GP Racing Stats

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Home / Seasons / 1978 F1 World Championship Season / 1978 French Grand Prix

1978 French Grand Prix

Date
Winner
Pole position
Fastest lap
CircuitLe Castellet, 54 laps
Round9 of 16
Race numbers

The 1978 French Grand Prix was the:

  • 306th World Championship race
  • 28th World Championship French Grand Prix
  • 5th World Championship race at Le Castellet
More 1978 season
More French Grands Prix

Race result

PosDriverConstructorLapsTimePoints
1+1(USA) Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford Cosworth541hr 38m 51.920s9
2+3(SWE) Ronnie PetersonLotus-Ford Cosworth54+2.930s6
3+1(GBR) James HuntMcLaren-Ford Cosworth54+19.800s4
4-3(GBR) John WatsonBrabham-Alfa Romeo54+36.880s3
5+9(AUS) Alan JonesWilliams-Ford Cosworth54+41.810s2
6+1(ZAF) Jody ScheckterWolf-Ford Cosworth54+54.530s1
7+3(FRA) Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra54+54.740s 
8+4(ITA) Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford Cosworth54+1m 24.880s 
9-3(FRA) Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford Cosworth54+1m 27.060s 
10+6(FRA) Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford Cosworth54+1m 29.980s 
11+9(DEU) Hans-Joachim StuckShadow-Ford Cosworth53+1 lap 
12-3(CAN) Gilles VilleneuveFerrari53+1 lap 
13+12(DEU) Jochen MassATS-Ford Cosworth53+1 lap 
14+4(FRA) Rene ArnouxMartini-Ford Cosworth53+1 lap 
15+6(DEU) Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford Cosworth53+1 lap 
16+10(FIN) Keke RosbergATS-Ford Cosworth52+2 laps 
17+2(ITA) Vittorio BrambillaSurtees-Ford Cosworth52+2 laps 
18-10(ARG) Carlos ReutemannFerrari49+5 laps 
R (USA) Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford Cosworth (privateer)45DNF 
R (BRA) Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford Cosworth43DNF 
R (GBR) Rupert KeeganSurtees-Ford Cosworth40DNF 
R (ITA) Bruno GiacomelliMcLaren-Ford Cosworth28DNF 
R (FRA) Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford Cosworth10DNF 
R (AUT) Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo10DNF 
R (CHE) Clay RegazzoniShadow-Ford Cosworth4DNF 
R (FRA) Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1DNF 

Starting grid

Pole time: 1:44.410

PosDriverConstructor
1(GBR) John WatsonBrabham-Alfa Romeo
2(USA) Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford Cosworth
3(AUT) Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo
4(GBR) James HuntMcLaren-Ford Cosworth
5(SWE) Ronnie PetersonLotus-Ford Cosworth
6(FRA) Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford Cosworth
7(ZAF) Jody ScheckterWolf-Ford Cosworth
8(ARG) Carlos ReutemannFerrari
9(CAN) Gilles VilleneuveFerrari
10(FRA) Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra
11(FRA) Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault
12(ITA) Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford Cosworth
13(FRA) Patrick DepaillerTyrrell-Ford Cosworth
14(AUS) Alan JonesWilliams-Ford Cosworth
15(BRA) Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford Cosworth
16(FRA) Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford Cosworth
17(CHE) Clay RegazzoniShadow-Ford Cosworth
18(FRA) Rene ArnouxMartini-Ford Cosworth
19(ITA) Vittorio BrambillaSurtees-Ford Cosworth
20(DEU) Hans-Joachim StuckShadow-Ford Cosworth
21(DEU) Rolf StommelenArrows-Ford Cosworth
22(ITA) Bruno GiacomelliMcLaren-Ford Cosworth
23(GBR) Rupert KeeganSurtees-Ford Cosworth
24(USA) Brett LungerMcLaren-Ford Cosworth (privateer)
25(DEU) Jochen MassATS-Ford Cosworth
26(FIN) Keke RosbergATS-Ford Cosworth

Non-qualifiers

DriverConstructor
(ITA) Arturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford Cosworth
(IRL) Derek DalyEnsign-Ford Cosworth
(MEX) Hector RebaqueLotus-Ford Cosworth (privateer)

Championship standings

How the championship standings stood post-race.

Driver

PosDriverPoints
1(USA) Mario Andretti45
2(SWE) Ronnie Peterson36
3(AUT) Niki Lauda25
4(FRA) Patrick Depailler23
5(ARG) Carlos Reutemann22
6(GBR) John Watson12
7(FRA) Jacques Laffite10
8(ITA) Riccardo Patrese8
9(ZAF) Jody Scheckter8
=(GBR) James Hunt8
11(BRA) Emerson Fittipaldi7
12(AUS) Alan Jones5
13(FRA) Didier Pironi5
14(FRA) Patrick Tambay4
15(CHE) Clay Regazzoni4
16(CAN) Gilles Villeneuve3

Constructor

PosConstructorPoints
1Lotus-Ford Cosworth58
2Brabham-Alfa Romeo34
3Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth25
4Ferrari22
5McLaren-Ford Cosworth11
6Ligier-Matra10
7Arrows-Ford Cosworth8
8Wolf-Ford Cosworth8
9Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth7
10Williams-Ford Cosworth5
11Shadow-Ford Cosworth4

Stats & milestones

Wins
10th for Mario Andretti (11th driver to win ten races, 1st American driver)
68th for Lotus
Race 1-2
7th for Lotus
Podiums
24th for Ronnie Peterson
23rd and last for James Hunt
15th for Mario Andretti
123rd & 124th for Lotus
74th for McLaren
Poles
2nd and last for John Watson (last British polesitter until 1984)
20th for Brabham (3rd constructor to take 20 pole positions)
Fastest laps
3rd for Carlos Reutemann (last until 1980; last for Ferrari)
83rd for Ferrari
Front row starts
17th for Mario Andretti
10th for John Watson (27th driver to achieve ten front row starts, 9th British driver; last until 1981; last for Brabham)
Points finishes
35th and last for James Hunt