1978 French Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Mario Andretti restored Lotus to winning form at the 1978 French Grand Prix, leading Ronnie Peterson home at Paul Ricard. John Watson had put Brabham on pole, but Lotus prevailed in the race and James Hunt claimed what would become his final Formula 1 podium.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	John Watson	Brabham
Pole time	1:44.41
Fastest lap	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari
Fastest-lap time	1:48.560 on lap 48
First	Mario Andretti	Lotus
Second	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus
Third	James Hunt	McLaren

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
30 June 1978	Friday morning timed practice	10:00–11:30
30 June 1978	Friday afternoon timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
1 July 1978	Saturday untimed practice	90 minutes; start unconfirmed
1 July 1978	Saturday final qualifying	13:30–14:30 scheduled after delay; rain interrupted
2 July 1978	Warm-up	30 minutes; before lunch
2 July 1978	Race	Start time unconfirmed

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Mario Andretti arrived at round 9 leading the 1978 F1 World Championship on 36 points, with Ronnie Peterson on 30. Lotus – Ford headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 49 points.

Race entries

Brabham returned to the conventional BT46 after withdrawing the fan-assisted version that had won in Sweden. Derek Daly replaced Jacky Ickx at Ensign, Keke Rosberg remained with ATS and Bruno Giacomelli drove a third McLaren. All 29 drivers could join official practice without pre-qualifying, though only 26 would start.

Friday morning timed practice

Niki Lauda set the early pace before intermittent rain disrupted the session. Drivers resumed when the rain failed to develop, but damp patches remained hazardous. Andretti struck one, spun and bounced over a kerb, damaging the nose and front of his Lotus’s monocoque. His mechanics repaired and realigned the car during the break rather than immediately reverting to the older 78.

Friday afternoon timed practice

John Watson set the fastest lap, narrowly ahead of Andretti in the repaired Lotus. Brabham’s speed showed that the conventional car remained competitive on Paul Ricard’s long straight. Andretti chose to continue with the 79 despite the damage, while Lauda, Tambay and Peterson followed the leading pair. Numerous spins caused less damage than they might have on a tighter circuit.

Saturday untimed practice

Cool, unsettled weather continued through the untimed morning. Teams worked towards race settings with rain threatening, rather than enjoying an uninterrupted dry rehearsal. Andretti remained committed to the repaired Lotus 79, preserving the car’s performance advantage while the team checked its compromised front-end settings before the final timed session.

Saturday final qualifying

Barrier damage during support-race running delayed qualifying by half an hour. Lauda was fastest once running began, while Hunt and Peterson improved into the leading group. Soft qualifying tyres offered considerable grip but wore rapidly, and the timing of a clear lap became increasingly important.

Rain arrived with around 15 minutes remaining, ending meaningful improvements just as several contenders were preparing their final attempts. Watson retained pole from Friday, ahead of Andretti and Lauda. Merzario, Daly and Rebaque failed to qualify; Rosberg made the field by a very narrow margin after switching ATS chassis.

