| Circuit | Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet |
|---|---|
| Date | 1978-01-29 |
| Round | 2 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Grid | Laps | Time/Status | Fastest Lap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Reutemann | Ferrari | 4 | 63 | 1:49:59.860 | — | 9 |
| 2 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | 7 | 63 | +49.130 | — | 6 |
| 3 | Niki Lauda | Brabham | 10 | 63 | +57.020 | — | 4 |
| 4 | Mario Andretti | Team Lotus | 3 | 63 | +1:33.120 | — | 3 |
| 5 | Clay Regazzoni | Shadow | 15 | 62 | +1 Lap | — | 2 |
| 6 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell | 19 | 62 | +1 Lap | — | 1 |
| 7 | Jochen Mass | ATS | 20 | 62 | +1 Lap | — | 0 |
| 8 | John Watson | Brabham | 21 | 61 | +2 Laps | — | 0 |
| 9 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier | 14 | 61 | +2 Laps | — | 0 |
| 10 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows | 18 | 59 | +4 Laps | — | 0 |
| 11 | Alan Jones | Williams | 8 | 58 | +5 Laps | — | 0 |
| 12 | Hector Rebaque | Team Lotus | 22 | 40 | Physical | — | 0 |
| 13 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 6 | 35 | Spun off | — | 0 |
| 14 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren | 5 | 34 | Spun off | — | 0 |
| 15 | James Hunt | McLaren | 2 | 25 | Spun off | — | 0 |
| 16 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | Shadow | 9 | 25 | Fuel system | — | 0 |
| 17 | Jody Scheckter | Wolf | 12 | 16 | Accident | — | 0 |
| 18 | Ronnie Peterson | Team Lotus | 1 | 15 | Collision | — | 0 |
| 19 | Danny Ongais | Ensign | 23 | 13 | Brakes | — | 0 |
| 20 | Brett Lunger | McLaren | 13 | 11 | Overheating | — | 0 |
| 21 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell | 11 | 8 | Accident | — | 0 |
| 22 | Rupert Keegan | Surtees | 24 | 5 | Accident | — | 0 |
| 23 | Lamberto Leoni | Ensign | 17 | 0 | Transmission | — | 0 |
| 24 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | ATS | 16 | 0 | Withdrew | — | 0 |