The 1979 Formula One season, alternately known as the 1979 FIAFormula One World Championship, was the 30th season of World Championship racing organised by the FIA to the Formula One rulebook. 1979 proved to be a season of intrigue and a changing of the guard, with former Champions retiring, new manufacturers arriving, and FISA and FOCA drawing battle lines as they continued to fight for control over the series.
Mario Andretti would start the season as the defending drivers' Champion, while his team, Lotus-Ford Cosworth campaigned as the defending holders of the International Cup for Constructors.[1] They duly started the 1979 season as the favourites having introduced the concept of ground-effect to Formula One, with fifteen races scheduled between January and October.[2]
However, the opening round in Argentina underlined how far the ground-effect revolution had come, for Ligier racer Jacques Laffite swept to victory, the first for himself and the French constructor.[2] The Frenchman duly made it two from two with pole, victory and fastest lap in Brazil, before Gilles Villeneuve claimed victory at the following two rounds.[3]
Patrick Depailler was the next winner of the season, claiming the honours in Spain, followed by two victories for Jody Scheckter.[4] Indeed, the South African ace would make his bid for the Championship with a series of strong finishes across the first half of the season, with Villeneuve, Laffite and Depailler all failing to register major points if they failed to win.[4]
The second half of the season would see the rise of Renault and Williams, with Jean-Pierre Jabouille claiming a historic victory for Renault at their home race at Dijon Prenois.[5]Clay Regazzoni was the next winner, before Alan Jones went on a run of three consecutive victories, although Scheckter's consistent scoring ensured that the Australian was too far back to challenge for the crown.[6]
Indeed, Scheckter and Ferrari would secure their crowns at the 1979 Italian Grand Prix, with the South African sweeping to victory ahead of teammate Villeneuve.[7] The Canadian ace then enjoyed a race long battle with Jones for victory on his home soil, with Jones ultimately emerging ahead, before ending the season with victory at the season finale at Watkins Glen.[8]
Outside of the fight for the Championship there would be sweeping changes at McLaren, a complete collapse from Lotus, and the return of Alfa Romeo. Niki Lauda would also call time on his F1 career, although would ultimately return in 1982, as did 1976 Champion James Hunt at Le Mans legend Jacky Ickx.
The calendar for the 1979 World Championship tour would follow the 1978 almost identically, with some minor revisions and a late cancellation. The biggest change would be a swap between Spain and Monaco, with the latter moving to late May, while the 1979 Swedish Grand Prix was cancelled in early June after failing to secure funding. The second half of the season was then identical to how it had been in 1978, albeit with the season finale switching back to Watkins Glen.
The second start saw Depailler leap into an early lead, while Laffite fell to fourth behind Jean-Pierre Jarier and John Watson.[2] Laffite then produced the charge of his life to climb back into the lead before the end of lap eleven, before powering away from Depailler.[2] He duly cruised home to claim a dominant victory, while Carlos Reutemann and Watson moved onto the podium as a misfire caused Depailler's pace to collapse late on.[2]
Jacques Laffite would win the Brazilian Grand Prix at a canter, also collecting fastest lap and his maiden Grand Chelem.
Ligier again proved to be the chassis to beat at the Brazilian Grand Prix, with Laffite and Depailler again securing a front-row lock-out for the French squad.[9] Reutemann led the anti-Ligier charge from third ahead of World Champion teammate Mario Andretti, while the Ferraris shared the third row.[9] However, things would not go Ligier's way at the start of the race, for Reutemann was able to charge through to take second from Depailler, as Laffite swept into the lead.[9]
Laffite duly powered away to claim his second straight victory, as well as a maiden Grand Chelem as he collected fastest lap and led every tour of the Autódromo do Interlagos.[9] Depailler, meanwhile, would power past Reutemann early on before charging away to claim second, with the Argentine left to fight teammate Andretti for third.[9] Mechanical fatigue eventually saw Reutemann secure the final podium spot, with Pironi, Gilles Villeneuve and Scheckter completing the points after stopping for fresh tyres.[9]
The XXV Simba Grand Prix of South Africa would serve as the third race of the season in early March, and would see a French built car again sweep to pole.[10] However, this car would not be a Ligier, rather a turbochargedRenault in the hands of Jean-Pierre Jabouille.[10] Indeed, it was a historic day for F1, for Jabouille became the first man to claim pole in a turbocharged car, a sign of things to come in the following decade.[10]
