1979 Brazilian Grand Prix

1979 Brazilian Grand Prix
Race 2 of 15 in the 1979 Formula One season
Race details
Date	4 February 1979
Location	Autódromo de Interlagos São Paulo, Brazil
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	7.960 km (4.946 [1] miles)
Distance	40 laps, 318.400 km (197.840 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford
Time	2:23.07
Fastest lap
Driver	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford
Time	2:28.76 on lap 23
Podium
First	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford
Second	Patrick Depailler	Ligier-Ford
Third	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1979 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos on 4 February 1979. It was the second race of the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors.

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Grid
1	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford	2:23.07	1
2	25	Patrick Depailler	Ligier-Ford	2:23.99	2
3	2	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus-Ford	2:24.15	3
4	1	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	2:24.28	4
5	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	2:24.34	5
6	11	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	2:24.48	6
7	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	2:24.85	7
8	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	2:25.16	8
9	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	2:26.35	9
10	20	James Hunt	Wolf-Ford	2:26.37	10
11	16	René Arnoux	Renault	2:26.43	11
12	5	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	2:27.57	12
13	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	2:27.67	13
14	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	2:27.82	14
15	4	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford	2:27.89	15
16	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	2:28.08	16
17	28	Clay Regazzoni	Williams-Ford	2:28.88	17
18	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	2:29.39	18
19	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows-Ford	2:29.42	19
20	17	Elio de Angelis	Shadow-Ford	2:30.29	20
21	18	Jan Lammers	Shadow-Ford	2:31.60	21
22	6	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	2:31.64	22
23	22	Derek Daly	Ensign-Ford	2:31.78	23
24	9	Hans-Joachim Stuck	ATS-Ford	2:32.27	24
DNQ	31	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus-Ford	2:32.66	—
DNQ	24	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	2:34.08	—

Race

Race report

The Ligier team dominated the race weekend with their superior ground-effect JS11. Frenchman Jacques Laffite dominated the race weekend and made the most of his superbly set-up Ligier by taking pole position, smashing Jean-Pierre Jarier's 1975 pole time by 7 seconds, setting fastest lap and leading every lap of the race up to the finish. Laffite's teammate Patrick Depailler started and finished 2nd. Laffite and the Ligier team completed their domination of the South American fortnight, Laffite also dominantly won in Argentina.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford	G	40	1:40:09.64	1	9
2	25	Patrick Depailler	Ligier-Ford	G	40	+ 5.28	2	6
3	2	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus-Ford	G	40	+ 44.14	3	4
4	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	G	40	+ 1:25.88	8	3
5	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	M	39	+ 1 Lap	5	2
6	11	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	M	39	+ 1 Lap	6	1
7	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows-Ford	G	39	+ 1 Lap	19
8	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	G	39	+ 1 Lap	14
9	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	G	39	+ 1 Lap	16
10	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	M	39	+ 1 Lap	7
11	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	G	39	+ 1 Lap	9
12	18	Elio de Angelis	Shadow-Ford	G	39	+ 1 Lap	20
13	22	Derek Daly	Ensign-Ford	G	39	+ 1 Lap	23
14	17	Jan Lammers	Shadow-Ford	G	39	+ 1 Lap	21
15	28	Clay Regazzoni	Williams-Ford	G	38	+ 2 Laps	17
Ret	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	G	33	Fuel System	13
Ret	9	Hans-Joachim Stuck	ATS-Ford	G	31	Steering	24
Ret	16	René Arnoux	Renault	M	28	Spun Off	11
Ret	20	James Hunt	Wolf-Ford	G	7	Steering	10
Ret	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	G	7	Collision	18
Ret	5	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	G	5	Gearbox	12
Ret	6	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	G	5	Accident	22
Ret	1	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	G	2	Fuel Leak	4
Ret	4	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford	G	0	Electrical	15
DNQ	31	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus-Ford	G
DNQ	24	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	G
Source: [2] [3]

Notes

• This was the 9th and 10th podium finish for Ligier.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jacques Laffite 18 2 Carlos Reutemann 10 1 3 Patrick Depailler 9 1 4 John Watson 4 16 5 Didier Pironi 3 Source: [4]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ligier-Ford 27 2 Lotus-Ford 12 3 McLaren-Ford 4 3 4 Tyrrell-Ford 3 5 Ferrari 3 Source: [4]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Additional notes

• ^a Although the circuit length was quoted in MotorSport magazine as 7.873 km, ^[5] the fastest lap's time/speed quoted ^[5] are consistent with the 7.87385 km length, same as quoted in 1980 race report. ^[6]
• ^b Although the race distance was quoted in MotorSport magazine as 314.92 km, ^[5] the winner's time/speed quoted ^[5] are consistent with the 314.954 km distance, same as quoted in 1980 race report. ^[6]

References

1. "1979 Brazilian Grand Prix | Motorsport Database".
2. "1979 Brazilian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
3. "1979 Brazilian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 4 February 1979. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
4. "Brazil 1979 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
5. "Brazilian Grand Prix". MotorSport. March 1979. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
6. "Brazilian Grand Prix". MotorSport. March 1980. Retrieved 2017-11-13.

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