The 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix was Round 2 of the 1978 Formula 1 World Championship. The event was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday, 29 January 1978. Ronnie Peterson started on pole position in the Lotus Ford and Carlos Reutemann was the race winner for Ferrari.
1978 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Result
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Nationality | Team | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Race Time | Gap | Interval | Best Lap | Lap | Speed | Started | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Carlos Reutemann | Argentina | Ferrari | Michelin | 63 | 1:49:59.860 | 1:49:59.860 | - | - | 1:43.070 | 35 | 172.890 | 4 | 9 |
| 2 | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Brazil | Fittipaldi Ford | Goodyear | 63 | +49.130 | 1:50:48.990 | +49.130 | +49.130 | 1:44.060 | 171.610 | 7 | 6 | |
| 3 | 1 | Niki Lauda | Austria | Brabham Alfa Romeo | Goodyear | 63 | +57.020 | 1:50:56.880 | +57.020 | +7.890 | 1:43.570 | 171.410 | 10 | 4 | |
| 4 | 5 | Mario Andretti | United States | Lotus Ford | Goodyear | 63 | +1:33.120 | 1:51:32.980 | +1:33.120 | +36.100 | 1:43.810 | 170.480 | 3 | 3 | |
| 5 | 17 | Clay Regazzoni | Switzerland | Shadow Ford | Goodyear | 62 | +1 lap | 1 lap | 1 lap | 1:44.570 | 15 | 2 | |||
| 6 | 3 | Didier Pironi | France | Tyrrell Ford | Goodyear | 62 | +1 lap | 1 lap | 1:45.260 | 19 | 1 | ||||
| 7 | 9 | Jochen Mass | Germany | ATS Ford | Goodyear | 62 | +1 lap | 1 lap | 1:45.790 | 20 | |||||
| 8 | 2 | John Watson | Great Britain | Brabham Alfa Romeo | Goodyear | 61 | +2 laps | 2 laps | 1 lap | 1:45.010 | 21 | ||||
| 9 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | France | Ligier Matra | Goodyear | 61 | +2 laps | 2 laps | 1:44.370 | 14 | |||||
| 10 | 36 | Riccardo Patrese | Italy | Arrows Ford | Goodyear | 59 | +4 laps | 4 laps | 2 laps | 1:44.040 | 18 | ||||
| 11 | 27 | Alan Jones | Australia | Williams Ford | Goodyear | 58 | +5 laps | 5 laps | 1 lap | 1:43.250 | 8 | ||||
| DNF | 25 | Hector Rebaque | Mexico | Lotus Ford | Goodyear | 40 | Physical | 1:45.580 | 22 | ||||||
| DNF | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Canada | Ferrari | Michelin | 35 | Spun Off | 1:43.940 | 6 | ||||||
| DNF | 8 | Patrick Tambay | France | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 34 | Spun Off | 1:44.340 | 5 | ||||||
| DNF | 7 | James Hunt | Great Britain | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 25 | Spun Off | 1:44.610 | 2 | ||||||
| DNF | 16 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | Germany | Shadow Ford | Goodyear | 25 | Fuel System | 1:44.780 | 9 | ||||||
| DNF | 20 | Jody Scheckter | South Africa | Wolf Ford | Goodyear | 16 | Accident | 1:45.570 | 12 | ||||||
| DNF | 6 | Ronnie Peterson | Sweden | Lotus Ford | Goodyear | 15 | Collision | 1:44.800 | 1 | ||||||
| DNF | 22 | Danny Ongais | United States | Ensign Ford | Goodyear | 13 | Brakes | 1:48.290 | 23 | ||||||
| DNF | 30 | Brett Lunger | United States | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 11 | Overheating | 1:46.020 | 13 | ||||||
| DNF | 4 | Patrick Depailler | France | Tyrrell Ford | Goodyear | 8 | Accident | 1:46.380 | 11 | ||||||
| DNF | 18 | Rupert Keegan | Great Britain | Surtees Ford | Goodyear | 5 | Accident | 1:48.290 | 24 | ||||||
| DNS | 10 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | France | ATS Ford | Goodyear | Transmission | 16 | ||||||||
| DNS | 23 | Lamberto Leoni | Italy | Ensign Ford | Goodyear | 17 | |||||||||
| DNQ | 37 | Arturo Merzario | Italy | Merzario Ford | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| DNQ | 32 | Eddie Cheever | United States | Theodore Ford | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| DNQ | 19 | Vittorio Brambilla | Italy | Surtees Ford | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| DNQ | 24 | Divina Galica | Great Britain | Hesketh | Goodyear |