1979 United States Grand Prix

August 2023 F1 United States United States Watkins Glen 1975-1983.png XXII Toyota United States Grand Prix October 7 1979 15 15 Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race CourseWatkins Glen, New York Permanent road course 3.377 5.435 59 199.24 320.67 Rain with temperatures reaching a maximum of 59 F C flip;Wind speeds up to 17.26 mph km/h fliphttp://www.almanac.com/weather/history/NY/Watkins%20Glen/1979-10-07 Weather information for the "1979 United States Grand Prix" The Old Farmers' Almanac November 11, 2013 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:35.615 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:40.054 51 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari France René Arnoux Renault France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford USA The 1979 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 7, 1979 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York.http://www.racingsportscars.com/covers/_Watkins_Glen-1979-10-07e.jpg 1979 United States Grand Prix Entry list It was the fifteenth and final race of the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors. This event was also referred to as the United States Grand Prix East in order to distinguish it from the United States Grand Prix West held on April 8, 1979 in Long Beach, California. The 59-lap race took place in wet conditions, and was won by Gilles Villeneuve, driving a Ferrari. René Arnoux finished second in a Renault, with Didier Pironi third in a Tyrrell-Ford. The win, Villeneuve's third of the season, enabled him to secure second place in the Drivers' Championship behind team-mate Jody Scheckter. This was the final Formula One race for the 1969 and 1970 championship runner-up Jacky Ickx, Alex Ribeiro, Arturo Merzario and former Brabham driver Hans-Joachim Stuck, as well as the final race for the Wolf team. Villeneuve's win was also to be the final one for a car with a flat-12 engine and the three points scored by Elio de Angelis would be the last points scored by the Shadow team. Prior to his joining the team in 1980, then unknown young French driver Alain Prost was offered the chance to race with McLaren at Watkins Glen. However, Prost turned the drive down believing he was not yet physically or mentally ready for his F1 debut and that he would do neither the team or himself justice by racing. Summary By the time the teams got to Watkins Glen for the last race of the 1979 season, Jody Scheckter had already clinched the Drivers' Championship, while his Ferrari team had secured the Constructors' Championship. On Friday, the rain was heavy enough all day that only a few cars made any serious attempt at a lap time. Of the six that did actually record a time, Gilles Villeneuve was fastest by over nine seconds. Saturday started bright and sunny, and Alan Jones topped the charts in his Williams for the entire session. He ended up 1.3 seconds quicker than the Brabham of Brazilian Nelson Piquet, who gained the front row in his first drive at Watkins Glen. Scheckter had trouble with the engine in his race car and traffic with his spare, and ended up 16th, one spot ahead of the previous season's champion, Mario Andretti. The forecast for Sunday was a 50% chance of rain. About twenty minutes before the start, the rain came, and all but two of the cars started with rain tires. The two that did not were Piquet and Andretti, who, in 17th spot on the grid, had nothing to lose by the gamble. At the start, Piquet suffered with wheelspin on his slicks and was left behind. Scheckter took an outside line through turn one, but he got pushed onto the grass and had to wait for the entire field to go by before re-entering. Keke Rosberg spun and recovered, but he forced Bruno Giacomelli off behind him and into retirement with a bent steering arm. After one lap, the order was Villeneuve, Jones, Carlos Reutemann, Jacques Laffite, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Clay Regazzoni, René Arnoux, Didier Pironi, John Watson and Jean-Pierre Jarier. After two laps, Villeneuve had extended his lead to five seconds. By lap three, Jacky Ickx, in his last Grand Prix, had moved his Ligier from 24th to twelfth. As he closed on Derek Daly's Tyrrell approaching the turn before the pit entrance, however, he bumped Daly from behind and went off. His teammate, Jacques Laffite, running in fifth place, spun off on the next lap at the same