1979 Formula One season

The 1979 Formula One season was the 33rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers [ 1 ] and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors [ 2 ] which were contested concurrently over a fifteen-round series which commenced on 21 January 1979, and ended on 7 October 1979. The season also included three non-championship Formula One races.

Jody Scheckter won the Drivers' Championship and, with teammate Gilles Villeneuve in second place, Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship. This was the team's fourth Constructors' Championship in five years , and more would follow, but it would be their last Drivers' Championship for the next 21 years .

This was the final season for 1976 F1 world champion James Hunt .

Several high-profile changes happened among the leading teams for this season, as the death of Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson the previous September precipitated a merry-go-round of some of the most highly regarded drivers on the grid:

The domination of the Lotus 79 meant that all the teams had to build new " ground-effect " cars for the 1979 season. Team Lotus , aiming to stay one step ahead, was designing the new Lotus 80 . Cigarette maker John Player Special withdrew from F1 and Olympus moved to Wolf and Lotus landed a new sponsorship package with Martini , Tissot and Essex Petroleum . Mario Andretti was retained and Carlos Reutemann had been signed to drive even before Ronnie Peterson 's death at Monza . Peterson had signe...

Ligier expanded to two cars with Patrick Depailler being hired from Tyrrell to partner Jacques Laffite . The team gave up with the old Matra engine and ran Cosworths instead and Gerard Ducarouge designed the JS11 . Williams also expanded to two cars and signed Clay Regazzoni to partner Alan Jones while Patrick Head finished off the new FW07 design. Also expanding was Renault Sport which hired Rene Arnoux to partner Jean-Pierre Jabouille . The pair started the year with the old RS1 while the new ...

Like in previous years, the opening race of the season was in Argentina at the Buenos Aires circuit located on the outskirts of the capital city. Most people expected the Lotus cars driven by defending champion Mario Andretti , and his new teammate Carlos Reutemann to dominate but, to many people's surprise, it was the Ligier team that dominated qualifying, with Jacques Laffite on pole ahead of Patrick Depailler , leaving home favorite Reutemann to qualify third, with Jarier fourth ahead of Sche...

The race restarted after the mess was cleared, and this time Depailler set off into the lead with Jean-Pierre Jarier's Tyrrell and Watson (in his spare car ) following him. But soon Laffite was up to second, and a few laps later he took the lead from Depailler. The Ligiers drove away, whereas Jarier struggled and dropped down the order with engine troubles, leaving Watson third before he was passed by a recovering Reutemann. Reutemann drove a stirring race in front of his home crowd, but it wasn...

The drivers stayed in South America for the second round which was held in Brazil, returning to the 5-mile Interlagos circuit in São Paulo ; the longest circuit on the calendar. The Ligiers were in top form again, Laffite taking pole comfortably with Depailler alongside, with the Lotuses led by Reutemann on the second row.

The second row featured the Lotuses of Carlos Reutemann and Mario Andretti and the third row featured the Ferraris of Gilles Villeneuve and Jody Scheckter. Jean-Pierre Jabouille put his Renault seventh, just ahead of Didier Pironi's Tyrrell. The top 10 was completed by Emerson Fittipaldi ( Fittipaldi ) and James Hunt ( Wolf ). Brabham was in trouble on this occasion with Niki Lauda down in 12th place and the hobbling Nelson Piquet 22nd.

This time, Laffite was able to lead right from the first corner with Reutemann taking second from Depailler, but Depailler regained the place soon after and Andretti also passed his teammate to take third. Andretti however soon retired with a misfire, and so Reutemann was back in third. In the race Laffite took the lead while Reutemann briefly grabbed second place before Depailler seized it back again. Reutemann lost third place as well as Andretti went past him. Behind them came Scheckter and F...

There was a four-week break between the Brazilian and South African GPs and the battle for control of the sport between the Formula One Constructors Association and the newly formed FISA under Jean-Marie Balestre was heating up but the South African race went ahead anyway. At the high-altitude Kyalami circuit between Johannesburg and Pretoria , Ferrari debuted their new ground-effect 312T4 to replace the 312T3 at this race, which had been used for the South American rounds; teams often debuted t...

It was overcast when the race started but Jabouille stayed ahead of Scheckter and Villeneuve, even banging wheels through the fast Barbecue and Jukskei corners. Within a few moments however a cloudburst resulted in the race being stopped but before that happened Villeneuve had managed to get ahead of Scheckter and Jabouille. As a result, he was on pole for the restart. The weather was still uncertain and several drivers (notably Scheckter, Depailler, Patrick Tambay (McLaren) and Nelson Piquet (B...

