1978 United States Grand Prix West

Date	Sunday, 2 April 1978
Winner	Carlos Reutemann Ferrari
Pole position	Carlos Reutemann Ferrari
Fastest lap	Alan Jones Williams-Ford Cosworth
Circuit	Long Beach, 80 laps
Round	4 of 16
Race numbers	The 1978 United States Grand Prix West was the: 301st World Championship race 3rd World Championship United States Grand Prix West 3rd World Championship race at Long Beach
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Race result

Pos		Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time	Points
1		(ARG) Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	80	1hr 52m 01.301s	9
2	+2	(USA) Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford Cosworth	80	+11.061s	6
3	+9	(FRA) Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth	80	+28.951s	4
4	+2	(SWE) Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford Cosworth	80	+45.603s	3
5	+9	(FRA) Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	80	+1m 22.884s	2
6	+3	(ITA) Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford Cosworth	79	+1 lap	1
7	+1	(AUS) Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth	79	+1 lap
8	+7	(BRA) Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth	79	+1 lap
9	+9	(DEU) Rolf Stommelen	Arrows-Ford Cosworth	79	+1 lap
10	+10	(CHE) Clay Regazzoni	Shadow-Ford Cosworth	79	+1 lap
11	+8	(FRA) Jean-Pierre Jarier	ATS-Ford Cosworth	75	+5 laps
12	-1	(FRA) Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford Cosworth	74	DNF
R		(ZAF) Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford Cosworth	59	DNF
R		(ITA) Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford Cosworth	50	DNF
R		(FRA) Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	43	DNF
R		(CAN) Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	38	DNF
R		(AUT) Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	27	DNF
R		(FRA) Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth	25	DNF
R		(ITA) Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford Cosworth	17	DNF
R		(DEU) Jochen Mass	ATS-Ford Cosworth	11	DNF
R		(GBR) John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	9	DNF
R		(GBR) James Hunt	McLaren-Ford Cosworth	5	DNF
Did not start
		(GBR) Rupert Keegan	Surtees-Ford Cosworth
		(DEU) Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow-Ford Cosworth

Notes

Patrick Tambay ended lap 74 in P4 before retiring on the following lap.
Gilles Villeneuve ended lap 38 as the race leader before retiring on the following lap.

Pole time: 1:20.636

Driver	Constructor	Reason
(USA) Brett Lunger	McLaren-Ford Cosworth (privateer)	Did not qualify
(ITA) Lamberto Leoni	Ensign-Ford Cosworth	Did not qualify
(FIN) Keke Rosberg	Theodore-Ford Cosworth	Did not pre-qualify
(MEX) Hector Rebaque	Lotus-Ford Cosworth (privateer)	Did not pre-qualify
(USA) Danny Ongais	Shadow-Ford Cosworth (privateer)	Did not pre-qualify
(IRL) Derek Daly	Hesketh-Ford Cosworth	Did not pre-qualify

How the championship standings stood post-race.

Milestone race start: 50th for Arturo Merzario (41st driver to start 50 races, 2nd Italian driver)
Wins: 7th for Carlos Reutemann; 70th for Ferrari (1st constructor to win 70 races)
Podiums: 20th for Carlos Reutemann (17th driver to score 20 podiums, 2nd Argentine driver); 15th for Patrick Depailler; 12th for Mario Andretti; 237th for Ferrari; 117th for Lotus; 63rd for Tyrrell
Poles: 3rd for Carlos Reutemann (first since 1974; first for Ferrari); 86th for Ferrari
1-2 start: 33rd for Ferrari
Fastest laps: 1st for Alan Jones (67th different fastest lap setter, 2nd Australian driver; first Australian driver to set a fastest lap since 1970); 1st for Williams (28th different fastest lap setter)
Front row starts: 11th for Carlos Reutemann; 1st for Gilles Villeneuve (93rd different front row starter, 1st Canadian driver)
Pole & win: 2nd for Carlos Reutemann (first since 1974 and last until 1981; first Argentine driver to win from pole since 1974 and last until 1981; only win from pole for Ferrari)