A cloud burst during the opening lap of the race ultimately saw the race stopped at the end of the second lap, with Villeneuve having scrambled ahead of Jabouille.[10] The Canadian duly lined up on pole for the restart, and subsequently sprinted away as the lights went out, followed by teammate Scheckter.[10] Jabouille, meanwhile, decided to start the race on slicks in spite of the sodden track, and hence paid the price as the two Ferraris sprinted away.[10]
However, the circuit would quickly dry, forcing the two Ferraris to stop for slicks mid-race.[10] Villeneuve would rejoin in second, behind Scheckter, although that was only because the South African ace opted to hold onto his wets through until lap 53.[10] Once he stopped Villeneuve was left to power home to another impressive victory, while Scheckter charged hard on his fresh slicks to claim second ahead of Jarier.[10]
The F1 circus headed back across the Atlantic for the fourth race of the season, landing at the Long Beach Street Circuit for the annual scramble in the streets of California.[3] Qualifying would see Villeneuve sweep to pole ahead of Reutemann, while Scheckter beat Depailler to third.[3] Indeed, the only blot on the Canadian's copy book would come on raceday, with the Canadian at fault for two false starts.[3]
However, once the race did eventually get underway there would be no stopping Villeneuve, who duly sprinted away to claim a dominant victory.[3] The Canadian would also secure his maiden Grand Chelem as he danced his Ferrari to fastest lap, while teammate Scheckter had to battle back from a poor opening lap to claim second.[3]Alan Jones, meanwhile, would elbow his way through to third having endured a race long fight with Depailler and Jarier.[3]
F1 arrived in Europe for the first time in 1979 on the 29 April, with the World Championship field massing at the Circuito del Jarama for the Spanish Grand Prix.[11] Qualifying would see Ligier return to their early form, Laffite sweeping to pole ahead of Depailler, while fresh-faced Championship leader Villeneuve beat defending Champion Andretti to third.[11] Unfortunately for Villeneuve his hopes of claiming a third victory of the season would evaporate early on, as the Canadian bounced off the side of Reutemann on the opening tour after making a poor start.[11]
Villeneuve through away his chance of victory with an ambitious lunge at Reutemann at the start, only succeeding in pitching himself into a spin.
Out front, meanwhile, Depailler would power past Laffite at the start, before the two blasted away to fight a private duel for victory.[11] However, Laffite would ultimately ruin his race when his best opportunity to take the lead came, with an inopportune gear change causing his Ford Cosworth to detonate on lap fifteen.[11] Depailler was hence left on his own at the head of the field, having amassed a huge lead in the opening stages.[11]
The fight for the other podium spots would, however, rage throughout the rest of the race with Reutemann, Andretti, Scheckter and Niki Lauda all fighting hard.[11] Ultimately mechanical fatigue eliminated Lauda, while tyre fatigue saw Scheckter drop behind both Loti late on.[11] Reutemann hence claimed second ahead of Andretti and the South African, while Jarier and Pironi just held on to deny a charging Villeneuve a point.[11]
The Belgian Grand Prix would host yet another surprise for F1's class of 1979, with Alfa Romeo returning the field as a factory team for the first time since the 1951 Spanish Grand Prix.[12]Bruno Giacomelli was given the honour of representing the Quadrifoglio, and while he managed to qualify for the race, he was someway off the outright pace.[12] Indeed, pole would instead go to Laffite for the fourth time in 1979, with Depailler and Nelson Piquet, using an Alfa engined Brabham at the head of the grid.[12]
It was advantage Depailler off the line, with the Frenchman powering past his teammate with ease as Laffite spun his wheels.[12] Indeed, Laffite dropped behind both Piquet and Jones at the start, with Jones also managing to elbow the Brazilian out of the way to claim second at the end of the opening tour.[12] The Ferraris and Clay Regazzoni subsequently joined the fray on the second lap, with Scheckter and Villeneuve both smacking the Swiss ace to leave the Williams with heavy damage.[12]
Out front, meanwhile, Depailler would be caught and passed by a recovering Laffite, until both Ligiers hit tyre trouble.[12] That briefly allowed Jones to lead until his race was ended by an electrical failure, with Depailler subsequently inheriting the lead until he went straight into the barriers with horrendous understeer.[12] Laffite hence regained the lead, although a lack of grip meant he was powerless to prevent Scheckter sweeping through late on to claim victory.[12]
Argentine Grand Prix
Brazilian Grand Prix
South African Grand Prix
United States Grand Prix West
Long Beach, California, United States
Spanish Grand Prix
Belgian Grand Prix
Monaco Grand Prix
French Grand Prix
British Grand Prix
German Grand Prix
Austrian Grand Prix
Dutch Grand Prix
Italian Grand Prix
Canadian Grand Prix
Alan Jones
Clay Regazzoni
