1979 F1 World Championship Season

1978 F1 World Championship

1980 F1 World Championship

Fact File

Drivers’ Champion:	Jody Scheckter (1st title, 17th different world champion, 1st South African champion)
Constructors’ Champion:	Ferrari (6th title)
Races:	15
Winning drivers:	Alan Jones (4) Jody Scheckter (3) Gilles Villeneuve (3) Jacques Laffite (2) Patrick Depailler (1) Jean-Pierre Jabouille (1) Clay Regazzoni (1)
Winning constructors:	Ferrari (6) Williams (5) Ligier (3) Renault (1)
First-time winners (driver):	Jean-Pierre Jabouille
First-time winners (constructor):	Renault Williams

1979 F1 World Championship Grands Prix

Calendar

DT: Drivers’ title decider
CT: Constructors’ title decider

No.	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date	Race Result
1	Argentina	Buenos Aires	21 January	1979 Argentine Grand Prix
2	Brazil	Interlagos	4 February	1979 Brazilian Grand Prix
3	South Africa	Kyalami	3 March	1979 South African Grand Prix
4	USA West	Long Beach	8 April	1979 United States Grand Prix West
5	Spain	Jarama	29 April	1979 Spanish Grand Prix
6	Belgium	Zolder	13 May	1979 Belgian Grand Prix
7	Monaco	Monte Carlo	27 May	1979 Monaco Grand Prix
8	France	Dijon-Prenois	1 July	1979 French Grand Prix
9	Britain	Silverstone	14 July	1979 British Grand Prix
10	Germany	Hockenheim	29 July	1979 German Grand Prix
11	Austria	Osterreichring	12 August	1979 Austrian Grand Prix
12	Netherlands	Zandvoort	26 August	1979 Dutch Grand Prix
13	Italy DT CT	Monza	9 September	1979 Italian Grand Prix
14	Canada	Montreal	30 September	1979 Canadian Grand Prix
15	USA	Watkins Glen	7 October	1979 United States Grand Prix

Race Winners

Highlight: Home driver race winner

No.	Grand Prix	Circuit	Driver	Constructor	Start	Win Margin
1	Argentina	Buenos Aires	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford Cosworth	1	14.940s
2	Brazil	Interlagos	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford Cosworth	1	5.280s
3	South Africa	Kyalami	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	3	3.420s
4	USA West	Long Beach	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1	29.380s
5	Spain	Jarama	Patrick Depailler	Ligier-Ford Cosworth	2	20.940s
6	Belgium	Zolder	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	7	15.360s
7	Monaco	Monte Carlo	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	1	0.440s
8	France	Dijon-Prenois	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	1	14.590s
9	Britain	Silverstone	Clay Regazzoni	Williams-Ford Cosworth	4	24.280s
10	Germany	Hockenheim	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth	2	2.910s
11	Austria	Osterreichring	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth	2	36.050s
12	Netherlands	Zandvoort	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth	2	21.783s
13	Italy	Monza	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	3	0.460s
14	Canada	Montreal	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth	1	1.080s
15	USA	Watkins Glen	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	3	48.787s

Polesitters

Highlight: Home driver polesitter

No.	Grand Prix	Circuit	Driver	Constructor	Race	Pole Margin
1	Argentina	Buenos Aires	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford Cosworth	1	1.040s
2	Brazil	Interlagos	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford Cosworth	1	0.920s
3	South Africa	Kyalami	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	DNF	0.240s
4	USA West	Long Beach	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1	0.061s
5	Spain	Jarama	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford Cosworth	DNF	0.290s
6	Belgium	Zolder	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford Cosworth	2	0.070s
7	Monaco	Monte Carlo	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	1	0.070s
8	France	Dijon-Prenois	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	1	0.260s
9	Britain	Silverstone	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth	DNF	0.600s
10	Germany	Hockenheim	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	DNF	0.270s
11	Austria	Osterreichring	Rene Arnoux	Renault	6	0.210s
12	Netherlands	Zandvoort	Rene Arnoux	Renault	DNF	0.185s
13	Italy	Monza	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	14 (DNF)	0.124s
14	Canada	Montreal	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth	1	0.662s
15	USA	Watkins Glen	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth	DNF	1.299s

Fastest Laps

Highlight: Home driver fastest lap setter

No.	Grand Prix	Circuit	Driver	Constructor
1	Argentina	Buenos Aires	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford Cosworth
2	Brazil	Interlagos	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford Cosworth
3	South Africa	Kyalami	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari
4	USA West	Long Beach	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari
5	Spain	Jarama	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari
6	Belgium	Zolder	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari
7	Monaco	Monte Carlo	Patrick Depailler	Ligier-Ford Cosworth
8	France	Dijon-Prenois	Rene Arnoux	Renault
9	Britain	Silverstone	Clay Regazzoni	Williams-Ford Cosworth
10	Germany	Hockenheim	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari
11	Austria	Osterreichring	Rene Arnoux	Renault
12	Netherlands	Zandvoort	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari
13	Italy	Monza	Clay Regazzoni	Williams-Ford Cosworth
14	Canada	Montreal	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth
15	USA	Watkins Glen	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford Cosworth

