1979 United States Grand Prix
328th World Championship race, 21st World Championship United States Grand Prix, 19th World Championship race at Watkins Glen
Fact File
| Date: | Sunday, 7 October 1979 |
|---|---|
| Winner: |  Gilles Villeneuve  Ferrari |
| Pole position: |  Alan Jones  Williams-Ford Cosworth |
| Fastest lap: |  Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford Cosworth |
| Circuit: | Watkins Glen, 59 laps |
| Round: | 15 of 15 |
Race Result
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +2 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 59 | 1hr 52m 17.734s | 9 |
| 2 | +5 |  Rene Arnoux | Renault | 59 | +48.787s | 6 |
| 3 | +7 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 59 | +53.199s | 4 |
| 4 | +16 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow-Ford Cosworth | 59 | +1m 30.512s | 3 |
| 5 | +9 |  Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS-Ford Cosworth | 59 | +1m 41.259s | 2 |
| 6 | +7 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford Cosworth | 58 | +1 lap | 1 |
| 7 | +16 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth | 54 | +5 laps | |
| R | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Ford Cosworth | 53 | DNF | ||
| R |  Derek Daly | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 52 | DNF | ||
| R |  Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | 48 | DNF | ||
| R | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford Cosworth | 44 | DNF | ||
| R | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford Cosworth | 36 | DNF | ||
| R |  Marc Surer | Ensign-Ford Cosworth | 32 | DNF | ||
| R | Clay Regazzoni | Williams-Ford Cosworth | 29 | DNF | ||
| R |  Ricardo Zunino | Brabham-Ford Cosworth | 25 | DNF | ||
| R | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | 24 | DNF | ||
| R | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford Cosworth | 20 | DNF | ||
| R |  Keke Rosberg | Wolf-Ford Cosworth | 20 | DNF | ||
| R | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 18 | DNF | ||
| R |  Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford Cosworth | 16 | DNF | ||
| R | Carlos Reutemann | Lotus-Ford Cosworth | 6 | DNF | ||
| R | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford Cosworth | 3 | DNF | ||
| R |  Jacky Ickx | Ligier-Ford Cosworth | 2 | DNF | ||
| R | Bruno Giacomelli | Alfa Romeo | 0 | DNF |
Starting Grid
- Highlight: race winner
- Highlight: second place
- Highlight: third place
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford Cosworth | 1:35.615 |
| 2 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Ford Cosworth | |
| 3 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | |
| 4 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford Cosworth | |
| 5 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams-Ford Cosworth | |
| 6 | Carlos Reutemann | Lotus-Ford Cosworth | |
| 7 | Rene Arnoux | Renault | |
| 8 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | |
| 9 | Ricardo Zunino | Brabham-Ford Cosworth | |
| 10 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | |
| 11 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | |
| 12 | Keke Rosberg | Wolf-Ford Cosworth | |
| 13 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford Cosworth | |
| 14 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS-Ford Cosworth | |
| 15 | Derek Daly | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | |
| 16 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | |
| 17 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford Cosworth | |
| 18 | Bruno Giacomelli | Alfa Romeo | |
| 19 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford Cosworth | |
| 20 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow-Ford Cosworth | |
| 21 | Marc Surer | Ensign-Ford Cosworth | |
| 22 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford Cosworth | |
| 23 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth | |
| 24 | Jacky Ickx | Ligier-Ford Cosworth |
Non-qualifiers
| Driver | Constructor |
|---|---|
| Vittorio Brambilla | Alfa Romeo |
| Jochen Mass | Arrows-Ford Cosworth |
 Jan Lammers | Shadow-Ford Cosworth |
 Hector Rebaque | Rebaque-Ford Cosworth |
| Alex Ribeiro | Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth |
| Arturo Merzario | Merzario-Ford Cosworth |
Championship Standings
How the championship standings stood post-race.
- Highlight: driver/constructor confirmed as world champion for 1979
Driver
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jody Scheckter | 51 |
| 2 | Gilles Villeneuve | 47 |
| 3 | Alan Jones | 40 |
| 4 | Jacques Laffite | 36 |
| 5 | Clay Regazzoni | 29 |
| 6 | Patrick Depailler | 20 |
| 7 | Carlos Reutemann | 20 |
| 8 | Rene Arnoux | 17 |
| 9 | John Watson | 15 |
| 10 | Didier Pironi | 14 |
| 11 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | 14 |
| 12 | Mario Andretti | 14 |
| 13 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | 9 |
| 14 |  Niki Lauda | 4 |
| 15 | Nelson Piquet | 3 |
| 15 | Elio de Angelis | 3 |
| 17 | Jacky Ickx | 3 |
| 18 | Jochen Mass | 3 |
| 19 | Riccardo Patrese | 2 |
| = | Hans-Joachim Stuck | 2 |
| 21 | Emerson Fittipaldi | 1 |
Statistics & Milestones
- Race debut
- Driver: Marc Surer
- Last start
- Driver: Jacky Ickx, Hans-Joachim Stuck
- Constructor: Wolf
- Wins
- Driver: 4th for Gilles Villeneuve
- Constructor: 79th for Ferrari
- Podiums
- Driver: 9th for Gilles Villeneuve, 3rd for Rene Arnoux, 2nd for Didier Pironi
- Constructor: 257th for Ferrari, 69th for Tyrrell, 4th for Renault
- Poles
- Driver: 3rd for Alan Jones
- Constructor: 3rd for Williams
- Fastest laps
- Driver: 1st for Nelson Piquet (69th different fastest lap setter, 3rd Brazilian driver)
- Constructor: 27th for Brabham
- Front row starts
- Driver: 6th for Alan Jones, 1st for Nelson Piquet (97th different front row starter, 3rd Brazilian driver)
- Points finishes
- Driver: 25th for John Watson, 12th and last for Hans-Joachim Stuck, 1st for Elio de Angelis (199th different point scorer, 27th Italian driver)