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
Location	Kyalami Gauteng, 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	Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Time	1:14.65
Fastest lap
Driver	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:17.09 on lap 2
Podium
First	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford
Second	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford
Third	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo

The 1978 South African Grand Prix 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.

Both the Ferrari (312T3) and Brabham (BT46) teams had new cars in Kyalami for the race. The event also saw the return of Renault with their unique turbocharged car.

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 whilst his new team mate Patrick Tambay, who qualified fourth, crashed out mid race.

Classification

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

Notes

• Lap Leaders: Mario Andretti 20 laps (1-20); Jody Scheckter 6 laps (21-26); Riccardo Patrese 37 laps (27-63); Patrick Depailler 14 laps (64-77); Ronnie Peterson 1 lap (78).
• Last Pole: Niki Lauda

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

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

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