1979 F1 World Championship Standings

Driver

Pos	Driver	Constructor	Points	Gap
1	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	51 (60)
2	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	47 (53)	-4
3	Alan Jones	Williams	40 (43)	-11
4	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	36	-15
5	Clay Regazzoni	Williams	29 (32)	-22
6	Patrick Depailler	Ligier	20 (22)	-31
=	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus	20 (25)	-31
8	Rene Arnoux	Renault	17	-34
9	John Watson	McLaren	15	-36
10	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell	14	-37
=	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell	14	-37
=	Mario Andretti	Lotus	14	-37
13	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	9	-42
14	Niki Lauda	Brabham	4	-47
15	Nelson Piquet	Brabham	3	-48
=	Elio de Angelis	Shadow	3	-48
=	Jacky Ickx	Ligier	3	-48
=	Jochen Mass	Arrows	3	-48
19	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows	2	-49
=	Hans-Joachim Stuck	ATS	2	-49
21	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi	1	-50

Points scoring system used:

1st: 9 points
2nd: 6 points
3rd: 4 points
4th: 3 points
5th: 2 points
6th: 1 point

Only the best four results from the first seven races and best four results from last eight races counted towards the championship.
Numbers shown without parentheses are the points scored that counted towards the championship; numbers in parentheses are the total number of points scored.

Constructor

Pos	Constructor	Points	Gap
1	Ferrari	113
2	Williams-Ford Cosworth	75	-38
3	Ligier-Ford Cosworth	61	-52
4	Lotus-Ford Cosworth	39	-74
5	Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth	28	-85
6	Renault	26	-87
7	McLaren-Ford Cosworth	15	-98
8	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	7	-106
9	Arrows-Ford Cosworth	5	-108
10	Shadow-Ford Cosworth	3	-110
11	ATS-Ford Cosworth	2	-111
12	Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth	1	-112

Points scoring system used:

1st: 9 points
2nd: 6 points
3rd: 4 points
4th: 3 points
5th: 2 points
6th: 1 point

Constructors only received points for their highest placed car.
Only the best four results from the first seven races and best four results from last eight races counted towards the championship.
Numbers shown without parentheses are the points scored that counted towards the championship; numbers in parentheses are the total number of points scored.

Qualifying Results Overview

Pos	Driver	ARG	BRA	ZAF	USW	ESP	BEL	MCO	FRA	GBR	DEU	AUT	NLD	ITA	CAN	USA	Avg.	Best
1	Patrick Depailler	2	2	5	4	2	2	3									2.86	2
2	Jacques Laffite	1	1	6	5	1	1	5	8	10	3	8	7	7	5	4	4.80	1
3	Gilles Villeneuve	10	5	3	1	3	6	2	3	13	9	5	6	5	2	3	5.07	1
4	Jody Scheckter	5	6	2	3	5	7	1	5	11	5	9	5	3	9	16	6.13	1
5	Alan Jones	15	13	19	10	13	4	9	7	1	2	2	2	4	1	1	6.87	1
6	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	12	7	1	20	9	17	20	1	2	1	3	4	1	7	8	7.53	1
7	Niki Lauda	23	12	4	11	6	13	4	6	6	7	4	9	9			8.77	4
8	Nelson Piquet	20	22	12	12	7	3	18	4	3	4	7	11	8	4	2	9.13	2
9	Carlos Reutemann	3	3	11	2	8	10	11	13	8	13	17	13	13	11	6	9.47	2
10	Mario Andretti	7	4	8	6	4	5	13	12	9	11	15	17	10	10	17	9.87	4
11	Clay Regazzoni	17	17	22	15	14	8	16	9	4	6	6	3	6	3	5	10.07	3
12	Didier Pironi	8	8	7	17	10	12	7	11	15	8	10	10	12	6	10	10.07	6
13	Rene Arnoux	26	11	10	22	11	18	19	2	5	10	1	1	2	8	7	10.20	1
14	Jean-Pierre Jarier	4	15	9	7	12	11	6	10	16			16	16	13	11	11.23	4
15	James Hunt	18	10	13	8	15	9	10									11.86	8
16	Ricardo Zunino														19	9	14.00	9
17	John Watson	6	14	14	18	18	19	14	15	7	12	16	12	19	17	13	14.27	6
18	Riccardo Patrese	13	16	16	9	16	16	15	19	19	19	13	19	17	14	19	16.00	9
19	Geoff Lees										16						16.00	16
20	Keke Rosberg								16	14	17	12	8	23	27	12	16.12	8
21	Bruno Giacomelli						14		17					18		18	16.75	14
22	Jacky Ickx								14	17	14	21	20	11	16	24	17.12	11
23	Patrick Tambay	9	18	17	19	20	25	22	20	18	15	14	14	14	20	22	17.80	9
24	Emerson Fittipaldi	11	9	18	16	19	23	17	18	22	22	19	21	20	15	23	18.20	9
25	Jochen Mass	14	19	20	13	17	22	8	22	20	18	20	18	21	25	26	18.87	8
26	Hans-Joachim Stuck	25	24	24	23	21	20	12	23	25	23	18	15	15	12	14	19.60	12
27	Elio de Angelis	16	20	15	21	22	24	21	25	12	21	22	22	24	23	20	20.53	12
28	Vittorio Brambilla													22	18	25	21.67	18
29	Jan Lammers	21	21	21	14	24	21	23	21	21	20	23	23	25	21	27	21.73	14
30	Derek Daly	24	23	25	26	25	27	24				11			24	15	22.40	11
31	Hector Rebaque	19	25	23	25	23	15		24	24	24	25	24	28	22	28	23.50	15
32	Marc Surer													26	26	21	24.33	21
33	Patrick Gaillard								26	23	25	24	25				24.60	23
34	Arturo Merzario	22	26	26	24	26	26		27	26	26	26	26	27	29	30	26.21	22
35	Gianfranco Brancatelli					27	28	25									26.67	25
36	Alex Ribeiro														28	29	28.50	28

