1978 South African Grand Prix

February 2021 May 2012 F1 South Africa 1928 South African Kyalami 1961 - 1988 Layout.png XXIV Citizen and Asseng Grand Prix of South Africa 4 March 1978 3 16 KyalamiTransvaal Province, South Africa Permanent racing facility 2.550 4.104 78 198.908 320.112 Dry Niki Lauda Austria Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:14.65 Mario Andretti USA Lotus-Ford 1:17.09 2 Ronnie Peterson Sweden Lotus-Ford Patrick Depailler France Tyrrell-Ford John Watson UK Brabham-Alfa Romeo RSA 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. The Ferrari (312T3) and Brabham (BT46) teams had new cars in Kyalami for the race. The event also saw the return of Renault with its unique turbocharged car. 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 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:14.65 — 2 5 US Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:14.90 +0.25 3 7 UK James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:15.14 +0.49 4 8 France Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 1:15.30 +0.65 5 20 South Africa 1928 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:15.32 +0.67 6 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:15.36 +0.71 7 35 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:15.48 +0.83 8 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:15.50 +0.85 9 11 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:15.52 +0.87 10 2 UK John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:15.62 +0.97 11 6 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:15.94 +1.29 12 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:15.97 +1.32 13 3 France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:16.38 +1.73 14 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:16.40 +1.75 15 14 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:16.47 +1.82 16 9 FRG Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 1:16.60 +1.95 17 10 France Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford 1:17.12 +2.47 18 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:17.16 +2.51 19 30 US Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:17.30 +2.65 20 19 Italy Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:17.32 +2.67 21 36 West Germany Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 1:17.49 +2.84 22 25 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 1:17.50 +2.85 23 18 UK Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 1:17.57 +2.92 24 32 Finland Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford 1:17.62 +2.97 25 24 US Eddie Cheever Hesketh-Ford 1:17.83 +3.18 26 37 Italy Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:18.15 +3.50 27 31 France René Arnoux Martini-Ford 1:18.21 +3.56 28 17 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 1:18.30 +3.65 29 22 Italy Lamberto Leoni Ensign-Ford 1:18.38 +3.73 30 16 FRG 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 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford Goodyear 78 1:42:15.767 12 9 2 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 78 +0.466 11 6 3 2 UK John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo Goodyear 78 +4.442 10 4 4 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford Goodyear 78 +30.986 18 3 5 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra Goodyear 78 +1:09.218 13 2 6 3 France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 77 +1 Lap 14 1 7 5 US Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford Goodyear 77 +1 Lap 2 8 10 France Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford Goodyear 77 +1 Lap 17 9 36 FRG Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford Goodyear 77 +1 Lap 22 10 25 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford Goodyear 77 +1 Lap 21 11 30 US Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford Goodyear 76 +2 Laps 20 12 19 Italy Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford Goodyear 76 +2 Laps 19 Ret Retired 35 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford Goodyear 63 Engine 7 Ret Retired 20 South Africa 1928 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford Goodyear 59 Spun Off 5 Ret Retired 8 France Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford Goodyear 56 Accident 4 Ret Retired 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari Michelin 55 Oil Leak 8 Ret Retired 11 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Ferrari Michelin 55 Spun Off 9 Ret Retired 1 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo Goodyear 52 Engine 1 Ret Retired 18 UK Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford Goodyear 52 Engine 23 Ret Retired 9 FRG Jochen Mass ATS-Ford Goodyear 43 Engine 15 Ret Retired 37 Italy Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford Goodyear 39 Suspension 26 Ret Retired 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault Michelin 38 Engine 6 Ret Retired 32 Finland Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford Goodyear 15 Clutch 24 Ret Retired 14 Brazil 1968 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford Goodyear 9 Transmission 16 Ret Retired 24 US Eddie Cheever Hesketh-Ford Goodyear 8 Oil Leak 25 Ret Retired 7 UK James Hunt McLaren-Ford Goodyear 5 Engine 3 DNQ Did not qualify 31 France René Arnoux Martini-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 17 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 23 Italy Lamberto Leoni Ensign-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 16 FRG Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford Goodyear Source:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1978/411/ 1978 South African Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20140903035136/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1978/411/ 3 September 2014https://gparchive.com/formula-1/1978-south-african-grand-prix/ 1978 South African Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive GPArchive.com 4 March 1978 5 November 2021 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 10px 1 USA Mario Andretti 12 10px 5 2 SWE Ronnie Peterson 11 10px 1 3 AUT Niki Lauda 10 10px 1 4 FRA Patrick Depailler 10 10px 2 5 ARG Carlos Reutemann 9Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1978/afrique-du-sud/championnat.aspx South Africa 1978 - Championship • STATS F1 statsf1.com 20 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 10px 1 UK Lotus-Ford 21 10px 2 UK Brabham-Alfa Romeo 14 10px 2 3 UK Tyrrell-Ford 11 10px 1 4 ITA Ferrari 9 10px 1 5 BRA 1968 Fittipaldi-Ford 6Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References 30em South African Grand Prix 1978 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix 1978 United States Grand Prix West 1977 South African Grand Prix 1979 South African Grand Prix Category:South African Grand Prix South African Grand Prix Grand Prix South African Grand Prix