When the race restarted, most drivers were on wets, but Scheckter and a few others opted for slicks. Villeneuve led at the restart and built up a gap, but the track dried and he had to pit for slicks along with most of the field. This left Scheckter leading comfortably, and he looked well set for a home win until he had to pit for new tyres, handing the lead back to Villeneuve and in behind, Patrick Tambay briefly ran third in his McLaren, until he was passed by Jarier. It was Villeneuve who won...

Five weeks after the South African race, the field went to the United States to compete at the gruelling Long Beach street circuit near Los Angeles , California . There were no changes in the driver lineup for Long Beach and South African GP winner Gilles Villeneuve took pole position in his 312T4. His former Ferrari teammate Reutemann was second in the Lotus while Scheckter was third quickest ahead of the two Ligiers of Depailler and Laffite. Home favorite Mario Andretti completed the top six i...

The starting procedure was a mess with Reutemann being forced to start from the pits half a lap behind because of an electrical failure. Villeneuve overshot his grid position and decided to lead the field around again. When the grid arrived on the grid for the second time, Laffite's car locked up and turned sideways and so Villeneuve led half the field around again, the rest having been stopped by officials. The leaders had to then weave through the backmarkers to take up their positions. Finall...

Villeneuve thus led Depailler, Scheckter and Jarier and Andretti but it was Jarier who was on the move and he soon overtook both Scheckter and Depailler to run second. Depailler then dropped behind Scheckter and the Ferrari driver then attacked Jarier and finally on lap 27 he moved to second place. The two Ferraris were out ahead and interest centered on the battle for third with Jarier under pressure from Depailler, Andretti and Jones. The Williams driver managed to get ahead of Andretti and al...

One week after Long Beach, the Race of Champions at the fast, undulating Brands Hatch circuit in southern England featured another victory for Gilles Villeneuve.

After another long break, this time for three weeks, the Spanish Grand Prix was next, at the tight and twisty Jarama circuit near the Spanish capital of Madrid , starting a trilogy of Grands Prix at tight and twisty circuits. Lotus had the new 80 ready for Mario Andretti while Renault had a new RS10 and Williams had a pair of the new FW07s . McLaren had modified the M28 after a disappointing start to the year. The Kauhsen team made its first appearance with driver Gianfranco Brancatelli but the ...

At the start Depailler took the lead from Laffite while Villeneuve tried to challenge the Ligiers and dropped behind the fast-starting Reutemann. Keen to win back his place Villeneuve spun and dropped down the order. Laffite tried to find a way to pass Depailler but eventually missed a gear and blew up his engine. This left Reutemann second with Scheckter third until lap 60 when he dropped behind Lauda. The Austrian then went out with an engine failure, matching Piquet's early exit so Scheckter ...

The Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder was 2 weeks after Spain, and the F1 field had grown to 28 cars with the appearance of Bruno Giacomelli in the new Alfa Romeo F1 car, the company 's first official entry in the World Championship since the end of 1951 . This was using the old flat-12 engines while a new car was being built for the new V12 , which was being run by the Brabham team. The entry was otherwise unchanged although Tyrrell had managed to find some much-needed sponsorship from Italian domes...

At the start of the race Depailler went into the lead with Jones grabbing second from Piquet while Laffite dropped to fourth. On the second lap Scheckter collided with Clay Regazzoni's Williams and Villeneuve was also involved as he snagged the rear wheel of the Williams at the chicane. Both Ferraris were able to keep going by Regazzoni was out. Villeneuve had to pit for a new nose cone. On the fourth lap, Laffite overtook Piquet, while behind them Scheckter was able to get ahead of Andretti and...

The next race was the illustrious Monaco GP, Jody Scheckter's victory in Belgium had moved the South African to the top of the standings in the World Championship with 25 points but he was only a point clear of Jacques Laffite with Lotus's Carlos Reutemann (21) and Gilles Villeneuve and Patrick Depailler (20 apiece) close behind. The title was wide open. With only 20 starters at Monaco there was a pre-qualifying session for Jochen Mass ( Arrows ), Hans Stuck ( ATS ) and Gianfranco Brancatelli (w...

At the start Scheckter took the lead with Lauda getting ahead of Villeneuve and Depailler in the run to Ste Devote. Laffite was fifth with Pironi sixth and Jones seventh. On the third lap Villeneuve was able to get ahead of Lauda and set off in pursuit of Scheckter. For the next few laps it was quiet as Villeneuve closed the gap to the leader while Lauda ran third under pressure from Depailler, Laffite, Pironi, Jones and the rest. On lap 16 Pironi ran into the back of Laffite, which forced the L...

