# 1978 French Grand Prix

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: ||||||||
*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: ||||||||