1979 British Formula One Championship | |||
Previous: | 1978 | Next: | 1980 |
The 1979 British Formula One Championship (formally the 1979 Aurora AFX F1 Championship) was the second season of the British Formula One Championship. It commenced on April 1, 1979, and ended on October 7 after fifteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Englishman Rupert Keegan who drove an Arrows A1 entered by Charles Clowes. [1]
The British Formula One Championship, often abbreviated to British F1, was a Formula One motor racing championship held in the United Kingdom. It was often referred to as the Aurora AFX Formula One series due to the Aurora company's sponsorship of the series for three of the four seasons.
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
Rupert Keegan is a former racing driver from England. He participated in 37 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 8 May 1977. He scored no championship points.
Entry List [2] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | No. | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Rounds |
Formula 1 | |||||
![]() | 1 | ![]() | Tyrrell 008 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | All |
2 | ![]() | 1-4 | |||
![]() | 8-13 | ||||
![]() | McLaren M23 | 5-7 | |||
![]() | Arrows A1 | 14-15 | |||
![]() | 3 | ![]() | Lotus 78 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | All |
![]() | 4 | ![]() | Fittipaldi F5A | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | All |
5 | ![]() | All | |||
![]() | 6 | ![]() | Chevron B41 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 1-4, 7, 11, 15 |
![]() | 5 | ||||
![]() | 8-9, 11-12 | ||||
![]() | 13-14 | ||||
![]() | 7 | ![]() | March 752/771 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 1 |
March 781 | 2-5 | ||||
![]() | 8 | ![]() | Ensign N177 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 5-8 |
![]() | 9 | ||||
![]() | 9 | ![]() | Williams FW06 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | All |
10 | ![]() | 4, 6, 10-11 | |||
![]() | 12, 14 | ||||
![]() | 13 | ||||
44 | ![]() | 4 | |||
![]() | 11 | ![]() | Wolf WR4 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 1-11 |
Wolf WR6 | 12-15 | ||||
7 | ![]() | Wolf WR3 | 8-9 | ||
Wolf WR4 | 12 | ||||
12 | ![]() | 15 | |||
![]() | 14 | ![]() | Williams FW06 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 10 |
![]() | 16 | ![]() | Arrows A1 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 2-9, 11-15 |
17 | ![]() | 8-14 | |||
![]() | 17 | ![]() | McLaren M23 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 6 |
Arrows A1 | 7 | ||||
![]() | 22 | ![]() | Surtees TS20 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 1-3 |
![]() | 9-10, 12 | ||||
Surtees TS20+ | 13-15 | ||||
23 | ![]() | Surtees TS20 | 1 | ||
![]() | 10 | ||||
![]() | 24 | ![]() | McLaren M23 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 13 |
![]() | 27 | ![]() | LEC CRP1 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 12-13 |
Shadow DN9 | 14-15 | ||||
![]() | 33 | ![]() | Ensign N174 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 1, 3 |
![]() | 2, 5 | ||||
![]() | Surtees TS19 | 7, 9, 12, 14 | |||
![]() | 8, 11, 15 | ||||
![]() | 39 | ![]() | Kauhsen WK | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 1 |
![]() | 42 | ![]() | March 781 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 1-3 |
![]() | 88 | ![]() | McLaren M26 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 2, 4, 8 |
Formula 2 | |||||
![]() | 8 | ![]() | March 792 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 1-2, 4, 13 |
![]() | 13 | ![]() | March 792 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 2, 8 |
![]() | 15 | ![]() | March 772P | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 1 |
BMW M12 2.0 L4 | 2, 4-9 | ||||
March 772P/782 | Ford BDG Eden 2.0 L4 | 11 | |||
![]() | 13 | ||||
![]() | Ford BDG Richardson 2.0 L4 | 15 | |||
![]() | 18 | ![]() | Chevron B42 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 1-2, 4-5, 8-10 |
19 | ![]() | 1-2, 4-5, 7-9, 11-14 | |||
Chevron B48 | 15 | ||||
![]() | 20 | ![]() | March 782 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 1, 4-8, 10 |
![]() | 25 | ![]() | Chevron B42 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 1-2, 10 |
![]() | 4-9, 11-15 | ||||
![]() | 26 | ![]() | Pilbeam MP42 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 5-6 |
