The 1978 USA West Grand Prix was Round 4 of the 1978 Formula 1 World Championship. The event was held on the streets of Long Beach, California, United States on Sunday, 2 April 1978. Carlos Reutemann started on pole position for Ferrari and was the race winner.
1978 USA West 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 | 80 | 1:52:01.301 | 1:52:01.301 | - | - | 1:22.323 | 140.172 | 1 | 9 | |
| 2 | 5 | Mario Andretti | United States | Lotus Ford | Goodyear | 80 | +11.061 | 1:52:12.362 | +11.061 | +11.061 | 1:22.835 | 139.941 | 4 | 6 | |
| 3 | 4 | Patrick Depailler | France | Tyrrell Ford | Goodyear | 80 | +28.951 | 1:52:30.252 | +28.951 | +17.890 | 1:22.871 | 139.571 | 12 | 4 | |
| 4 | 6 | Ronnie Peterson | Sweden | Lotus Ford | Goodyear | 80 | +45.603 | 1:52:46.904 | +45.603 | +16.652 | 1:22.626 | 139.227 | 6 | 3 | |
| 5 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | France | Ligier Matra | Goodyear | 80 | +1:22.884 | 1:53:24.185 | +1:22.884 | +37.281 | 1:22.569 | 138.464 | 14 | 2 | |
| 6 | 35 | Riccardo Patrese | Italy | Arrows Ford | Goodyear | 79 | +1 lap | 1:52:21.327 | 1 lap | 1 lap | 1:22.655 | 138.019 | 9 | 1 | |
| 7 | 27 | Alan Jones | Australia | Williams Ford | Goodyear | 79 | +1 lap | 1:53:02.221 | 1 lap | +40.894 | 1:22.215 | 27 | 137.187 | 8 | |
| 8 | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Brazil | Fittipaldi Ford | Goodyear | 79 | +1 lap | 1:53:06.821 | 1 lap | +4.600 | 1:22.868 | 137.094 | 15 | ||
| 9 | 36 | Rolf Stommelen | Germany | Arrows Ford | Goodyear | 79 | +1 lap | 1:53:08.585 | 1 lap | +1.764 | 1:23.330 | 137.058 | 18 | ||
| 10 | 17 | Clay Regazzoni | Switzerland | Shadow Ford | Goodyear | 79 | +1 lap | 1:53:10.681 | 1 lap | +2.096 | 1:23.641 | 137.016 | 20 | ||
| 11 | 10 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | France | ATS Ford | Goodyear | 75 | +5 laps | 1:52:50.193 | 5 laps | 4 laps | 1:24.703 | 130.516 | 19 | ||
| 12 | 8 | Patrick Tambay | France | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 74 | Accident | 6 laps | 1 lap | 1:22.915 | 11 | ||||
| DNF | 20 | Jody Scheckter | South Africa | Wolf Ford | Goodyear | 59 | Accident | 1:23.070 | 10 | ||||||
| DNF | 19 | Vittorio Brambilla | Italy | Surtees Ford | Goodyear | 50 | Transmission | 1:24.242 | 17 | ||||||
| DNF | 15 | Jean Pierre Jabouille | France | Renault | Michelin | 43 | Turbo | 1:23.732 | 13 | ||||||
| DNF | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Canada | Ferrari | Michelin | 38 | Accident | 1:22.575 | 2 | ||||||
| DNF | 1 | Niki Lauda | Austria | Brabham Alfa Romeo | Goodyear | 27 | Ignition | 1:22.727 | 3 | ||||||
| DNF | 3 | Didier Pironi | France | Tyrrell Ford | Goodyear | 25 | Gearbox | 1:25.232 | 22 | ||||||
| DNF | 37 | Arturo Merzario | Italy | Merzario Ford | Goodyear | 17 | Gearbox | 1:26.756 | 21 | ||||||
| DNF | 9 | Jochen Mass | Germany | ATS Ford | Goodyear | 11 | Brakes | 1:24.734 | 14 | ||||||
| DNF | 2 | John Watson | Great Britain | Brabham Alfa Romeo | Goodyear | 9 | Gearbox | 1:23.454 | 5 | ||||||
| DNF | 7 | James Hunt | Great Britain | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 5 | Accident | 1:24.203 | 7 | ||||||
| DNQ | 30 | Brett Lunger | United States | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| DNQ | 23 | Lamberto Leoni | Italy | Ensign Ford | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| DNPQ | 32 | Keke Rosberg | Finland | Theodore Ford | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| DNPQ | 25 | Hector Rebaque | Mexico | Lotus Ford | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| DNPQ | 39 | Danny Ongais | United States | Shadow Ford | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| DNPQ | 24 | Derek Daly | Ireland | Hesketh | Goodyear |