1978 French Grand Prix
Race 9 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Race details
Date	2 July 1978
Official name	64e Grand Prix de France[1]
Location	Circuit Paul Ricard Le Castellet, Var, France
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.809 km (3.610 miles)
Distance	54 laps, 313.686 km (194.915 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Time	1:44.41
Fastest lap
Driver	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari
Time	1:48.56 on lap 48
Podium
First	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford
Second	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford
Third	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders

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	+5.99
Source:[2]

*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
Ret	30	Brett Lunger	McLaren-Ford	45	Engine	24
Ret	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	43	Suspension	15
Ret	18	Rupert Keegan	Surtees-Ford	40	Engine	23
Ret	33	Bruno Giacomelli	McLaren-Ford	28	Engine	22
Ret	1	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	10	Engine	3
Ret	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	10	Engine	13
Ret	17	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow-Ford	4	Electrical	17
Ret	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	1	Engine	11
DNQ	37	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford
DNQ	22	Derek Daly	Ensign-Ford
DNQ	25	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus-Ford
Source:[3]

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 22 Source: [4]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Ford 58 2 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 34 3 Tyrrell-Ford 25 4 Ferrari 22 5 McLaren-Ford 11 Source: [4]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.