The 1978 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 7 May 1978 at Monaco. It was the fifth race of the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1978 International Cup for F1 Constructors.
The 75-lap race was won by Frenchman Patrick Depailler, driving a Tyrrell-Ford. It was Depailler's first Formula One victory in his 69th Grand Prix. Niki Lauda finished second in a Brabham-Alfa Romeo, with Jody Scheckter third in a Wolf-Ford.
Report Carlos Reutemann started on pole with the Brabham duo of John Watson and Niki Lauda second and third. Watson had a good start and led into the first corner, whereas Reutemann collided with James Hunt and had to pit for repairs, which left Patrick Depailler and Lauda second and third. For the first half of the race, the top three remained the same until Watson had an off allowing Depailler and Lauda through, but the latter then suffered a puncture and had to pit for tyres before charging back up and retaking second from Watson towards the end of the race. At the front, Depailler took his first career victory with Lauda second, and Jody Scheckter third after Watson made another mistake in the final laps. Jean-Pierre Jabouille's 10th-place finish was Renault's first race finish.
Classification
Pre-qualifying classification Pos.DriverConstructorTime1Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:31,312Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford1:31,88 3Keke RosbergTheodore-Ford1:33,07 4Derek DalyHesketh-Ford1:33,55 5René ArnouxMartini-Ford1:33,72 6Héctor RebaqueLotus-Ford1:34,59 7Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford1:34,86 8Arturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford1:49,43 *Positions in red indicate entries that failed to pre-qualify.
Qualifying classification Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo1Carlos ReutemannFerrari1:28,3412John WatsonBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:28,8323Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:28,8434Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:29,1045Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford1:29,1456James HuntMcLaren-Ford1:29,2267Ronnie PetersonLotus-Ford1:29,2378Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:29,4089Jody ScheckterWolf-Ford1:29,50910Alan JonesWilliams-Ford1:29,511011Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford1:30,081112Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1:30,181213Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford1:30,551314Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:30,591415Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra1:30,601516Jacky IckxEnsign-Ford1:30,721617Hans-Joachim StuckShadow-Ford1:31,301718Rupert KeeganSurtees-Ford1:31,311819Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford1:31,311920Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:31,3620 21Jochen MassATS-Ford1:31,40 22Clay RegazzoniShadow-Ford1:31,61 23Jean-Pierre JarierATS-Ford1:32,11 24Vittorio BrambillaSurtees-Ford1:32,46 *Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.
Race classification Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 75 1:55:14.66 5 9 2 1 Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 75 + 22.45 3 6 3 20 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 75 + 32.29 9 4 4 2 John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 75 + 33.53 2 3 5 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 75 + 1:08.06 13 2 6 35 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 75 + 1:08.77 14 1 7 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 74 + 1 Lap 11 8 11 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 74 + 1 Lap 1 9 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 74 + 1 Lap 20 10 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 71 + 4 Laps 12 11 5 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 69 + 6 Laps 4 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 62 Accident 8 6 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 56 Gearbox 7 7 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 43 Handling 6 36 Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 38 Driver Unwell 19 27 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 29 Oil Leak 10 22 Jacky Ickx Ensign-Ford 27 Brakes 16 16 Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford 24 Accident 17 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 13 Gearbox 15 18 Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 8 Transmission 18 9 Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 17 Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 10 Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford 19 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 32 Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford 24 Derek Daly Hesketh-Ford 31 René Arnoux Martini-Ford 25 Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 30 Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 37 Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford
Notes
This was the 10th podium finish for Wolf.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 3 1 Patrick Depailler 23 1 2 Carlos Reutemann 18 1 3 Mario Andretti 18 1 4 Niki Lauda 16 1 5 Ronnie Peterson 14Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Ford 27 1 2 Tyrrell-Ford 24 1 3 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 20 2 4 Ferrari 18 5 Fittipaldi-Ford 6Source:
References