1978 South African Grand Prix

1978 South African Grand Prix
1978 South African Grand Prix
Race 3 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Race details
Date	4 March 1978
Official name	XXIV Citizen and Asseng Grand Prix of South Africa
Location	Kyalami ; Transvaal Province, South Africa
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.104 km (2.550 miles)
Distance	78 laps, 320.112 km (198.908 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Niki Lauda ;
Time	1:14.65
Fastest lap
Driver	Mario Andretti
Time	1:17.09 on lap 2
Podium
First	Ronnie Peterson ;
Second	Patrick Depailler ;
Third	John Watson ;
	Lap leaders ;

Last updated May 23, 2025

The 1978 South African Grand Prix (formally the XXIV Citizen and Asseng Grand Prix of South Africa) was a Formula One motor race held on 4 March 1978 at Kyalami. It was the third round of the 1978 Formula One season and the 300th World Championship Grand Prix held since the championship began in 1950. This was the debut race of the future world champion Keke Rosberg.

Summary

Ronnie Peterson, in the Lotus 78 with its Colin Chapman-inspired ground effect aerodynamics, battled Patrick Depailler in his Tyrrell on the last lap to take a dramatic victory. John Watson finished third for Brabham. Young Italian, Riccardo Patrese got his Arrows into the lead before retiring with a blown engine. Pole sitter and reigning world champion Niki Lauda, in his first season with Brabham, retired with engine failure and the Ferraris of Carlos Reutemann and Gilles Villeneuve exited on lap 55. James Hunt, who had qualified third on the grid in his McLaren M26, only lasted five laps when his engine failed, while his new teammate Patrick Tambay, who qualified fourth, crashed out mid race.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	1	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	1:14.65	—
2	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	1:14.90	+0.25
3	7	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	1:15.14	+0.49
4	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	1:15.30	+0.65
5	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	1:15.32	+0.67
6	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	1:15.36	+0.71
7	35	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	1:15.48	+0.83
8	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1:15.50	+0.85
9	11	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	1:15.52	+0.87
10	2	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	1:15.62	+0.97
11	6	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	1:15.94	+1.29
12	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	1:15.97	+1.32
13	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	1:16.38	+1.73
14	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	1:16.40	+1.75
15	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	1:16.47	+1.82
16	9	Jochen Mass	ATS-Ford	1:16.60	+1.95
17	10	Jean-Pierre Jarier	ATS-Ford	1:17.12	+2.47
18	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	1:17.16	+2.51
19	30	Brett Lunger	McLaren-Ford	1:17.30	+2.65
20	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford	1:17.32	+2.67
21	36	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows-Ford	1:17.49	+2.84
22	25	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus-Ford	1:17.50	+2.85
23	18	Rupert Keegan	Surtees-Ford	1:17.57	+2.92
24	32	Keke Rosberg	Theodore-Ford	1:17.62	+2.97
25	24	Eddie Cheever	Hesketh-Ford	1:17.83	+3.18
26	37	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	1:18.15	+3.50
27	31	René Arnoux	Martini-Ford	1:18.21	+3.56
28	17	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow-Ford	1:18.30	+3.65
29	22	Lamberto Leoni	Ensign-Ford	1:18.38	+3.73
30	16	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow-Ford	1:18.45	+3.80

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	G	78	1:42:15.767	12	9
2	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	G	78	+0.466	11	6
3	2	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	G	78	+4.442	10	4
4	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	G	78	+30.986	18	3
5	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	G	78	+1:09.218	13	2
6	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	G	77	+1 Lap	14	1
7	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	G	77	+1 Lap	2
8	10	Jean-Pierre Jarier	ATS-Ford	G	77	+1 Lap	17
9	36	Rolf Stommelen	Arrows-Ford	G	77	+1 Lap	22
10	25	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus-Ford	G	77	+1 Lap	21
11	30	Brett Lunger	McLaren-Ford	G	76	+2 Laps	20
12	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford	G	76	+2 Laps	19
Ret	35	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	G	63	Engine	7
Ret	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	G	59	Spun Off	5
Ret	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	G	56	Accident	4
Ret	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	M	55	Oil Leak	8
Ret	11	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	M	55	Spun Off	9
Ret	1	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	G	52	Engine	1
Ret	18	Rupert Keegan	Surtees-Ford	G	52	Engine	23
Ret	9	Jochen Mass	ATS-Ford	G	43	Engine	15
Ret	37	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	G	39	Suspension	26
Ret	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	M	38	Engine	6
Ret	32	Keke Rosberg	Theodore-Ford	G	15	Clutch	24
Ret	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	G	9	Transmission	16
Ret	24	Eddie Cheever	Hesketh-Ford	G	8	Oil Leak	25
Ret	7	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	G	5	Engine	3
DNQ	31	René Arnoux	Martini-Ford	G
DNQ	17	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow-Ford	G
DNQ	23	Lamberto Leoni	Ensign-Ford	G
DNQ	16	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow-Ford	G
Source:^[1]^[2]

Notes

This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Finnish driver and future World Champion Keke Rosberg and for French driver and future Grand Prix winner René Arnoux.
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for French constructor Martini (failed to qualify).

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Mario Andretti	12
2	Ronnie Peterson	11
3	Niki Lauda	10
4	Patrick Depailler	10
5	Carlos Reutemann	9
Source:^[3]

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Lotus-Ford	21
2	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	14
3	Tyrrell-Ford	11
4	Ferrari	9
5	Fittipaldi-Ford	6
Source:^[3]

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

References

↑ "1978 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
↑ "1978 South African Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 4 March 1978. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
1 2 "South Africa 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

Previous race: 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 1978 season	Next race: 1978 United States Grand Prix West
Previous race: 1977 South African Grand Prix	South African Grand Prix	Next race: 1979 South African Grand Prix

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "1978 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.

[2] "1978 South African Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 4 March 1978. Retrieved 5 November 2021.

[Championship-3] 1 2 "South Africa 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e « previous Formula One Grands Prix (1970–1979) next »
1970	RSA ESP MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA MEX
1971	RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA
1972	ARG RSA ESP MON BEL FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA
1973	ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE FRA GBR NED GER AUT ITA CAN USA
1974	ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA
1975	ARG BRA RSA ESP MON BEL SWE NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA USA
1976	BRA RSA USW ESP BEL MON SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN USA JPN
1977	ARG BRA RSA USW ESP MON BEL SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA USA CAN JPN
1978	ARG BRA RSA USW MON BEL ESP SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA USA CAN
1979	ARG BRA RSA USW ESP BEL MON FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN USA