![]() | 7 | ||||
![]() | 28 | ![]() | Chevron B35D | Ford BDG 2.0 L4 | 2, 4, 6-8, 11 |
![]() | 29 | ![]() | Chevron B42 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 2, 4, 6, 8-9 |
![]() | 30 | ![]() | March 792 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 1-2, 4-9, 11-13, 15 |
31 | ![]() | March 772P | 5 | ||
34 | ![]() | 1 | |||
![]() | 34 | ![]() | AGS JH15 | BMW M12 2.0 L4 | 10 |
![]() | 65 | ![]() | March 782 | BMW M12 2.0 L4 | 1-2 |
![]() | 77 | ![]() | March 792 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 4, 13-14 |
Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers using the following structure:
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | PP | FL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
|
Bold – Pole |
Renzo Zorzi was a racing driver from Italy who participated in 7 Formula One Grands Prix between 1975 and 1977.
Robert "Bob" Evans is a British former racing driver from England. He participated in 12 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 1 March 1975. He scored no championship points. He also competed in numerous non-Championship Formula One races.
Emilio de Villota Ruíz is a former racing driver from Spain, born in Madrid. He entered 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix between 1976 and 1982, qualifying twice. He entered most Spanish Grand Prix between 1976 and 1982 and became a major force in the short-lived Aurora AFX Formula One Championship for F1 cars, winning the title in 1980.
Guy Richard Goronwy Edwards, QGM is a former racing driver from England. Best known for his sportscar and British Formula One career, as well as for brokering sponsorship deals, Edwards participated in 17 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 13 January 1974. He scored no championship points.
William Michael "Mike" Wilds is a British racing driver from England. He participated in eight Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 20 July 1974. He scored no championship points.
Theodore "Teddy" Pilette is a former racing driver from Belgium. He participated in 4 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, the first on 12 May 1974 with Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team.
Fittipaldi Automotive, sometimes called Copersucar after its first major sponsor, was the only Formula One motor racing team and constructor ever to be based in Brazil. It was formed during 1974 by racing driver Wilson Fittipaldi and his younger brother, double world champion Emerson, with money from the Brazilian sugar and alcohol cooperative Copersucar. The team raced under a Brazilian licence. In 1976, Emerson surprised the motor racing world by leaving the title-winning McLaren team to drive for the unsuccessful family outfit. Future world champion Keke Rosberg took his first podium finish in Formula One with the team.
Kauhsen was a Formula One constructor from Germany, founded by former sportscar driver Willi Kauhsen. The team started in Formula Two in 1976, purchasing Renault cars, and raced with an assortment of drivers with limited success. Kauhsen then entered the 1979 Formula One season, spending 1978 designing their own chassis with Cosworth engines. They participated in two World Championship Grands Prix with Gianfranco Brancatelli, failing to qualify on both occasions, before the team was shut down.
Desiré Randall Wilson is a former racing driver from South Africa and one of only five women to have competed in Formula One. Born in Brakpan, she entered one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix in 1980 with a non-works RAM Racing-prepared Williams FW07, but failed to qualify. She also raced in the 1981 non-world championship South African Grand Prix in a one off deal with Tyrrell Racing. This race was not part of the 1981 world championship due, in part, to the FISA–FOCA war. She qualified 16th and, after a disastrous start where the car stalled, she moved up though the field in wet conditions, as conditions dried she fell back and damaged the car when it touched a wall while she was letting the race leader through.
Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula. The '5000' denomination comes from the maximum 5.0 litre engine capacity allowed in the cars, although many cars ran with smaller engines. Manufacturers included McLaren, Eagle, March, Lola, Lotus, Elfin, Matich and Chevron.
