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Home / Seasons / 1979 F1 World Championship Season / 1979 United States Grand Prix

1979 United States Grand Prix

Date
Winner
Pole position
Fastest lap
CircuitWatkins Glen, 59 laps
Round15 of 15
Race numbers

The 1979 United States Grand Prix was the:

  • 328th World Championship race
  • 21st World Championship United States Grand Prix
  • 19th World Championship race at Watkins Glen
More 1979 season
More United States Grands Prix
Next race1980 Argentine Grand Prix

Race result

PosDriverConstructorLapsTimePoints
1+2(CAN) Gilles VilleneuveFerrari591hr 52m 17.734s9
2+5(FRA) Rene ArnouxRenault59+48.787s6
3+7(FRA) Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford Cosworth59+53.199s4
4+16(ITA) Elio de AngelisShadow-Ford Cosworth59+1m 30.512s3
5+9(DEU) Hans-Joachim StuckATS-Ford Cosworth59+1m 41.259s2
6+7(GBR) John WatsonMcLaren-Ford Cosworth58+1 lap1
7+16(BRA) Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford Cosworth54+5 laps 
R (BRA) Nelson PiquetBrabham-Ford Cosworth53DNF 
R (IRL) Derek DalyTyrrell-Ford Cosworth52DNF 
R (ZAF) Jody ScheckterFerrari48DNF 
R (ITA) Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford Cosworth44DNF 
R (AUS) Alan JonesWilliams-Ford Cosworth36DNF 
R (CHE) Marc SurerEnsign-Ford Cosworth32DNF 
R (CHE) Clay RegazzoniWilliams-Ford Cosworth29DNF 
R (ARG) Ricardo ZuninoBrabham-Ford Cosworth25DNF 
R (FRA) Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault24DNF 
R (FRA) Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford Cosworth20DNF 
R (FIN) Keke RosbergWolf-Ford Cosworth20DNF 
R (FRA) Jean-Pierre JarierTyrrell-Ford Cosworth18DNF 
R (USA) Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford Cosworth16DNF 
R (ARG) Carlos ReutemannLotus-Ford Cosworth6DNF 
R (FRA) Jacques LaffiteLigier-Ford Cosworth3DNF 
R (BEL) Jacky IckxLigier-Ford Cosworth2DNF 
R (ITA) Bruno GiacomelliAlfa Romeo0DNF 

Notes

  • Alan Jones ended lap 36 as the race leader before retiring on the following lap.

Starting grid

Pole time: 1:35.615

PosDriverConstructor
1(AUS) Alan JonesWilliams-Ford Cosworth
2(BRA) Nelson PiquetBrabham-Ford Cosworth
3(CAN) Gilles VilleneuveFerrari
4(FRA) Jacques LaffiteLigier-Ford Cosworth
5(CHE) Clay RegazzoniWilliams-Ford Cosworth
6(ARG) Carlos ReutemannLotus-Ford Cosworth
7(FRA) Rene ArnouxRenault
8(FRA) Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault
9(ARG) Ricardo ZuninoBrabham-Ford Cosworth
10(FRA) Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford Cosworth
11(FRA) Jean-Pierre JarierTyrrell-Ford Cosworth
12(FIN) Keke RosbergWolf-Ford Cosworth
13(GBR) John WatsonMcLaren-Ford Cosworth
14(DEU) Hans-Joachim StuckATS-Ford Cosworth
15(IRL) Derek DalyTyrrell-Ford Cosworth
16(ZAF) Jody ScheckterFerrari
17(USA) Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford Cosworth
18(ITA) Bruno GiacomelliAlfa Romeo
19(ITA) Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford Cosworth
20(ITA) Elio de AngelisShadow-Ford Cosworth
21(CHE) Marc SurerEnsign-Ford Cosworth
22(FRA) Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford Cosworth
23(BRA) Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford Cosworth
24(BEL) Jacky IckxLigier-Ford Cosworth

Non-qualifiers

DriverConstructor
(ITA) Vittorio BrambillaAlfa Romeo
(DEU) Jochen MassArrows-Ford Cosworth
(NLD) Jan LammersShadow-Ford Cosworth
(MEX) Hector RebaqueRebaque-Ford Cosworth
(BRA) Alex RibeiroFittipaldi-Ford Cosworth
(ITA) Arturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford Cosworth

Championship standings

How the championship standings stood post-race.

Driver

PosDriverPoints
1(ZAF) Jody Scheckter51
2(CAN) Gilles Villeneuve47
3(AUS) Alan Jones40
4(FRA) Jacques Laffite36
5(CHE) Clay Regazzoni29
6(FRA) Patrick Depailler20
7(ARG) Carlos Reutemann20
8(FRA) Rene Arnoux17
9(GBR) John Watson15
10(FRA) Didier Pironi14
11(FRA) Jean-Pierre Jarier14
12(USA) Mario Andretti14
13(FRA) Jean-Pierre Jabouille9
14(AUT) Niki Lauda4
15(BRA) Nelson Piquet3
15(ITA) Elio de Angelis3
17(BEL) Jacky Ickx3
18(DEU) Jochen Mass3
19(ITA) Riccardo Patrese2
=(DEU) Hans-Joachim Stuck2
21(BRA) Emerson Fittipaldi1

Constructor

PosConstructorPoints
1Ferrari113
2Williams-Ford Cosworth75
3Ligier-Ford Cosworth61
4Lotus-Ford Cosworth39
5Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth28
6Renault26
7McLaren-Ford Cosworth15
8Brabham-Alfa Romeo7
9Arrows-Ford Cosworth5
10Shadow-Ford Cosworth3
11ATS-Ford Cosworth2
12Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth1

Stats & milestones

Race debut
Marc Surer
Last start
Jacky Ickx (last Belgian driver to start a race until 1983)
Hans-Joachim Stuck
Wolf
Wins
4th for Gilles Villeneuve (last win until 1981)
79th for Ferrari
Podiums
9th for Gilles Villeneuve (last podium until 1981)
3rd for Rene Arnoux
2nd for Didier Pironi (last for Tyrrell)
257th for Ferrari
69th for Tyrrell (last until 1982)
4th for Renault
Poles
3rd for Alan Jones
3rd for Williams
Fastest laps
1st for Nelson Piquet (69th different fastest lap setter, 3rd Brazilian driver; first Brazilian driver to set a fastest lap since 1975)
27th for Brabham
Front row starts
6th for Alan Jones
1st for Nelson Piquet (97th different front row starter, 3rd Brazilian driver)
Points finishes
25th for John Watson
12th and last for Hans-Joachim Stuck
1st for Elio de Angelis (199th different point scorer, 27th Italian driver)