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. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3 Gap 1 2 John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:47.20 1:44.41 1:45.97 — 2 5 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:47.50 1:44.46 1:45.02 +0.05 3 1 Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:45.52 1:45.02 1:44.71 +0.30 4 7 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:46.20 1:45.32 1:44.92 +0.51 5 6 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:46.46 1:45.10 1:44.98 +0.57 6 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 1:47.06 1:45.07 1:46.15 +0.66 7 20 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:46.10 1:45.20 1:46.33 +0.79 8 11 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:46.50 1:45.35 1:45.82 +0.94 9 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:50.72 1:45.55 1:46.56 +1.14 10 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:47.44 1:45.68 1:45.86 +1.27 11 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:47.34 1:45.73 1:46.84 +1.32 12 35 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:48.30 1:46.39 1:46.32 +1.91 13 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:48.67 1:46.37 1:46.74 +1.96 14 27 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:47.89 1:46.55 1:46.40 +1.99 15 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:47.89 1:47.04 1:46.70 +2.29 16 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:49.36 1:48.10 1:47.12 +2.71 17 17 Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 1:50.44 1:48.73 1:48.55 +4.14 18 31 René Arnoux Martini-Ford 1:49.48 1:48.68 1:49.46 +4.27 19 19 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:50.39 1:49.23 1:50.07 +4.27 20 16 Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford 1:48.89 1:49.07 1:50.18 +4.48 21 36 Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 1:51.07 1:49.14 1:50.51 +4.73 22 33 Bruno Giacomelli McLaren-Ford 1:54.67 1:50.77 1:49.53 +5.12 23 18 Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 1:52.22 1:50.10 1:49.54 +5.13 24 30 Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:51.26 1:49.65 1:49.55 +5.14 25 9 Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 1:51.53 1:50.10 1:49.90 +5.49 26 10 Keke Rosberg ATS-Ford 1:57.92 1:51.01 1:50.09 +5.68 27 37 Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:50.11 1:50.47 1:50.80 +5.70 28 22 Derek Daly Ensign-Ford 1:54.28 1:50.19 1:50.61 +5.78 29 25 Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 1:54.03 1:51.54 1:50.40 +5.99Source: *Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 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 30 Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 45 Engine 24 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 43 Suspension 15 18 Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 40 Engine 23 33 Bruno Giacomelli McLaren-Ford 28 Engine 22 1 Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 10 Engine 3 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 10 Engine 13 17 Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 4 Electrical 17 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1 Engine 11 37 Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 22 Derek Daly Ensign-Ford 25 Héctor Rebaque Lotus-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 Pos Driver Points 1 Mario Andretti 45 2 Ronnie Peterson 36 3 Niki Lauda 25 4 Patrick Depailler 23 5 Carlos Reutemann 22Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Ford 58 2 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 34 3 Tyrrell-Ford 25 4 Ferrari 22 4 5 McLaren-Ford 11Source:
References