1978 Monaco Grand Prix

43°44′4.74″N 7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E / 43.7346500; 7.421333

1978 Monaco Grand Prix
Race 5 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season
Race details
Date 7 May 1978
Location Circuit de Monaco
Course Street circuit
Course length 3.312 km (2.057 miles)
Distance 75 laps, 248.4 km (154.348 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:28.34
Fastest lap
Driver Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Time 1:28.65 on lap 72
Podium
First Tyrrell-Ford
Second Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Third Wolf-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1978 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 7 May 1978 at Monaco. It was the fifth race of the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1978 International Cup for F1 Constructors.

The 75-lap race was won by Frenchman Patrick Depailler, driving a Tyrrell-Ford. It was Depailler's first Formula One victory in his 69th Grand Prix.[1] Niki Lauda finished second in a Brabham-Alfa Romeo, with Jody Scheckter third in a Wolf-Ford.

Report edit

Carlos Reutemann started on pole with the Brabham duo of John Watson and Niki Lauda second and third. Watson had a good start and led into the first corner, whereas Reutemann collided with James Hunt and had to pit for repairs, which left Patrick Depailler and Lauda second and third. For the first half of the race, the top three remained the same until Watson had an off allowing Depailler and Lauda through, but the latter then suffered a puncture and had to pit for tyres before charging back up and retaking second from Watson towards the end of the race. At the front, Depailler took his first career victory with Lauda second, and Jody Scheckter third after Watson made another mistake in the final laps. Jean-Pierre Jabouille's 10th-place finish was Renault's first race finish.

Classification edit

Pre-qualifying classification edit

Pos. Driver Constructor Time
1 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:31,31
2 Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 1:31,88
3 Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford 1:33,07
4 Derek Daly Hesketh-Ford 1:33,55
5 René Arnoux Martini-Ford 1:33,72
6 Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 1:34,59
7 Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford 1:34,86
8 Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:49,43

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to pre-qualify.

Qualifying classification edit

Pos. Driver Constructor Time No
1 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 1:28,34 1
2 John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:28,83 2
3 Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:28,84 3
4 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:29,10 4
5 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 1:29,14 5
6 James Hunt McLaren-Ford 1:29,22 6
7 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:29,23 7
8 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:29,40 8
9 Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford 1:29,50 9
10 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:29,51 10
11 Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 1:30,08 11
12 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:30,18 12
13 Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:30,55 13
14 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:30,59 14
15 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:30,60 15
16 Jacky Ickx Ensign-Ford 1:30,72 16
17 Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford 1:31,30 17
18 Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford 1:31,31 18
19 Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford 1:31,31 19
20 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:31,36 20
21 Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 1:31,40 DNQ
22 Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford 1:31,61 DNQ
23 Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford 1:32,11 DNQ
24 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford 1:32,46 DNQ

*Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.

Race classification edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 4   Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford G 75 1:55:14.66 5 9
2 1   Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 75 + 22.45 3 6
3 20   Jody Scheckter Wolf-Ford G 75 + 32.29 9 4
4 2   John Watson Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 75 + 33.53 2 3
5 3   Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford G 75 + 1:08.06 13 2
6 35   Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford G 75 + 1:08.77 14 1
7 8   Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford G 74 + 1 Lap 11
8 11   Carlos Reutemann Ferrari M 74 + 1 Lap 1
9 14   Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 74 + 1 Lap 20
10 15   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault M 71 + 4 Laps 12
11 5   Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 69 + 6 Laps 4
Ret 12   Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 62 Accident 8
Ret 6   Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford G 56 Gearbox 7
Ret 7   James Hunt McLaren-Ford G 43 Handling 6
Ret 36   Rolf Stommelen Arrows-Ford G 38 Driver Unwell 19
Ret 27   Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 29 Oil Leak 10
Ret 22   Jacky Ickx Ensign-Ford G 27 Brakes 16
Ret 16   Hans-Joachim Stuck Shadow-Ford G 24 Accident 17
Ret 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra G 13 Gearbox 15
Ret 18   Rupert Keegan Surtees-Ford G 8 Transmission 18
DNQ 9   Jochen Mass ATS-Ford G
DNQ 17   Clay Regazzoni Shadow-Ford G
DNQ 10   Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS-Ford G
DNQ 19   Vittorio Brambilla Surtees-Ford G
DNPQ 32   Keke Rosberg Theodore-Ford G
DNPQ 24   Derek Daly Hesketh-Ford G
DNPQ 31   René Arnoux Martini-Ford G
DNPQ 25   Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford G
DNPQ 30   Brett Lunger McLaren-Ford G
DNPQ 37   Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford G
Source:[2][3]

Championship standings after the race edit

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

References edit

  1. ^ "Grand Prix Results: Monaco GP, 1978". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  2. ^ "1978 Monaco Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. ^ "1978 Monaco Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 7 May 1978. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Monaco 1978 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.


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1978 United States Grand Prix West
FIA Formula One World Championship
1978 season
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1978 Belgian Grand Prix
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1977 Monaco Grand Prix
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1979 Monaco Grand Prix