F1 driver standings
| 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 | 12R | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7R | R | 2 | 14R | 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 | 5R | 20 (22) | ||||||||
| = | Carlos Reutemann | 2 | 3 | 5 | R | 2 | 4 | 3 | 13R | 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 | 10R | R | 14 |
| 13 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | R | 10 | R | DNS | R | R | NC | 1 | R | R | R | R | 14R | 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 | 12R | 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 | 14R | R | R | R | 12 | 9 | R | DNQ | 7 | DNQ | R | DNQ | |||
| Patrick Tambay | R | R | 10 | R | 13 | DNQ | DNQ | 10 | 7R | 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 | |||||||||||||||
| No. | Driver | ARG | BRA | ZAF | USW | ESP | BEL | MCO | FRA | GBR | DEU | AUT | NLD | ITA | CAN | USA | Points |
Table key
- Highlight: Rookie
- Bold: pole position
- Underline: fastest lap
- Bold & underline: pole & fastest lap
- DNQ: Did not qualify
- DNPQ: Did not pre-qualify
- NC: Not classified
- DSQ: Disqualified
- DNS: Did not start
Points system and championship rules
The top six classified finishers of each race were awarded points on the following basis:
- 1st (9)
- 2nd (6)
- 3rd (4)
- 4th (3)
- 5th (2)
- 6th (1)
Only the best four results from the first seven races and the best four results from the 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.
Race to the title
The Race to the title graph shows how the title race played out over the course of the season between the top six drivers of 1979. Reigning world champion Mario Andretti, who finished equal 10th, is also shown.