Japanese Grand Prix
Fuji Speedway
Grand Prix starting grid
Race starts
Grid positions from race-result records; not a separately verified pre-race grid.
| POS | DRIVER | TEAM |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Andretti | Team Lotus |
| 2 | James Hunt | McLaren |
| 3 | John Watson | Brabham |
| 4 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | Brabham |
| 5 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier |
| 6 | Jody Scheckter | Wolf |
| 7 | Carlos Reutemann | Ferrari |
| 8 | Jochen Mass | McLaren |
| 9 | Vittorio Brambilla | Surtees |
| 10 | Clay Regazzoni | Ensign |
| 11 | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | Kojima |
| 12 | Alan Jones | Shadow |
| 13 | Riccardo Patrese | Shadow |
| 14 | Gunnar Nilsson | Team Lotus |
| 15 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell |
| 16 | Patrick Tambay | Ensign |
| 17 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Ligier |
| 18 | Ronnie Peterson | Tyrrell |
| 19 | Noritake Takahara | Kojima |
| 20 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari |
| 21 | Hans Binder | Surtees |
| 22 | Kunimitsu Takahashi | Tyrrell |
| 23 | Alex Ribeiro | March |