Race report Rain had fallen immediately prior to the race start leaving the track wet but would not rain during the race. Tyre choice was split between wets and slicks.
Mario Andretti led early until the engine failed in his
Lotus 78. The track was drying by this time.
Gunnar Nilsson and Jones had starred in the early laps on the wet track. Nilsson moving from 16th to second and Jones progressed from his 14th grid position to fourth.
James Hunt became the race leader. Nilsson pitted to replace his ruined wet tyres on his
Lotus 78 while Jones moved past
Hans-Joachim Stuck's Brabham and
Jody Scheckter's
Wolf WR3 into second position. Jones would not have progressed further but for an engine failure in Hunt's
McLaren M26 late in the race. Nilsson recovered from his pitstop to third until an engine failure claimed its second Lotus of the day. Lauda's poor handling Ferrari came on as the track dried and he moved into second while Stuck survived to claim the final podium position. Scheckter spun off leaving
Carlos Reutemann in the second Ferrari 312T2 to finish fourth ahead of
Ronnie Peterson in the
Tyrrell P34 and the second McLaren of
Jochen Mass claimed the final championship point in sixth. Despite the changeable condition, 16 cars finished the race with 17 classified. The seventeenth was
Emilio de Villota, who crashed his privately entered
McLaren M23 in the closing stages while on his 51st lap. It had been seven years since the last victory by an Australian (
Jack Brabham in the
1970 South African Grand Prix). Jones' win had no effect on the championship points race. Lauda's second place, coupled with retirements to Scheckter, Andretti and Hunt significantly strengthened Lauda's grip on the championship, expanding his lead to 16 points. According to a misconception claimed by Alan Jones the "
Happy Birthday to You" was played for him as a winning driver
during the podium ceremony instead of the national anthem of Australia. However, "
Advance Australia Fair" was actually played, different from what Jones remembered. Yet "
God Save the Queen" was the national anthem of Australia in 1977, being replaced by "Advance Australia Fair" in 1984, and "God Save the Queen" was really not played on the podium.
Classification ==Notes==