F1 driver standings
| Pos | Driver | ARG  | BRA  | ZAF  | USW  | MCO  | BEL  | ESP  | SWE  | FRA  | GBR  | DEU  | AUT  | NLD  | ITA  | USA | CAN  | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Andretti | 1 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 1 | R | 1 | R | 1 | R | 1 | 6 | R | 10 | 64 |
| 2 | Ronnie Peterson | 5 | R | 1 | 4 | R | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | R | R | 1 | 2 | R | 51 | ||
| 3 | Carlos Reutemann | 7 | 1 | R | 1 | 8 | 3 | R | 10 | 18 | 1 | R | DSQ | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 48 |
| 4 | Niki Lauda | 2 | 3 | R | R | 2 | R | R | 1 | R | 2 | R | R | 3 | 1 | R | R | 44 |
| 5 | Patrick Depailler | 3 | R | 2 | 3 | 1 | R | R | R | R | 4 | R | 2 | R | 11 | R | 5 | 34 |
| 6 | John Watson | R | 8 | 3 | R | 4 | R | 5 | R | 4 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | R | R | 25 |
| 7 | Jody Scheckter | 10 | R | R | R | 3 | R | 4 | R | 6 | R | 2 | R | 12 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 24 |
| 8 | Jacques Laffite | 16R | 9 | 5 | 5 | R | 5R | 3 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 11 | R | 19 |
| 9 | Gilles Villeneuve | 8 | R | R | R | R | 4 | 10 | 9 | 12 | R | 8 | 3 | 6 | 7 | R | 1 | 17 |
| = | Emerson Fittipaldi | 9 | 2 | R | 8 | 9 | R | R | 6 | R | R | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5 | R | 17 |
| 11 |  Alan Jones | R | 11 | 4 | 7 | R | 10 | 8 | R | 5 | R | R | R | R | 13 | 2 | 9 | 11 |
| = | Riccardo Patrese | 10 | R | 6 | 6 | R | R | 2 | 8 | R | 9 | R | R | R | 4 | 11 | ||
| 13 | James Hunt | 4 | R | R | R | R | R | 6 | 8 | 3 | R | DSQ | R | 10 | R | 7 | R | 8 |
| = | Patrick Tambay | 6 | R | R | 12R | 7 | R | 4 | 9 | 6 | R | R | 9 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | |
| 15 | Didier Pironi | 14 | 6 | 6 | R | 5 | 6 | 12 | R | 10 | R | 5 | R | R | R | 10 | 7 | 7 |
| 16 |  Clay Regazzoni | 15 | 5 | DNQ | 10 | DNQ | R | 15R | 5 | R | R | DNQ | NC | DNQ | NC | 14 | DNQ | 4 |
| 17 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | R | R | 10 | NC | 13 | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | 4 | 12 | 3 | ||
| 18 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | 17 | R | DNQ | DNS | R | R | R | 11 | 11 | 5 | R | R | R | R | R | R | 2 |
| 19 |  Hector Rebaque | DNQ | R | 10 | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | R | 12 | DNQ | R | 6 | R | 11 | DNQ | R | DNQ | 1 |
| = | Vittorio Brambilla | 18 | DNQ | 12 | R | DNQ | 13R | 7 | R | 17 | 9 | R | 6 | DSQ | R | 1 | ||
| = |  Derek Daly | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNQ | DNQ | R | DSQ | R | 10 | 8 | 6 | 1 | ||||||
| Brett Lunger | 13 | R | 11 | DNQ | DNPQ | 7 | DNQ | DNQ | R | 8 | DNPQ | 8 | R | R | 13 | |||
| Bruno Giacomelli | 8 | R | 7 | R | 14 | |||||||||||||
| Jochen Mass | 11 | 7 | R | R | DNQ | 11 | 9 | 13 | 13 | NC | R | DNQ | DNQ | |||||
| Jean-Pierre Jarier | 12 | DNS | 8 | 11 | DNQ | DNQ | 15R | R | ||||||||||
| Rene Arnoux | DNQ | DNPQ | 9 | 14 | DNPQ | 9 | R | 9 | R | |||||||||
| Rolf Stommelen | 9 | 9 | R | R | 14 | 14 | 15 | DNQ | DSQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | 16 | DNQ | ||||
| Nelson Piquet | R | R | R | 9 | 11 | |||||||||||||
 Keke Rosberg | R | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNQ | DNPQ | 15 | 16 | R | 10 | NC | R | DNPQ | R | NC | ||||
| Rupert Keegan | R | R | R | DNS | R | DNQ | 11 | DNQ | R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNS | |||||
| Harald Ertl | 11R | R | DNPQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||
| Jacky Ickx | R | 12 | R | DNQ | ||||||||||||||
| Bobby Rahal | 12 | R | ||||||||||||||||
| Arturo Merzario | R | DNQ | R | R | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNQ | NC | DNQ | R | DNQ | DNQ | R | R | R | DNQ | ||
| Lamberto Leoni | R | DNS | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||
| Danny Ongais | R | R | DNPQ | DNPQ | ||||||||||||||
| Michael Bleekemolen | DNQ | DNQ | R | DNQ | ||||||||||||||
| Eddie Cheever | DNQ | DNQ | R | |||||||||||||||
| Alberto Colombo | DNQ | DNQ | DNPQ | |||||||||||||||
| Divina Galica | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
| Beppe Gabbiani | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
| Emilio de Villota | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||
| Geoff Lees | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||
| Tony Trimmer | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||
| Hans Binder | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||
| Gimax | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||
| Patrick Neve | WD | |||||||||||||||||
| Brian Henton | DNS | |||||||||||||||||
| No. | Driver | ARG | BRA | ZAF | USW | MCO | BEL | ESP | SWE | FRA | GBR | DEU | AUT | NLD | ITA | USA | CAN | Points |
Table key
- Highlight: Rookie
- Bold: pole position
- Underline: fastest lap
- Bold & underline: pole & fastest lap
- DNQ: Did not qualify
- DNPQ: Did not pre-qualify
- NC: Not classified
- DSQ: Disqualified
- DNS: Did not start
- WD: Withdrew
Points system and championship rules
The top six classified finishers of each race were awarded points on the following basis:
- 1st (9)
- 2nd (6)
- 3rd (4)
- 4th (3)
- 5th (2)
- 6th (1)
Only the best seven results from the first eight races and the best seven results from the last eight races counted towards the championship.
Race to the title
The Race to the title graph shows how the title race played out over the course of the season between the top five drivers of 1978.