Brazilian Grand Prix 1978

Nelson Piquet
Rio de Janeiro
29 January 1978
63 laps
317 km
5.031 km a lap

Pole positionRonnie PetersonLotus · 1:40.450
Fastest lapCarlos Reutemann1:43.070 · lap 35
Winner started fromP4on the grid

Result

Pos	Driver	No.	Team · engine	Grid	Laps	Time / reason	Points
1	Carlos Reutemannfastest lap	11	Ferrari	4	63	1:49:59.860	9
2	Emerson Fittipaldi	14	Fittipaldi · Ford	7	63	+49.130	6
3	Niki Lauda	1	Brabham · Alfa Romeo	10	63	+57.020	4
4	Mario Andretti	5	Lotus · Ford	3	63	+1:33.120	3
5	Clay Regazzoni	17	Shadow · Ford	15	62	+1 lap	2
6	Didier Pironi	3	Tyrrell · Ford	19	62	+1 lap	1
7	Jochen Mass	9	ATS · Ford	20	62	+1 lap
8	John Watson	2	Brabham · Alfa Romeo	21	61	+2 laps
9	Jacques Laffite	26	Ligier · Matra	14	61	+2 laps
10	Riccardo Patrese	36	Arrows · Ford	18	59	+4 laps
11	Alan Jones	27	Williams · Ford	8	58	+5 laps
DNF	Héctor Rebaque	25	Lotus · Ford	22	40	Physical
DNF	Gilles Villeneuve	12	Ferrari	6	35	Spun off
DNF	Patrick Tambay	8	McLaren · Ford	5	34	Spun off
DNF	Hans-Joachim Stuck	16	Shadow · Ford	9	25	Fuel system
DNF	James Hunt	7	McLaren · Ford	2	25	Spun off
DNF	Jody Scheckter	20	Wolf · Ford	12	16	Accident
DNF	Ronnie Peterson	6	Lotus · Ford	1	15	Collision
DNF	Danny Ongais	22	Ensign · Ford	23	13	Brakes
DNF	Brett Lunger	30	McLaren · Ford	13	11	Overheating
DNF	Patrick Depailler	4	Tyrrell · Ford	11	8	Accident
DNF	Rupert Keegan	18	Surtees · Ford	24	5	Accident
DNS	Lamberto Leoni	23	Ensign · Ford	17
DNS	Jean-Pierre Jarier	10	ATS · Ford	16
DNQ	Arturo Merzario	37	Merzario · Ford	–
DNQ	Eddie Cheever	32	Theodore · Ford	–
DNQ	Vittorio Brambilla	19	Surtees · Ford	–
DNQ	Divina Galica	24	Hesketh · Ford	–

A number in the first column means classified. DNF, DNQ and DNS stand for retirement, did not qualify and did not start. ‘shared’ marks a car that two drivers shared between them – permitted in the 1950s, and both were classified.

Qualifying

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus	1:40.450
2	James Hunt	McLaren	1:40.530	+0.080
3	Mario Andretti	Lotus	1:40.620	+0.170
4	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	1:40.730	+0.280
5	Patrick Tambay	McLaren	1:40.940	+0.490
6	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1:40.970	+0.520
7	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi	1:41.500	+1.050
8	Alan Jones	Williams	1:41.870	+1.420
9	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow	1:42.070	+1.620
10	Niki Lauda	Brabham	1:42.080	+1.630
11	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell	1:42.100	+1.650
12	Jody Scheckter	Wolf	1:42.110	+1.660
13	Brett Lunger	McLaren	1:42.650	+2.200
14	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	1:42.710	+2.260
15	Clay Regazzoni	Shadow	1:42.800	+2.350
16	Jean-Pierre Jarier	ATS	1:42.910	+2.460
17	Lamberto Leoni	Ensign	1:43.190	+2.740
18	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows	1:43.190	+2.740
19	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell	1:43.550	+3.100
20	Jochen Mass	ATS	1:43.740	+3.290
21	John Watson	Brabham	1:43.750	+3.300
22	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus	1:43.860	+3.410
23	Danny Ongais	Ensign	1:43.940	+3.490
24	Rupert Keegan	Surtees	1:44.200	+3.750
25	Arturo Merzario	Merzario	1:44.200	+3.750
26	Eddie Cheever	Theodore	1:44.280	+3.830
27	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees	1:44.660	+4.210
28	Divina Galica	Hesketh	1:46.790	+6.340

Fastest laps

Each driver's quickest lap of the race.

Pos	Driver	Lap	Time	Gap
1	Carlos Reutemann	35	1:43.070

Championship after this race

The official standings after round 2. Arrows show the change against the round before.

The whole season

Drivers' championship after round 2
Pos	Driver	Points	Change
1	Mario Andretti	12
2	Niki Lauda	10
3	Carlos Reutemann	9
4	Emerson Fittipaldi	6
5	Patrick Depailler	4	▼2
6	James Hunt	3	▼2
7	Clay Regazzoni	2
7	Ronnie Peterson	2	▼2
9	Didier Pironi	1
9	Patrick Tambay	1	▼3

Constructors' championship after round 2
Pos	Team	Points	Change
1	Lotus	12
2	Brabham	10
3	Ferrari	9
4	Fittipaldi	6
5	Tyrrell	5	▼2
6	McLaren	3	▼2
7	Shadow	2