- Winner
- Ronnie Peterson
- Team
- Team Lotus
- Top listed
- Ronnie Peterson, Patrick Depailler, and John Watson
- Race date
- March 4, 1978
- Pole
- Niki Lauda
- Fastest lap
- Mario Andretti
- Classified drivers
- 30
- Circuit
- Kyalami Racing Circuit
The decisive result
Ronnie Peterson finished first for Team Lotus. Patrick Depailler is listed 2 for Tyrrell, with John Watson 3 for Brabham.
Grid to finish
Alan Jones from P18 to P4 (+14), Rolf Stommelen from P21 to P9 (+12), and Héctor Rebaque from P22 to P10 (+12) recorded the largest positive grid-to-finish changes in the classification. Niki Lauda started from the listed P1 grid position.
Status and fastest lap
The classification lists 6 Engine, 5 +1 lap, 5 Finished, 4 DNQ, and 2 +2 laps. Mario Andretti holds the fastest-lap entry at 1:17.090 on lap 2. It records the result without speculating about incidents or strategy.
This summary sticks to the classification and does not speculate about incidents, strategy, weather, or causes. Source: F1DB (CC BY 4.0) · updated Jul 26, 2026.