The 1978 Austrian Grand Prix was Round 12 of the 1978 Formula 1 World Championship. The event was held at the Österreichring circuit in Austria on Sunday, 13 August 1978. Ronnie Peterson started on pole position in the Lotus Ford and was the race winner.
1978 Austrian Grand Prix Race Result
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Nationality | Team | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Race Time | Gap | Interval | Best Lap | Lap | Speed | Started | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Ronnie Peterson | Sweden | Lotus Ford | Goodyear | 54 | 1:41:21.570 | 1:41:21.570 | - | - | 1:43.120 | 189.951 | 1 | 9 | |
| 2 | 4 | Patrick Depailler | France | Tyrrell Ford | Goodyear | 54 | +47.440 | 1:42:09.010 | +47.440 | +47.440 | 188.481 | 14 | 6 | ||
| 3 | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Canada | Ferrari | Michelin | 54 | +1:39.760 | 1:43:01.330 | +1:39.760 | +52.320 | 186.885 | 11 | 4 | ||
| 4 | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Brazil | Fittipaldi Ford | Goodyear | 53 | +1 lap | 1:42:45.990 | 1 lap | 1 lap | 183.881 | 6 | 3 | ||
| 5 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | France | Ligier Matra | Goodyear | 53 | +1 lap | 1:42:46.570 | 1 lap | +0.580 | 183.863 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 6 | 19 | Vittorio Brambilla | Italy | Surtees Ford | Goodyear | 53 | +1 lap | 1:43:05.460 | 1 lap | +18.890 | 183.302 | 21 | 1 | ||
| 7 | 2 | John Watson | Great Britain | Brabham Alfa Romeo | Goodyear | 53 | +1 lap | 1:43:11.020 | 1 lap | +5.560 | 183.137 | 10 | |||
| 8 | 30 | Brett Lunger | United States | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 52 | +2 laps | 1:42:25.990 | 2 laps | 1 lap | 180.998 | 17 | |||
| 9 | 31 | René Arnoux | France | Martini Ford | Goodyear | 52 | +2 laps | 1:43:26.870 | 2 laps | +1:00.880 | 179.223 | 26 | |||
| NC | 17 | Clay Regazzoni | Switzerland | Shadow Ford | Goodyear | 50 | +4 laps | 1:42:13.060 | 174.404 | 22 | |||||
| NC | 32 | Keke Rosberg | Finland | Wolf Ford | Goodyear | 49 | +5 laps | 1:42:17.150 | 170.802 | 25 | |||||
| DSQ | 22 | Derek Daly | Ireland | Ensign Ford | Goodyear | 41 | Disqualified | 19 | |||||||
| DNF | 8 | Patrick Tambay | France | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 40 | Accident | 14 | |||||||
| DNF | 16 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | Germany | Shadow Ford | Goodyear | 33 | Accident | 23 | |||||||
| DNF | 15 | Jean Pierre Jabouille | France | Renault | Michelin | 31 | Gearbox | 3 | |||||||
| DSQ | 11 | Carlos Reutemann | Argentina | Ferrari | Michelin | 28 | Disqualified | 12 | |||||||
| DNF | 1 | Niki Lauda | Austria | Brabham Alfa Romeo | Goodyear | 27 | Accident | 4 | |||||||
| DNF | 3 | Didier Pironi | France | Tyrrell Ford | Goodyear | 20 | Accident | 9 | |||||||
| DNF | 7 | James Hunt | Great Britain | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 8 | Accident | 8 | |||||||
| DNF | 27 | Alan Jones | Australia | Williams Ford | Goodyear | 7 | Accident | 15 | |||||||
| DNF | 35 | Riccardo Patrese | Italy | Arrows Ford | Goodyear | 7 | Accident | 16 | |||||||
| DNF | 23 | Harald Ertl | Austria | Ensign Ford | Goodyear | 7 | Accident | 24 | |||||||
| DNF | 25 | Hector Rebaque | Mexico | Wolf Ford | Goodyear | 4 | Accident | 18 | |||||||
| DNF | 29 | Nelson Piquet | Brazil | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 4 | Accident | 20 | |||||||
| DNF | 20 | Jody Scheckter | South Africa | Lotus Ford | Goodyear | 3 | Accident | 7 | |||||||
| DNF | 5 | Mario Andretti | United States | Lotus Ford | Goodyear | Accident | 2 | ||||||||
| DNQ | 37 | Arturo Merzario | Italy | Merzario Ford | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| DNQ | 9 | Jochen Mass | Germany | Shadow Ford | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| DNQ | 18 | Rupert Keegan | Great Britain | Surtees Ford | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| DNQ | 10 | Hans Binder | Austria | ATS Ford | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| DNPQ | 36 | Rolf Stommelen | Germany | Arrows Ford | Goodyear |