1978 Canadian F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Canadian Grand Prix
Track: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Weather: overcast, dry, cold

Gilles Villeneuve won his 1st F1 World Championship race at the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver started from 3rd on the grid and won on the Ile Notre-Dame circuit for the 1st time. It was also his 1st win of the season and the 73rd win for the Ferrari F1 team.

Villeneuve’s first, on home ground

The 1978 Canadian Grand Prix was the inaugural F1 race on the new Ile Notre-Dame circuit in Montreal, the track built on a man-made island in the Saint Lawrence for the 1967 Expo. Pierre Trudeau was in the grandstand. The crowd had eyes only for Gilles Villeneuve.

The race

Jean-Pierre Jarier was again a sensation in the Lotus 79: pole position by a hundredth from Jody Scheckter, six-second lead by lap 10, and on his way to comfortable victory until a brake-line failure on lap 50 leaked oil onto the disc. He limped to the pits and retired. Villeneuve had taken second from Scheckter at the Casino hairpin on lap 25 and was already closing in. He inherited the lead and held it to the flag in front of an ecstatic Quebec crowd.

Scheckter second for Wolf, Reutemann third for Ferrari in his final race for the Scuderia, Patrese fourth for Arrows on the rebound from his Watkins Glen exclusion, Depailler fifth, Daly sixth and Ensign’s only point of the year. James Hunt crashed in the mud. Goodyear edged Michelin in the constructors’ tally; Ferrari took second from Brabham. Lauda 44, Reutemann 48, third and fourth in the championship, behind the late Peterson, with Andretti the world champion he had become at Monza.

Three weeks later Gunnar Nilsson died of cancer at 29. After Peterson, Swedish motorsport had lost both its champions in six weeks. The 1979 Swedish Grand Prix was duly cancelled. Jean-Marie Balestre was elected CSI president on 10 October; the political war with Ecclestone’s FOCA had a new front.

Classification 1978 Canadian F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	12	GillesVilleneuve	Ferrari	Ferrari 312T3Ferrari 015	3	70	21	1:57:49.196	9
2	20	JodyScheckter	Wolf	Wolf WR5Ford DFV	2	70		1:58:02.568+13.372s	6
3	11	CarlosReutemann	Ferrari	Ferrari 312T3Ferrari 015	11	70		1:58:08.604+19.408s	4
4	35	RiccardoPatrese	Arrows	Arrows A1Ford DFV	12	70		1:58:13.863+24.667s	3
5	4	PatrickDepailler	Tyrrell	Tyrrell 008Ford DFV	13	70		1:58:17.754+28.558s	2
6	22	DerekDaly	Ensign	Ensign N177Ford DFV	15	70		1:58:43.672+54.476s	1
7	3	DidierPironi	Tyrrell	Tyrrell 008Ford DFV	18	70		1:59:10.446+1:21.250
8	8	PatrickTambay	McLaren	McLaren M26Ford DFV	17	70		1:59:15.756+1:26.560
9	27	AlanJones	Williams	Williams FW06Ford DFV	5	70		1:59:18.138+1:28.942
10	5	MarioAndretti	Team Lotus	Lotus 79Ford DFV	9	69		+1 lap
11	66	NelsonPiquet	Brabham	Brabham BT46Alfa Romeo 115-12	14	69		+1 lap
12	15	Jean-PierreJabouille	Renault	Renault RS01Renault EF1	22	65		+5 laps
NC	10	KekeRosberg	ATS	ATS D1Ford DFV	21	58		+12 laps
DNF	26	JacquesLaffite	Ligier	Ligier JS9Matra MS76	10	52		Transmission
DNF	7	JamesHunt	McLaren	McLaren M26Ford DFV	19	51		Spun Off
DNF	55	Jean-PierreJarier	Team Lotus	Lotus 79Ford DFV	1	49	49	Oil Leak
DNF	31	RenéArnoux	Surtees	Surtees TS20Ford DFV	16	37		Engine
DNF	21	BobbyRahal	Wolf	Wolf WR1Ford DFV	20	16		Fuel System
DNF	2	JohnWatson	Brabham	Brabham BT46Alfa Romeo 115-12	4	8		Accident
DNF	1	NikiLauda	Brabham	Brabham BT46Alfa Romeo 115-12	7	5		Brakes
DNF	16	HansJoachim Stuck	Shadow	Shadow DN9Ford DFV	8	1		Accident
DNF	14	EmersonFittipaldi	Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi F5AFord DFV	6	0		Accident
DNQ	17	ClayRegazzoni	Shadow	Shadow DN9Ford DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	19	BeppeGabbiani	Surtees	Surtees TS20Ford DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	37	ArturoMerzario	Merzario	Merzario A1Ford DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	25	HectorRebaque	Team Lotus	Lotus 78Ford DFV		0		No Time
DNPQ	36	RolfStommelen	Arrows	Arrows A1Ford DFV		0		No Time
DNPQ	9	MichaelBleekemolen	ATS	ATS HS1Ford DFV		0		No Time

Fastest lap: 1:38.072 min by Alan Jones (Willams FW06) in lap 70

✅ Check out 1978 F1 Championship Standings
✅ Check out 1978 F1 Teams & Drivers

✅ Check out All Time F1 Drivers Rankings
✅ Check out All Time F1 Driver Records
✅ Check out All Time F1 Teams Rankings

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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