1979 Italian Grand Prix

Last updated
1979 Italian Grand Prix
Race 13 of 15 in the 1979 Formula One season
Monza 1976-1993.png
Race details
Date9 September 1979
Official name 50º Gran Premio d'Italia [1]
Location Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.800 km (3.60 miles)
Distance 50 laps, 290.000 km (180.20 miles)
Weather Dry and sunny
Pole position
Driver Renault
Time 1:34.580
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford
Time 1:35.60 on lap 46
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third Williams-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1979 Italian Grand Prix

The 1979 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 9 September 1979 at Monza. It was the thirteenth race of the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors.

Contents

The 50-lap race was won by South African Jody Scheckter, driving a Ferrari, with Canadian team-mate Gilles Villeneuve second and Swiss Clay Regazzoni third in a Williams-Ford. Scheckter claimed the Drivers' Championship in the process, while Ferrari clinched the Constructors' Championship. The race also marked Scheckter's final race win and podium; he retired after the following season. As of 2024, this is the last Grand Prix to be won by a driver from the continent of Africa.

This race marked Scuderia Ferrari's 300th start in a World Championship event as a team. [2]

Report

Background

Monza was revamped for 1979, with the track re-surfaced and run-off areas added to the Curva Grande and the Lesmo curves.

The entry list was enlarged by the return of the Alfa Romeo team, which had participated in the Belgian and French Grands Prix earlier in the season. Alfa Romeo fielded two cars: a new 179 chassis for Bruno Giacomelli, and the old 177 for Vittorio Brambilla, back in action for the first time since the crash in the previous year's race at Monza that had claimed the life of Ronnie Peterson. Meanwhile, Mexican Héctor Rebaque had his HR100 chassis ready for the first time, while Switzerland's Marc Surer, having won the Formula Two championship the previous month, made his first Formula One appearance as Ensign took him on in place of Patrick Gaillard.

Qualifying

The turbo-powered Renaults were quick in qualifying and filled the front row of the grid, with Jean-Pierre Jabouille ahead of René Arnoux. It was Jabouille's fourth pole position of the season, and Renault's sixth. Scheckter and Alan Jones in the Williams made up the second row, while on the third were their respective teammates, Gilles Villeneuve and Clay Regazzoni. The top ten was completed by Jacques Laffite in the Ligier, the Brabhams of Nelson Piquet and Niki Lauda, and Mario Andretti in the Lotus.

Race

The Renaults were slow off the start line and so Scheckter took the lead, with Arnoux holding on to second. Jones also made a poor start and dropped to the back of the field, putting Villeneuve third and the fast-starting Laffite fourth. On lap 2, Arnoux passed Scheckter for the lead, while Piquet crashed out after tangling with Regazzoni. Regazzoni was slow out of Curva Grande and Piquet took an outside line to keep his speed. Regazzoni moved across, possibly unaware Piquet was there, and sent the Brazilian heavily into the barriers, with the Brabham ending in two halves either side of the track. Fortunately Piquet was unhurt, and Regazzoni continued in the race.

For the next eleven laps Arnoux, Scheckter, Villeneuve, Laffite and Jabouille ran nose-to-tail, with Regazzoni a distant sixth. Then, on lap 13, Arnoux's engine began to misfire, leading to his retirement. Scheckter thus regained the lead, with Villeneuve dutifully following him. Later in the race, Laffite and Jabouille also suffered engine failures, promoting Regazzoni to third.

Scheckter eventually took the chequered flag half a second ahead of Villeneuve and, with it, the Drivers' Championship. This one-two finish for Ferrari in their home race also secured them the Constructors' Championship. Regazzoni finished four seconds behind Villeneuve and 50 ahead of Lauda, with the final points going to Andretti and Jean-Pierre Jarier in the Tyrrell.

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo
1Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1:34.5801
2René ArnouxRenault1:34.7042
3Jody ScheckterFerrari1:34.8303
4Alan JonesWilliams-Ford1:34.9144
5Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:34.9895
6Clay RegazzoniWilliams-Ford1:35.3336
7Jacques LaffiteLigier-Ford1:35.4437
8Nelson PiquetBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:35.5878
9Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:36.2199
10Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:36.65510
11Jacky IckxLigier-Ford1:37.11411
12Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford1:37.18112
13Carlos ReutemannLotus-Ford1:37.20213
14Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford1:37.23114
15Hans-Joachim StuckATS-Ford1:37.29715
16Jean-Pierre JarierTyrrell-Ford1:37.58116
17Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:37.67417
18Bruno GiacomelliAlfa Romeo1:38.05318
19John WatsonMcLaren-Ford1:38.09319
20Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:38.13620
21Jochen MassArrows-Ford1:38.16321
22Vittorio BrambillaAlfa Romeo1:38.60122
23Keke RosbergWolf-Ford1:38.85423
24Elio de AngelisShadow-Ford1:39.14924
DNQJan LammersShadow-Ford1:39.313
DNQMarc SurerEnsign-Ford1:40.821
DNQArturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford1:42.002
DNQHéctor RebaqueRebaque-Ford1:42.769

Race

Classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTyreLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
111 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Ferrari M 501:22:00.2239
212 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 50+ 0.4656
328 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford G 50+ 4.7864
45 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 50+ 54.4093
51 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 50+ 59.70102
64 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford G 50+ 1:01.55161
72 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford G 50+ 1:24.1413
814 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 49+ 1 Lap20
927 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 49+ 1 Lap4
103 Flag of France.svg Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford G 49+ 1 Lap12
119 Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford G 49+ 1 Lap15
1236 Flag of Italy.svg Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo G 49+ 1 Lap22
1329 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford G 47+ 3 Laps17
1415 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault M 45Engine1
Ret26 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford G 41Engine7
Ret20 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford G 41Engine23
Ret25 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Ligier-Ford G 40Engine11
Ret18 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford G 33Clutch24
Ret35 Flag of Italy.svg Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo G 28Spun Off18
Ret16 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Renault M 13Engine2
Ret7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson McLaren-Ford G 13Accident19
Ret8 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford G 3Engine14
Ret30 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford G 3Suspension21
Ret6 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 1Accident8
DNQ17 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford G
DNQ22 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Marc Surer Ensign-Ford G
DNQ24 Flag of Italy.svg Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford G
DNQ31 Flag of Mexico.svg Héctor Rebaque Rebaque-Ford G
Source: [3] [4]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1979". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  2. Scuderia Ferrari did not participate in the 1950 French Grand Prix; Peter Whitehead's privateer entry in this race does not count towards the team's participation tally.
  3. "1979 Italian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. "1979 Italian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 9 September 1979. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Italy 1979 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
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1979 Dutch Grand Prix
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1979 Canadian Grand Prix
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1978 Italian Grand Prix
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1980 Italian Grand Prix
Awards
Preceded by
1978 British Grand Prix
Formula One Promotional Trophy
for Race Promoter

1979
Succeeded by
1980 Italian Grand Prix