1978 French Grand Prix
Going Into This Race
Pre-Race Report
Championship standings
Andretti leads the championship. Lauda recovered points in Sweden but trails significantly. Peterson remains second in the standings.
Previous race
Lauda won the Swedish Grand Prix in the Brabham BT46B “fan car”, winning by over 34 seconds from Patrese and Peterson. Andretti made an error while battling Lauda for the lead and later retired with a broken valve. The margin of victory and the ease with which the fan car handled oil dropped on the circuit underlined how dominant the concept was.
Between-race developments
Brabham have voluntarily withdrawn the BT46B fan car from competition after pressure from rival constructors. The team reverts to the conventional BT46 for Paul Ricard. Several teams had protested the car’s legality, and rather than risk a formal ban, Brabham agreed not to race it again.
Track changes
The French Grand Prix returns to Circuit Paul Ricard, continuing an alternating arrangement with Dijon-Prenois. The race was last held here in 1976.
Weather
Conditions are dry.
Adapted by AI summarisation from “1978 French Grand Prix” on Wikipedia . This adapted text is licensed under CC-BY-SA-4.0 . Modifications: summarised and spoiler-trimmed.
Last 5 Races
Full season →| # | Date | Grand Prix | Pole | P1 | P2 | P3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 Apr | 🇺🇸 United States Grand Prix West | Reutemann | Reutemann | Andretti | Depailler |
| 5 | 7 May | 🇲🇨 Monaco Grand Prix | Reutemann | Depailler | Lauda | Scheckter |
| 6 | 21 May | 🇧🇪 Belgian Grand Prix | Andretti | Andretti | Peterson | Reutemann |
| 7 | 4 Jun | 🇪🇸 Spanish Grand Prix | Andretti | Andretti | Peterson | Laffite |
| 8 | 17 Jun | 🇸🇪 Swedish Grand Prix | Andretti | Lauda | Patrese | Peterson |
Drivers' Championship
Full standings →| Pos | Driver | Team | Pts | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Andretti | Team Lotus | 36 | 3 |
| 2 | Ronnie Peterson | Team Lotus | 30 | 1 |
| 3 | Niki Lauda | Brabham | 25 | 1 |
| 4 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell | 23 | 1 |
| 5 | Carlos Reutemann | Ferrari | 22 | 2 |
| 6 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier | 10 | 0 |
| 7 | John Watson | Brabham | 9 | 0 |
| 8 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | 7 | 0 |
| 10 | Jody Scheckter | Wolf | 7 | 0 |
Constructors' Championship
Full standings →| Pos | Team | Pts | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Lotus | 49 | 4 |
| 2 | Brabham | 31 | 1 |
| 3 | Tyrrell | 25 | 1 |
| 4 | Ferrari | 22 | 2 |
| 5 | Ligier | 10 | 0 |