Race Results Overview

Pos	Driver	ARG	BRA	ZAF	USW	ESP	BEL	MCO	FRA	GBR	DEU	AUT	NLD	ITA	CAN	USA	Points
1	Jody Scheckter	R	6	2	2	4	1	1	7	5	4	4	2	1	4	R	51 (60)
2	Gilles Villeneuve	12^R	5	1	1	7	7^R	R	2	14^R	8	2	R	2	2	1	47 (53)
3	Alan Jones	9	R	R	3	R	R	R	4	R	1	1	1	9	1	R	40 (43)
4	Jacques Laffite	1	1	R	R	R	2	R	8	R	3	3	3	R	R	R	36
5	Clay Regazzoni	10	15	9	R	R	R	2	6	1	2	5	R	3	3	R	29 (32)
6	Patrick Depailler	4	2	R	5	1	R	5^R									20 (22)
=	Carlos Reutemann	2	3	5	R	2	4	3	13^R	8	R	R	R	7	R	R	20 (25)
8	Rene Arnoux	R	R	R	DNS	9	R	R	3	2	R	6	R	R	R	2	17
9	John Watson	3	8	R	R	R	6	4	11	4	5	9	R	R	6	6	15
10	Didier Pironi	R	4	R	DSQ	6	3	R	R	10	9	7	R	10	5	3	14
=	Jean-Pierre Jarier	R	DNS	3	6	5	11	R	5	3			R	6	R	R	14
=	Mario Andretti	5	R	4	4	3	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	5	10^R	R	14
13	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	R	10	R	DNS	R	R	NC	1	R	R	R	R	14^R	R	R	9
14	Niki Lauda	R	R	6	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	4			4
15	Nelson Piquet	R	R	7	8	R	R	R	R	R	12^R	R	4	R	R	R	3
=	Elio de Angelis	7	12	R	7	R	R	DNQ	16	12	11	R	R	R	R	4	3
=	Jacky Ickx								R	6	R	R	5	R	R	R	3
=	Jochen Mass	8	7	12	9	8	R	6	15	R	6	R	6	R	DNQ	DNQ	3
19	Riccardo Patrese	DNS	9	11	R	10	5	R	14	R	R	R	R	13	R	R	2
=	Hans-Joachim Stuck		R	R	DSQ	14	8	R	DNS	DNQ	R	R	R	11	R	5	2
21	Emerson Fittipaldi	6	11	13	R	11	9	R	R	R	R	R	R	8	8	7	1
	Hector Rebaque	R	DNQ	14^R	R	R	R		12	9	R	DNQ	7	DNQ	R	DNQ
	Patrick Tambay	R	R	10	R	13	DNQ	DNQ	10	7^R	R	10	R	R	R	R
	Ricardo Zunino														7	R
	Geoff Lees										7
	Derek Daly	11	13	DNQ	R	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ				8			R	R
	James Hunt	R	R	8	R	R	R	R
	Jan Lammers	R	14	R	R	12	10	DNQ	18	11	10	R	R	DNQ	9	DNQ
	Keke Rosberg								9	R	R	R	R	R	DNQ	R
	Vittorio Brambilla													12	R	DNQ
	Patrick Gaillard								DNQ	13	DNQ	R	DNQ
	Bruno Giacomelli						R		17					R		R
	Arturo Merzario	R	DNQ	DNQ	R	DNQ	DNQ		DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
	Marc Surer													DNQ	DNQ	R
	Gianfranco Brancatelli					DNQ	DNQ	DNPQ
	Alex Ribeiro														DNQ	DNQ

Race To The Title

The Race To The Title graph shows how the title race played out over the course of the season.

1979 F1 World Championship Season Statistics

See: 1979 F1 World Championship Season Statistics