With the two Swedish drivers in Formula 1 having died ( Ronnie Peterson after an accident at Monza and Gunnar Nilsson a few weeks later from cancer ), there was no interest and therefore no money for a Swedish GP in 1979 and so there was a 5-week gap between Monaco at the end of May and the French GP at the fast Dijon-Prenois circuit .

The break was used for testing and a lot of the cars were modified. Just after Monaco James Hunt announced that he was quitting F1 and so he was replaced by Keke Rosberg . Patrick Depailler blew all hopes he had of a successful season by breaking both his legs in a hang-gliding accident and so Ligier asked Jacky Ickx to take over its second car. Derek Daly also decided that he was wasting his time with Ensign and went back to Formula Two . Ensign tried to hire Tiff Needell but he was denied a su...

In the race Villeneuve took the lead with Jabouille second, Scheckter third. Arnoux made a poor start and dropped to ninth. The early part of the race witnessed Arnoux climbing back through the field. By the 10th lap he was fourth and on lap 15 he took third place. At the front Villeneuve's Ferrari began to handle less well and on lap 47 Jabouille moved ahead as Villeneuve fell back towards Arnoux. Piquet blew his chances of a good position soon afterwards by spinning from fourth place (having o...

In the closing laps, a legendary battle between Arnoux and Villeneuve was to take place, cementing this race's place in F1 history. Arnoux caught Villeneuve and on lap 78 he went ahead. On the next lap, the penultimate lap, Arnoux's engine began to splutter and Villeneuve was back ahead and for the last lap the pair indulged in a wild battle as they ducked and dived and banged wheels. With half a lap to go Arnoux drifted a little wide and Villeneuve was able to go down the inside and secure seco...

The second half of the year started in Britain at the fastest circuit of the year, the airfield Silverstone circuit 40 miles east of Birmingham . The Williams FW07 had been improving rapidly and new modifications to correct aerodynamic leakage and a new system to keep the skirts touching the ground at all times resulted in the car being fastest in pre-British GP testing. John Watson also had a new McLaren M29 , to replace the troublesome M28 and so there was much excitement as the teams gathered...

At the start Jones went into the lead with Jabouille chasing and the fast-starting Regazzoni third. Piquet ran fourth but soon spun off and so Lauda took the position although he quickly fell behind Arnoux and Villeneuve who had stormed through from the midfield. He was followed by Scheckter. Jabouille's challenge faded with his tires and on lap 17 Regazzoni moved to second place and Jabouille then headed for the pits. The stop went wrong he had to pit again and then his engine overheated. This ...

The tenth race of the year was held in Germany, and on the ultra-fast, straight dominated Hockenheim circuit near Stuttgart , where the entry was the same as it had been at Silverstone. Tyrrell's Jean-Pierre Jarier was in hospital with a liver problem and so the team had replaced him with Formula 2 driver Geoff Lees . Qualifying resulted in Jean-Pierre Jabouille taking pole for Renault on the fast Hockenheim track but Alan Jones was second in the Williams and Jacques Laffite seemed to be rather ...

In the race Jones took the lead at the start with Jabouille second, Laffite third, Scheckter fourth and Regazzoni fifth. Jones held off intense pressure from Jabouille in the early stages of the race, until the latter tried too hard and spun off giving second to Laffite and third to Regazzoni. Regazzoni was soon past Laffite, and the two Williams cars dominated the rest of race, with Jones getting his first win of the season and Regazzoni completing the 1–2 leaving Laffite to take the final spot...

The field went to the very high-speed Österreichring circuit in Austria, and in qualifying once again the Renault turbo was the car to beat, Arnoux taking his first career pole, with Jones forcing Jabouille to settle for the second row. The entry was the same as it had been in Hockenheim but there had been a change at Tyrrell with Derek Daly being brought in to stand-in for the unwell Jean-Pierre Jarier. ATS had undergone a restructuring with former Grand Prix driver Vic Elford becoming team man...

Villeneuve made a sensational start to take the lead from Jones, Lauda and Arnoux, who made a bad start. Jabouille lost his clutch at the start and dropped to ninth but quickly caught up. Villeneuve stayed ahead until the third lap when Jones breezed ahead, while Arnoux quickly dispensed with Lauda. On lap 11 Arnoux moved to second place but he was then overtaken by Jabouille. The Renault team leader lasted only a couple of laps before the clutch finally stopped him and so Arnoux settled into se...

F1 arrived at the beach-side Zandvoort circuit near Amsterdam , and the fast Zandvoort circuit had been modified with an awkward chicane placed between both of the most dangerous parts of the track, the very fast Hondenvlak and Tunnel Oost corners. The chicane didn't slow down the cars much and the new corner proved to be more of a nuisance than a reduction in danger. Williams was in dominant form, the team having won three successive victories at Silverstone, Hockenheim and at the Österreichrin...