The 1978 British Formula One Championship was the first season of the British Formula One Championship. It commenced on 24 March 1978 and ended on 24 September after twelve races.
The 1982 British Formula One Championship was the fourth and final season of the British Formula One Championship. It commenced on 9 April 1982 and ended on 30 August after five races.
The Hesketh 308E is a Formula One racing car model built by the Hesketh Racing team in 1977. The car was designed by Frank Dernie and Nigel Stroud and was the last car built by the Hesketh team before it folded at the end of 1978. The 308E was a relatively conservative design, with an aluminium monocoque chassis built around the common Cosworth DFV engine and Hewland gearbox combination. However, the 308E gained particular notoriety owing to Hesketh's team sponsors in 1977 – Penthouse and Rizla – and the resultant livery which incorporated a large rendering of a scantily-clad Penthouse Pet embracing a Rizla packet. During this year, driver Rupert Keegan managed to qualify the car at every race entered although its best finish was only seventh place at the Austrian Grand Prix. For 1978 the team reverted to rather less controversial sponsorship from the Olympus Corporation, although results were less dependable. Following Hesketh's withdrawal from the F1 World Championship the remaining 308Es were run for various competitors in the British Aurora AFX championship.
The 1980 British Formula One Championship was the third season of the British Formula One Championship. It commenced on 4 April 1980 and ended on 5 October after twelve races. The Drivers' Championship was won by the Spaniard Emilio de Villota who drove a Williams FW07 entered by RAM Racing.
The Arrows A1 was the car with which Arrows Grand Prix International competed in the 1978 and 1979 Formula One seasons. It replaced the Arrows FA1, which was banned by the London High Court on 31 July 1978 after a legal protest from the Shadow team on the grounds that it was a carbon-copy of the Shadow DN9. Arrows anticipated that they would lose against Shadow and designed and built the A1 in under 60 days whilst the court case was being heard. Hence Arrows were able to present the Arrows A1 to the press just three days after the court case ended and did not miss any races.
The BRM P207 was a Formula One racing car, designed by Len Terry and constructed by British Racing Motors, which raced in the 1977 Formula One season. It was powered by a 3.0-litre V12 engine, with a claimed output of 488bhp. London-based Swiss watchmakers Rotary Watches provided sponsorship money. The car failed to score any points during the season. The team made a total of nine entries during the season, but only qualified in one instance, at the 1977 Brazilian Grand Prix. Driven by Larry Perkins, the car retired on lap one due to overheating. Its qualifying time was six seconds slower than that of the second-to-last starter. One British journalist in Brazil exclaimed that he was ashamed of being British. The car failed to appear at the season opening Argentine Grand Prix because it was too wide to fit in the hold of the aircraft that was going to transport it to South America.
The Evening News Trophy, was the second round of the 1980 Aurora AFX F1 Championship, at Brands Hatch, the race held on 7 April 1980. The race is notable for the victory of Desiré Wilson, who became the first female driver to win a Formula One race.
The Aurora Plastics Corporation introduced the A/FX line of slot cars, slot car track sets, and related accessories in 1971. The AFX brand continued production until the company was forced into receivership in 1983. Aurora designed the AFX cars with interchangeable car body shells usually compatible with each chassis they released during these years. The original 1971 A/FX chassis utilized an updated version of the existing pancake motor design of Aurora's "Thunderjet 500" line, popular in the 1960s. Aurora then released a longer version of the A/FX chassis in 1973, known as the "Specialty" chassis, which incorporated a longer wheelbase and gearplate with bodies unique to that chassis. The car bodies designed to fit the shorter original chassis featured a clever snap-on design while the bodies for the Specialty chassis were affixed with a small screw. In late 1974, Aurora redesigned both the original and Specialty chassis and exposed the bottom of the motor magnets. The exposed magnets were attracted to the metal rails in the track during racing, creating downforce to help hold the car on the track while cornering. AFX "Magna-Traction" cars remained popular from their release in 1974 throughout 1983, even after faster chassis designs were introduced in house and by Tyco.