place. Reutemann crashed out on lap seven from third place when his fire extinguisher sensing unit came loose and interfered with his pedals. The other Lotus, driven by Andretti, decided his gamble to start on slicks had not worked and pitted for wets, since it was still raining. He returned in 20th, but retired soon after when his gearbox became permanently lodged in fourth. The gap between Villeneuve and Jones varied, with Regazzoni quite a bit back in third. When the rain became heavier, the Ferrari's Michelins performed better; when it slacked off, the intermediate surface favored the Goodyears on the Williams. On lap 20, Scheckter, now in third after fighting his way back from last place, pitted for slicks, as did Regazzoni. Scheckter later said that it was still too early, as he began sliding around down the straight, but the lap time comparison with Villeneuve helped the Ferrari crew to decide when to bring Villeneuve in. On lap 21, Rosberg caught up with Pironi and tried to overtake on the inside. He could not hold his line, and when he slid wide, he took the Tyrrell with him. Pironi was able to continue, but Rosberg retired with a damaged gearbox. Beginning on lap 25, most of the cars came in for slicks, except the three leaders, Villeneuve, Jones and Arnoux. As the circuit continued to dry, Jones cut into Villeneuve's lead, taking off two seconds per lap. By lap 31, Jones was on his tail, and then quickly past. In two laps, he was 3.1 seconds clear. Villeneuve came in to change tires on lap 34, and returned 39.5 seconds behind Jones. The Williams crew prepared to fit Jones' car with slicks as he came in on lap 37. After some difficulty removing the right rear, the racing manager waved the jacks away and the car out. As the mechanic on the right rear shouted and waved that he was not finished, the car sped from the pits. At the beginning of the back straight, the wheel came off and Jones retired. Villeneuve now led Scheckter by almost a lap. Arnoux lost two positions, to fifth, when he pitted for tires, but regained third place, ahead of Daly and Pironi, in two laps. On lap 48, Scheckter felt his car floating about and thought he had a puncture. He decided to go one more lap, but never made it back. The tire shredded and he retired, leaving only nine cars still running. Daly spun off from fourth, and Piquet, after setting fastest lap of the race in pursuit of John Watson's McLaren, dropped out with a broken driveshaft five laps from the flag. Villeneuve coasted home, allowing Elio de Angelis and Hans-Joachim Stuck to unlap themselves, but finishing with a 48-second margin over Arnoux. Later, Villeneuve revealed that he had been nursing the car with failing oil pressure for the final 25 laps. The American Shadow team celebrated de Angelis' fourth place, his only points of the year. The win by Villeneuve was his third, matching champion Scheckter's total, securing a one-two finish in the Drivers' Championship. Classification Qualifying Pos. Driver Constructor Time 1 AUS Alan Jones Williams–Ford 1:35.615 2 BRA Nelson Piquet Brabham–Ford +1.299 3 CAN Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari +1.333 4 FRA Jacques Laffite Ligier–Ford +1.451 5 SUI Clay Regazzoni Williams–Ford +1.513 6 ARG Carlos Reutemann Lotus–Ford +2.257 7 FRA René Arnoux Renault +2.580 8 FRA Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault +2.603 9 ARG Ricardo Zunino Brabham–Ford +2.894 10 FRA Didier Pironi Tyrrell–Ford +3.208 11 FRA Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell–Ford +3.330 12 FIN Keke Rosberg Wolf–Ford +3.420 13 GBR John Watson McLaren–Ford +3.618 14 FRG Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS–Ford +3.714 15 IRL Derek Daly Tyrrell–Ford +3.853 16 RSA 1928 Jody Scheckter Ferrari +3.961 17 USA Mario Andretti Lotus–Ford +4.529 18 ITA Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo +4.662 19 ITA Riccardo Patrese Arrows–Ford +4.722 20 ITA Elio de Angelis Shadow–Ford +5.010 21 SUI Marc Surer Ensign–Ford +5.020 22 FRA Patrick Tambay McLaren–Ford +5.116 23 BRA Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi–Ford +5.126 24 BEL Jacky Ickx Ligier–Ford +5.139 Cut-off 25 ITA Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo +5.174 26 FRG Jochen Mass Arrows–Ford +5.209 27 NED Jan Lammers Shadow–Ford +6.473 28 MEX Héctor Rebaque Rebaque–Ford +7.445 29 BRA Alex Ribeiro Fittipaldi–Ford +9.568 30 ITA Arturo Merzario Merzario–Ford +13.703 