1978 French Grand Prix

Following the voluntary withdrawal of the "fan car", Brabham had to revert to their previous car again, but it did not deter them, with John Watson on pole and Niki Lauda starting third behind Mario Andretti's Lotus. At the start, Watson led into the first corner, with Andretti following, and Patrick Tambay putting his McLaren in third, but that order did not remain for long as Andretti took the lead from Watson on the first lap. Lauda and Ronnie Peterson were on the move as well, as they passed Watson and Tambay to jump into second and third, but Lauda suffered another engine failure. This left the two Lotus cars running 1–2 and they finished like that with Andretti taking his third win in four races, and the podium was completed by James Hunt who passed Watson mid-race.

• Lap leaders: Mario Andretti 54 laps (1–54).
• Final podium and points finish: James Hunt

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Mario Andretti 45 2 Ronnie Peterson 36 3 Niki Lauda 25 4 Patrick Depailler 23 5 Carlos Reutemann 22 Source: [3]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Ford 58 2 Brabham-Alfa Romeo 34 3 Tyrrell-Ford 25 4 Ferrari 22 5 McLaren-Ford 11 Source: [3]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.