Qualifying Classification

Each driver’s best eligible practice lap determined the qualifying order.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	First timed session	Second timed session	Best Time
1	2	John Watson	Brabham	1:47.20	1:44.41	1:44.41
2	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus	1:47.50	1:44.46	1:44.46
3	1	Niki Lauda	Brabham	1:45.52	1:45.02	1:45.02
4	7	James Hunt	McLaren	1:46.20	1:45.32	1:45.32
5	6	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus	1:46.46	1:45.10	1:45.10
6	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren	1:47.06	1:45.07	1:45.07
7	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf	1:46.10	1:45.20	1:45.20
8	11	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	1:46.50	1:45.35	1:45.35
9	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1:50.72	1:45.55	1:45.55
10	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	1:47.44	1:45.68	1:45.68
11	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	1:47.34	1:45.73	1:45.73
12	35	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows	1:48.30	1:46.39	1:46.39
13	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell	1:48.67	1:46.37	1:46.37
14	27	Alan Jones	Williams	1:47.89	1:46.55	1:46.55
15	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi	1:47.89	1:47.04	1:47.04
16	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell	1:49.36	1:48.10	1:48.10
17	17	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow	1:50.44	1:48.73	1:48.73
18	31	René Arnoux	Martini	1:49.48	1:48.68	1:48.68
19	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees	1:50.39	1:49.23	1:49.23
20	16	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow	1:48.89	1:49.07	1:48.89
21	36	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows	1:51.07	1:49.14	1:49.14
22	33	Bruno Giacomelli	McLaren	1:54.67	1:50.77	1:50.77
23	18	Rupert Keegan	Surtees	1:52.22	1:50.10	1:50.10
24	30	Brett Lunger	McLaren	1:51.26	1:49.65	1:49.65
25	9	Jochen Mass	ATS	1:51.53	1:50.10	1:50.10
26	10	Keke Rosberg	ATS	1:57.92	1:51.01	1:51.01
27	37	Arturo Merzario	Merzario	1:50.11	1:50.47	1:50.11
28	22	Derek Daly	Ensign	1:54.28	1:50.19	1:50.19
29	25	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus	1:54.03	1:51.54	1:51.54

Sunday warm-up

Sunday’s final running brought a busy repair session. Fittipaldi’s replacement engine would not run properly, prompting another change. Villeneuve preferred the spare Ferrari, Jones changed Williams cars after a gearbox failure and Shadow chased a misfire in Regazzoni’s engine. McLaren also resolved gearbox trouble on Tambay’s car before the start.

What happened in the 1978 French Grand Prix?

Watson led away, with Andretti following and Patrick Tambay moving into third. Andretti passed the Brabham during the opening lap and began establishing control. Lauda and Peterson worked forward past Watson and Tambay, but Lauda’s challenge ended with another engine failure.

The retirement left Andretti and Peterson running first and second. James Hunt passed Watson to secure third, giving McLaren a strong result after a difficult run of weekends. The Lotus pair remained beyond reach as the race developed.

Andretti completed his fourth win of the year and third in four races, with Peterson second and Hunt third. Watson finished fourth, ahead of Alan Jones and Jody Scheckter. Lotus strengthened its championship position, while Hunt’s podium would prove the last of his Grand Prix career.

After the race, Mario Andretti headed the drivers’ standings with 45 points, followed by Ronnie Peterson on 36. Lotus – Ford led the constructors’ table on 58, with Brabham – Alfa Romeo on 34.

1978 French Grand Prix race results

The 1978 French Grand Prix was held on 2 July 1978.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus	54	1:38:51.92	9
2	6	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus	54	+ 2.93	6
3	7	James Hunt	McLaren	54	+ 19.80	4
4	2	John Watson	Brabham	54	+ 36.88	3
5	27	Alan Jones	Williams	54	+ 41.81	2
6	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf	54	+ 54.53	1
7	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	54	+ 54.74	0
8	35	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows	54	+ 1:24.88	0
9	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren	54	+ 1:27.06	0
10	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell	54	+ 1:29.98	0
11	16	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow	53	+ 1 Lap	0
12	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	53	+ 1 Lap	0
13	9	Jochen Mass	ATS	53	+ 1 Lap	0
14	31	René Arnoux	Martini	53	+ 1 Lap	0
15	36	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows	53	+ 1 Lap	0
16	10	Keke Rosberg	ATS	52	+ 2 Laps	0
17	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees	52	+ 2 Laps	0
18	11	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	49	+ 5 Laps	0
Ret	30	Brett Lunger	McLaren	45	Engine	0
Ret	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi	43	Suspension	0
Ret	18	Rupert Keegan	Surtees	40	Engine	0
Ret	33	Bruno Giacomelli	McLaren	28	Engine	0
Ret	1	Niki Lauda	Brabham	10	Engine	0
Ret	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell	10	Engine	0
Ret	17	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow	4	Electrical	0
Ret	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	1	Engine	0
DNQ	37	Arturo Merzario	Merzario			0
DNQ	22	Derek Daly	Ensign			0
DNQ	25	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus			0

1978 French Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	11	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	48	1:48.560

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

1978 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1978 French Grand Prix.

