Season 1978 · Round 3

South African Grand Prix

← R2 1978 Season R4 →
1978-03-04 · Kyalami · South Africa · South African Grand Prix · 78Lap · 320.112km
6 Ronnie Peterson
Team Lotus 1:42:15.767
Team win 9pt P1 · P7 · P10
4 Patrick Depailler
Tyrrell +0.466
2 John Watson
Brabham +4.442
Fastest Lap
—
DNF
14
Riccardo Patrese L63 Jody Scheckter L59 Patrick Tambay L56 Gilles Villeneuve L55 Carlos Reutemann L55 Niki Lauda L52 Rupert Keegan L52 Jochen Mass L43 Arturo Merzario L39 Jean-Pierre Jabouille L38 +4
Tyre usage Race Control
Storylines · This Grand Prix & circuit
Pole-to-win rate 4/20 20%
Most DNFs · all-time P5
Closest finish · all-time P42
Circuit Info
Kyalami Midrand, South Africa
78Lap 320.112km 20 races held (1967–)
Records Watch · Active drivers ranked at this Grand Prix
Wins
P1 Niki Lauda 3 wins · GP #1
P6 Mario Andretti 1 wins · → Alain Prost -1
P6 Ronnie Peterson 1 wins · → Alain Prost -1
Starts
P1 Niki Lauda 12 starts · GP #1
P2 Mario Andretti 10 starts · → Niki Lauda -2
P2 Emerson Fittipaldi 10 starts · → Niki Lauda -2
Grid → Finish · places gained and lost
GRID FINISH 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 L78 Peterson · P12 → P1 · +11 12 Peterson PET 1 Peterson PET Depailler · P11 → P2 · +9 11 Depailler DEP 2 Depailler DEP Watson · P10 → P3 · +7 10 Watson WAT 3 Watson WAT Jones · P18 → P4 · +14 18 Jones JON 4 Jones JON Laffite · P13 → P5 · +8 13 Laffite LAF 5 Laffite LAF Pironi · P14 → P6 · +8 14 Pironi PIR 6 Pironi PIR Andretti · P2 → P7 · -5 2 Andretti AND 7 Andretti AND Jarier · P17 → P8 · +9 17 Jarier JAR 8 Jarier JAR Stommelen · P22 → P9 · +13 22 Stommelen STO 9 Stommelen STO Rebaque · P21 → P10 · +11 21 Rebaque REB 10 Rebaque REB Lunger · P20 → P11 · +9 20 Lunger LUN 11 Lunger LUN Brambilla · P19 → P12 · +7 19 Brambilla BRA 12 Brambilla BRA Patrese · P7 → retired L63 Patrese · retired L63 7 Patrese PAT R Patrese PAT Scheckter · P5 → retired L59 Scheckter · retired L59 5 Scheckter SCH R Scheckter SCH Tambay · P4 → retired L56 Tambay · retired L56 4 Tambay TAM R Tambay TAM Villeneuve · P8 → retired L55 Villeneuve · retired L55 8 Villeneuve VIL R Villeneuve VIL Reutemann · P9 → retired L55 Reutemann · retired L55 9 Reutemann REU R Reutemann REU Lauda · P1 → retired L52 Lauda · retired L52 1 Lauda LAU R Lauda LAU Keegan · P23 → retired L52 Keegan · retired L52 23 Keegan KEE R Keegan KEE Mass · P15 → retired L43 Mass · retired L43 15 Mass MAS R Mass MAS Merzario · P26 → retired L39 Merzario · retired L39 26 Merzario MER R Merzario MER Jabouille · P6 → retired L38 Jabouille · retired L38 6 Jabouille JAB R Jabouille JAB Rosberg · P24 → retired L15 Rosberg · retired L15 24 Rosberg ROS R Rosberg ROS Fittipaldi · P16 → retired L9 Fittipaldi · retired L9 16 Fittipaldi FIT R Fittipaldi FIT Cheever · P25 → retired L8 Cheever · retired L8 25 Cheever CHE R Cheever CHE Hunt · P3 → retired L5 Hunt · retired L5 3 Hunt HUN R Hunt HUN
retired horizontal axis = laps completed · line thickness = places gained or lost
PosDriverTeamGridLapTime / StatusPoints
1 6 Ronnie Peterson Team Lotus 12 78 1:42:15.767 9
2 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell 11 78 +0.466 6
3 2 John Watson Brabham 10 78 +4.442 4
4 27 Alan Jones Williams 18 78 +30.986 3
5 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier 13 78 +1:09.218 2
6 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell 14 77 +1 Lap 1
7 5 Mario Andretti Team Lotus 2 77 +1 Lap
8 55 Jean-Pierre Jarier ATS 17 77 +1 Lap
9 36 Rolf Stommelen Arrows 22 77 +1 Lap
10 25 Hector Rebaque Team Lotus 21 77 +1 Lap
11 23 Brett Lunger McLaren 20 76 +2 Laps
12 19 Vittorio Brambilla Surtees 19 76 +2 Laps
R 35 Riccardo Patrese Arrows 7 63 Engine
R 20 Jody Scheckter Wolf 5 59 Spun off
R 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren 4 56 Accident
R 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 8 55 Oil leak
R 11 Carlos Reutemann Ferrari 9 55 Spun off
R 1 Niki Lauda Brabham 1 52 Engine
R 18 Rupert Keegan Surtees 23 52 Engine
R 9 Jochen Mass ATS 15 43 Engine
R 37 Arturo Merzario Merzario 26 39 Suspension
R 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 6 38 Engine
R 10 Keke Rosberg Theodore 24 15 Clutch
R 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi 16 9 Transmission
R 24 Eddie Cheever Hesketh 25 8 Oil leak
R 7 James Hunt McLaren 3 5 Engine
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2003 onwards.
Starting grid
Official
1
1 Niki Lauda
2
5 Mario Andretti
3
7 James Hunt
4
8 Patrick Tambay
5
20 Jody Scheckter
6
15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille
7
35 Riccardo Patrese
8
12 Gilles Villeneuve
9
11 Carlos Reutemann
10
2 John Watson
11
4 Patrick Depailler
12
6 Ronnie Peterson
13
26 Jacques Laffite
14
3 Didier Pironi
15
9 Jochen Mass
16
14 Emerson Fittipaldi
17
55 Jean-Pierre Jarier
18
27 Alan Jones
19
19 Vittorio Brambilla
20
23 Brett Lunger
21
25 Hector Rebaque
22
36 Rolf Stommelen
23
18 Rupert Keegan
24
10 Keke Rosberg
25
24 Eddie Cheever
26
37 Arturo Merzario
Final grid as classified, including any pit lane starts. Source: Jolpica-F1. The arrow compares the grid slot with the qualifying classification; hover a drop to see the stewards document behind it.
No data for this session.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 1996 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2012 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2023 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 1996 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2023 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2019 onwards.
Record Basis · Calculation basis
Race order is the final classification(post-race penalties applied) · qualifying session data 2003+ · lap times 1996+ · pit stops 2012+ (pit-lane transit, not stationary time) · DNF = Finished(Finished·+N Laps) non-Finished statuses
Data sources: Jolpica-F1 (Ergast compatible API) · weather·Race Control OpenF1 (2023+) · Last fetched: 2026-10-21 14:15