1979 United States Grand Prix
| Date | Sunday, 7 October 1979 |
|---|---|
| Winner |
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| Pole position |
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| Fastest lap |
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| Circuit | Watkins Glen, 59 laps |
| Round | 15 of 15 |
| Race numbers | The 1979 United States Grand Prix was the
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| More 1979 season | |
| More United States Grands Prix | |
| Next race | 1980 Argentine Grand Prix |
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 | ||
Notes
- Alan Jones ended lap 36 as the race leader before retiring on the following lap.
Starting grid
Pole time: 1:35.615
| Pos | Driver | Constructor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford Cosworth |
| 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-1979 United States Grand Prix.
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 |
Constructor
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ferrari | 113 |
| 2 | Williams-Ford Cosworth | 75 |
| 3 | Ligier-Ford Cosworth | 61 |
| 4 | Lotus-Ford Cosworth | 39 |
| 5 | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 28 |
| 6 | Renault | 26 |
| 7 | McLaren-Ford Cosworth | 15 |
| 8 | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 7 |
| 9 | Arrows-Ford Cosworth | 5 |
| 10 | Shadow-Ford Cosworth | 3 |
| 11 | ATS-Ford Cosworth | 2 |
| 12 | Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth | 1 |
Statistics & 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)