+ 1 Lap21
10Finland Keke RosbergATS-Ford52+ 2 Laps26
19Italy Vittorio BrambillaSurtees-Ford52+ 2 Laps19
11Argentina Carlos ReutemannFerrari49+ 5 Laps8
30US Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford45Engine24
14Brazil Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford43Suspension15
18UK Rupert KeeganSurtees-Ford40Engine23
33Italy Bruno GiacomelliMcLaren-Ford28Engine22
1Austria Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo10Engine3
4France Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford10Engine13
17Switzerland Clay RegazzoniShadow-Ford4Electrical17
15France Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1Engine11
37Italy Arturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford
22Ireland Derek DalyEnsign-Ford
25Mexico Héctor RebaqueLotus-Ford

Notes

  • This was the 9th win of the French Grand Prix for a Ford-powered car. It broke the previous record set by Ferrari at the 1975 French Grand Prix.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

PosDriverPointsSource:
[[File:1rightarrow_blue.svg10px]]1USA Mario Andretti45
[[File:1rightarrow_blue.svg10px]]2SWE Ronnie Peterson36
[[File:1rightarrow_blue.svg10px]]3AUT Niki Lauda25
[[File:1rightarrow_blue.svg10px]]4FRA Patrick Depailler23
[[File:1rightarrow_blue.svg10px]]5ARG Carlos Reutemann22

;Constructors' Championship standings

PosConstructorPointsSource:
[[File:1rightarrow_blue.svg10px]]1UK Lotus-Ford58
[[File:1rightarrow_blue.svg10px]]2UK Brabham-Alfa Romeo34
[[File:1rightarrow_blue.svg10px]]3UK Tyrrell-Ford25
[[File:1rightarrow_blue.svg10px]]4ITA Ferrari22
[[File:1uparrow_green.svg10px]] 45UK McLaren-Ford11
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

| Previous_year's_race = 1977 French Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 1979 French Grand Prix

References

  1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1978". The Programme Covers Project.
  2. "1978 French Grand Prix Entry list".
  3. (2 July 1978). "1978 French Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive".
  4. "1978 French Grand Prix". formula1.com.
  5. "France 1978 - Championship • STATS F1".
Info: Wikipedia Source

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