Race details | |||
---|---|---|---|
Race 1 of 16 in the 1978 Formula One season | |||
Date | January 15, 1978 | ||
Location | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||
Course | Permanent road course | ||
Course length | 5.81 km (3.61 mi) | ||
Distance | 52 laps, 302.12 km (187.72 mi) | ||
Weather | Dry | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | Lotus-Ford | ||
Time | 1:47.75 | ||
Fastest lap | |||
Driver | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | |
Time | 1:49.76 on lap 3 | ||
Podium | |||
First | Lotus-Ford | ||
Second | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | ||
Third | Tyrrell-Ford |
The 1978 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 15 January 1978 at Buenos Aires.
Mario Andretti took pole in his Lotus, with Carlos Reutemann's Ferrari joining him on the front row and Ronnie Peterson in the other Lotus third on the grid. The start was uneventful, with Andretti and Reutemann easily keeping first and second, with John Watson in the Brabham taking third from Peterson. Watson took second from Reutemann on the seventh lap, but Andretti was uncatchable. Reutemann ran third for a while, but then began to drop down the order, and so reigning world champion Niki Lauda took third in his Brabham, which became second with ten laps left when Watson's engine blew up. Andretti motored on to a crushing victory, with Lauda second and Patrick Depailler's Tyrrell taking the final spot on the podium.