Source:https://results.motorsportstats.com/results/1979-united-states-grand-prix/classification/29b78481-6037-4e4e-9373-788af8462d00 1979 Formula One United States Grand Prix – Qualifying classification Motorsport Stats 25 May 2021 Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari Michelin 59 1:52:17.734 3 9 2 16 France René Arnoux Renault Michelin 59 + 48.787 7 6 3 3 France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 59 + 53.199 10 4 4 18 Italy Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford Goodyear 59 + 1:30.512 20 3 5 9 FRG Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford Goodyear 59 + 1:41.259 14 2 6 7 UK John Watson McLaren-Ford Goodyear 58 + 1 Lap 13 1 7 14 Brazil 1968 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford Goodyear 54 + 5 Laps 23 Ret Retired 6 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford Goodyear 53 Transmission 2 Ret Retired 33 Ireland Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 52 Spun Off 15 Ret Retired 11 South Africa 1928 Jody Scheckter Ferrari Michelin 48 Tyre 16 Ret Retired 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford Goodyear 44 Suspension 19 Ret Retired 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford Goodyear 36 Wheel 1 Ret Retired 22 Switzerland Marc Surer Ensign-Ford Goodyear 32 Engine 21 Ret Retired 28 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford Goodyear 29 Accident 5 Ret Retired 5 Argentina Ricardo Zunino Brabham-Ford Goodyear 25 Spun Off 9 Ret Retired 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault Michelin 24 Engine 8 Ret Retired 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford Goodyear 20 Accident 12 Ret Retired 8 France Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford Goodyear 20 Engine 22 Ret Retired 4 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 18 Accident 11 Ret Retired 1 US Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford Goodyear 16 Gearbox 17 Ret Retired 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford Goodyear 6 Spun Off 6 Ret Retired 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford Goodyear 3 Spun Off 4 Ret Retired 25 Belgium Jacky Ickx Ligier-Ford Goodyear 2 Spun Off 24 Ret Retired 35 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo Goodyear 0 Spun Off 18 DNQ Did not qualify 36 Italy Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 30 FRG Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 17 Netherlands Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 31 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Rebaque-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 19 Brazil 1968 Alex Ribeiro Fittipaldi-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 24 Italy Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford GoodyearSource:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1979/408/ 1979 USA East Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20140209081351/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1979/408/ 9 February 2014https://gparchive.com/formula-1/1979-usa-east-grand-prix/ 1979 United States Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive GPArchive.com 7 October 1979 3 November 2021 Final championship standings Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 South Africa 1928 Jody Scheckter 51 (60) 10px 2 CAN Gilles Villeneuve 47 (53) 10px 3 AUS Alan Jones 40 (43) 10px 4 FRA Jacques Laffite 36 10px 5 SUI Clay Regazzoni 29 (32)Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/etats-unis-est/championnat.aspx United States 1979 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 21 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 10px 1 ITA Ferrari 113 10px 2 UK Williams-Ford 75 10px 3 FRA Ligier-Ford 61 10px 4 UK Lotus-Ford 39 10px 5 UK Tyrrell-Ford 28Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 4 results from the first 7 races and the best 4 results from the last 8 races counted towards the Drivers' Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Bold text indicates the 1979 World Champions. References 30em Further reading Rob Walker (January, 1980). "21st United States Grand Prix: Muddier Matters". Road & Track, 104-107. United States Grand Prix 1979 1979 Canadian Grand Prix 1980 Argentine Grand Prix 1978 United States Grand Prix 1980 United States Grand Prix United States Grand Prix Category:United States Grand Prix Category:1979 in sports in New York (state) Grand Prix Grand Prix