At the start Jones took the lead but Arnoux found himself in a sandwich with Regazzoni on the inside and Jabouille and Villeneuve on the outside. Arnoux thus collided with Regazzoni (the Williams losing its left front wheel) and Arnoux damaging his rear suspension. Thus Jones was followed into the first corner by Villeneuve, Jabouille and Pironi. Scheckter was left behind and started at the very back of the field. Lauda did not last long as he had hurt his wrist in a Procar accident and he was f...

On lap 47 Villeneuve spun and Jones went back into the lead (despite having gearbox trouble) and four laps later Villeneuve's left rear tire exploded and he spun again. He rejoined and drove an entire lap on three wheels. When he got to the pits the suspension was too badly damaged to continue. So Jones won again for Williams while Scheckter finished second and after Pironi went out with a suspension failure third place went to Laffite with Piquet fourth, Jacky Ickx fifth for Ligier and Jochen M...

The Italian Grand Prix at the very fast Monza Autodrome near Milan was next, and the Milan Auto Club's response to driver's concerns about the safety and almost total lack of run off at the Monza Park circuit had been responded to, with huge improvements in safety added to the circuit, including new and expansive run off areas at the Lesmos and the Curva Grande, and a new track surface. The field was slightly larger than normal at Monza with the return to the World Championship of Alfa Romeo whi...

As usual the Renaults were slow off the line and so Scheckter grabbed the lead from Arnoux. Behind then Villeneuve grabbed third while Laffite made a good start to get into fourth place. Jones dropped to the back of the field. On the second lap Arnoux was able to pass Scheckter to take the lead and for the next few laps the five front-runners were nose-to-tail, while Regazzoni ran in a lonely sixth position. On Lap 2 Piquet tangled with Regazzoni and had a huge accident at Curva Grande that tore...

This proved to be a memorable day for Ferrari- as Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve made it a Ferrari 1–2 and with this victory, Scheckter won the Drivers' Championship and Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship with a car that proved to have a 100% reliability record thus far – an incredible achievement in 1979. Clay Regazzoni finished 3rd, ahead of Lauda, Andretti and Jarier.

One week after the Italian GP, the non-championship Dino Ferrari Grand Prix at the Imola circuit near Bologna was held, this race was won by Niki Lauda.

At the Île Notre-Dame Circuit in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix, it was Lauda in the news, announcing in the middle of practice that he no longer wanted to be a Formula 1 driver, after completing a few laps in the all-new Brabham- Cosworth BT49 . Brabham boss Bernie Ecclestone decided to put Argentina 's Ricardo Zunino in the car. The other changes to the field were a third Tyrrell for Derek Daly and a second Fittipaldi for Alex Ribeiro . The Alfa Romeo team appeared with two 179 chassis f...

In the race, which turned out to be a classic Villeneuve took the lead at the start with Jones and Regazzoni chasing him. Piquet ran fourth but then moved ahead of Regazzoni to take third. Jones shadowed Villeneuve for the early part of the race and eventually slipped ahead at the hairpin, the two cars banging wheels. Jones was then able to stay ahead and win but Villeneuve was only a second behind him at the finish- it was revealed later by Williams engineer Frank Dernie that Jones's car was on...

1 week after Canada, the teams traveled 5 hours south into the United States, to the spectacular, bumpy and fast Watkins Glen circuit in rural western New York , 4 hours from New York City . At this race, the last race of the season it saw a field of 30 cars fighting for 24 grid positions. There were no driver changes and after qualifying Alan Jones, winner of four of the previous five races, was on pole position again. The main interest of the event was whether or not Jones would finish runner-...

The area was mostly soaked with rain, and this made conditions treacherous. On Saturday, during one of the periods when it stopped raining and the track dried out, Jones took pole again from Nelson Piquet in the new Brabham BT49 in his first ever visit to Watkins Glen. Come race day, it started to rain and become windy 20 minutes before the start of the race. At the start, Villeneuve, 3rd on the grid blasted through to take the lead at the first corner. Bruno Giacomelli crashed at Turn 9 and the...

Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers. For the first time, the International Cup for F1 Constructors counted the points of all drivers for a constructor . For the World Drivers' Championship , the best four results from rounds 1-7 and the best four results from rounds 8-15 were counted, while, for the Cup, all rounds were counted.

Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:

Three other Formula One races, which did not count towards the World Championship of Drivers or the International Cup for F1 Constructors, were also held in 1979.