Season 1978 · Round 3

South African Grand Prix

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1978-03-04 · Kyalami · South Africa · South African Grand Prix
Winner
6 Ronnie Peterson
1:42:15.767
Pole Position
1 Niki Lauda
Grid P1
Fastest Lap
—
DNF
14
DNFs · starters 26 cars
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
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: 2026-07-21 14:15