1979 British Grand Prix

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1979 British Grand Prix
Race 9 of 15 in the 1979 Formula One season
Silverstone Circuit 1975 to 1986.png
Race details
Date14 July 1979
Official name XXXII Marlboro British Grand Prix
Location Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.718 [1] km (2.932 miles)
Distance 68 laps, 320.871 km (199.380 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver
 Williams-Ford
Time 1:11.88
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford
Time 1:14.40 on lap 39
Podium
First
 Williams-Ford
Second
 Renault
Third
 Tyrrell-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1979 British Grand Prix

The 1979 British Grand Prix (formally the XXXII Marlboro British Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 14 July 1979. It was the ninth race of the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors.

Contents

The 68-lap race was won by Clay Regazzoni, driving a Williams-Ford. It was the first Formula One victory for the Williams team and Regazzoni's final victory in Formula One. René Arnoux finished second in a Renault, with Jean-Pierre Jarier third in a Tyrrell-Ford.

Qualifying

Qualifying report

Qualifying saw Alan Jones take his and the Williams team's first pole position by 0.6 seconds from Jean-Pierre Jabouille in the Renault; the Williams FW07 had been modified by engineers Patrick Head and Frank Dernie to correct some aerodynamic problems on the car. Nelson Piquet took third in the Brabham with the second Williams of Clay Regazzoni alongside him on the second row, while René Arnoux in the second Renault and Niki Lauda in the second Brabham made up the third row. Completing the top ten were John Watson in the McLaren, the Lotuses of Carlos Reutemann and Mario Andretti, and Jacques Laffite in the Ligier. The Ferraris disappointed, with championship leader Jody Scheckter only managing 11th and Gilles Villeneuve 13th.

Qualifying classification

Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo
1Alan JonesWilliams-Ford1:11.881
2Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1:12.482
3Nelson PiquetBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:12.653
4Clay RegazzoniWilliams-Ford1:13.114
5René ArnouxRenault1:13.295
6Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:13.446
7John WatsonMcLaren-Ford1:13.577
8Carlos ReutemannLotus-Ford1:13.878
9Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:14.209
10Jacques LaffiteLigier-Ford1:14.3710
11Jody ScheckterFerrari1:14.6011
12Elio de AngelisShadow-Ford1:14.8712
13Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:14.9013
14Keke RosbergWolf-Ford1:14.9614
15Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford1:15.2815
16Jean-Pierre JarierTyrrell-Ford1:15.6316
17Jacky IckxLigier-Ford1:15.6317
18Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford1:15.6718
19Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:15.7719
20Jochen MassArrows-Ford1:16.1920
21Jan LammersShadow-Ford1:16.6621
22Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:16.6822
23Patrick GaillardEnsign-Ford1:17.0723
24Héctor RebaqueLotus-Ford1:17.3224
DNQHans-Joachim StuckATS-Ford1:17.44—
DNQArturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford1:19.57—

Race

Race report

At the start of the race, Regazzoni charged into the lead, but was repassed by team-mate Jones and Jabouille before the end of the first lap. Andretti and the Ferraris also made fast starts, running close to Piquet, Lauda and Arnoux. At the end of lap 2, Piquet made a mistake at Woodcote and spun off, before Andretti dropped out with a broken wheel bearing on lap 4. Then Lauda encountered brake problems which eventually led to his retirement on lap 13, leaving Arnoux fourth with Scheckter fifth and Villeneuve dutifully following the South African.

Up at the front, Jones established a commanding lead over Jabouille, who was struggling on Michelin tyres that were wearing quickly. On lap 17, the Frenchman pitted for new tyres, promoting Regazzoni to second. However, disaster struck for Jabouille when, after a long stop, part of his front wing got caught in an air hose that had not been removed from under the car and was broken off as he accelerated. He was forced to return to the pits for repairs, during which his turbo overheated. [1]

At half-distance, Jones still led comfortably, with Regazzoni still second and well clear of Arnoux, and Laffite moving ahead of the Ferraris into fourth. Then, approaching Woodcote at the end of lap 39, Jones's engine failed, a water pump problem causing it to overheat. [2] Six laps later, Laffite also retired with engine trouble. This left only four drivers on the lead lap - Regazzoni, Arnoux, Scheckter and Villeneuve - with Jean-Pierre Jarier up to fifth in his Tyrrell and Watson sixth.

The Ferraris were also struggling on Michelins, and Villeneuve pitted for new tyres on lap 50, before stopping with fuel vaporization problems five laps from the end. Scheckter, meanwhile, was lapped by Regazzoni on lap 56, before Jarier and Watson passed him in the closing laps. [1]

Regazzoni eventually took the chequered flag 24 seconds ahead of Arnoux, giving Williams their first Formula One victory. It was also Regazzoni's fifth and final win and, as of 2024, the last win in F1 for a Swiss driver. After Jarier, Watson and Scheckter came Jacky Ickx, taking the final point in the second Ligier.

This was the first Grand Prix on which James Hunt, who had retired from racing the previous month, commentated alongside Murray Walker for the BBC's Grand Prix programme.

Classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTyreLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
128 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford G 681:26:11.1749
216 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Renault M 68+24.2856
34 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford G 67+1 lap164
47 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson McLaren-Ford G 67+1 lap73
511 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Ferrari M 67+1 lap112
625 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Ligier-Ford G 67+1 lap171
78 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford G 66Out of fuel18
82 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford G 66+2 laps8
931 Flag of Mexico.svg Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford G 66+2 laps24
103 Flag of France.svg Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford G 66+2 laps15
1117 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford G 65+3 laps21
1218 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford G 65+3 laps 1 12
1322 Flag of France.svg Patrick Gaillard Ensign-Ford G 65+3 laps23
1412 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 63Fuel system13
Ret29 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford G 45Gearbox19
Ret26 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford G 44Engine10
Ret20 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford G 44Fuel system14
Ret27 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 38Water pump1
Ret30 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford G 37Gearbox20
Ret14 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 25Engine22
Ret15 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault M 21Turbo2
Ret5 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 12Brakes6
Ret1 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 3Wheel bearing9
Ret6 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 1Spun off3
DNQ9 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford G
DNQ24 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford G
Source: [3] [4] [5]

Notes

Notes

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Jenkinson, Denis (August 1979). "The British Grand Prix: Williams all the way". Motor Sport magazine archive. p. 33. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "Grand Prix results: British GP, 1979". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  3. 1 2 "1979 British Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. 1 2 "1979 British Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 14 July 1979. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Britain 1979 - Result". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Britain 1979 - Championship". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
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