1978 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Mario Andretti	American	Lotus	45
2	Ronnie Peterson	Swedish	Lotus	36
3	Niki Lauda	Austrian	Brabham	25
4	Patrick Depailler	French	Tyrrell	23
5	Carlos Reutemann	Argentine	Ferrari	22
6	John Watson	British	Brabham	12
7	Jacques Laffite	French	Ligier	10
8	Riccardo Patrese	Italian	Arrows	8
9	James Hunt	British	McLaren	8
10	Jody Scheckter	South African	Wolf	8
11	Emerson Fittipaldi	Brazilian	Fittipaldi	7
12	Alan Jones	Australian	Williams	5
13	Didier Pironi	French	Tyrrell	5
14	Patrick Tambay	French	McLaren	4
15	Clay Regazzoni	Swiss	Shadow	4
16	Gilles Villeneuve	Canadian	Ferrari	3
–	Jochen Mass	German	ATS	0
–	Brett Lunger	American	McLaren	0
–	Vittorio Brambilla	Italian	Surtees	0
–	Jean-Pierre Jarier	French	ATS	0
–	Bruno Giacomelli	Italian	McLaren	0
–	Rolf Stommelen	German	Arrows	0
–	René Arnoux	French	Martini	0
–	Hector Rebaque	Mexican	Lotus	0
–	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	French	Renault	0
–	Hans-Joachim Stuck	German	Shadow	0
–	Rupert Keegan	British	Surtees	0
–	Jacky Ickx	Belgian	Ensign	0
–	Keke Rosberg	Finnish	Theodore / ATS	0
–	Arturo Merzario	Italian	Merzario	0
–	Danny Ongais	American	Ensign / Shadow	0
–	Lamberto Leoni	Italian	Ensign	0
–	Eddie Cheever	American	Theodore / Hesketh	0

1978 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Lotus – Ford	58
2	Brabham – Alfa Romeo	34
3	Tyrrell – Ford	25
4	Ferrari	22
5	McLaren – Ford	11
6	Ligier – Matra	10
7	Arrows – Ford	8
8	Wolf – Ford	8
9	Fittipaldi – Ford	7
10	Williams – Ford	5
11	Shadow – Ford	4
—	ATS – Ford	0
—	Surtees – Ford	0
—	Martini – Ford	0
—	Renault	0
—	Ensign – Ford	0
—	Merzario – Ford	0
—	Theodore – Ford	0
—	Hesketh – Ford	0
—	March – Ford	0

Drivers counted their best 7 results from rounds 1–8 and their best 7 from rounds 9–16. Only the highest-placed car for each constructor could score constructor points, with the same dropped-results limits applying.

1978 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1978 Argentine Grand Prix	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires	15 January
2	1978 Brazilian Grand Prix	Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro	29 January
3	1978 South African Grand Prix	Kyalami, Midrand	4 March
4	1978 United States West Grand Prix	Long Beach Street Circuit, Long Beach, California	2 April
5	1978 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	7 May
6	1978 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder	21 May
7	1978 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuito del Jarama, San Sebastián de los Reyes	4 June
8	1978 Swedish Grand Prix	Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp	17 June
9	1978 French Grand Prix	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet	2 July
10	1978 British Grand Prix	Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown	16 July
11	1978 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	30 July
12	1978 Austrian Grand Prix	Österreichring, Spielberg	13 August
13	1978 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	27 August
14	1978 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	10 September
15	1978 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	1 October
16	1978 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Île Notre-Dame, Montréal	8 October