1979 British Grand Prix

December 2020 August 2011 F1 United Kingdom British XXXII Marlboro British Grand Prix 14 July 1979 Silverstone Circuit 1975 to 1986.png 9 15 Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom Permanent racing facility 2.932 4.718 68 199.380 320.871 Dry Alan Jones Australia Williams-Ford 1:11.88 Clay Regazzoni Switzerland Williams-Ford 1:14.40 39 Clay Regazzoni Switzerland Williams-Ford René Arnoux France Renault Jean-Pierre Jarier France Tyrrell-Ford GBR 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. 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.DriverConstructorTimeNo1Alan JonesWilliams-Ford1:11.8812Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1:12.4823Nelson PiquetBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:12.6534Clay RegazzoniWilliams-Ford1:13.1145René ArnouxRenault1:13.2956Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:13.4467John WatsonMcLaren-Ford1:13.5778Carlos ReutemannLotus-Ford1:13.8789Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:14.20910Jacques LaffiteLigier-Ford1:14.371011Jody ScheckterFerrari1:14.601112Elio de AngelisShadow-Ford1:14.871213Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:14.901314Keke RosbergWolf-Ford1:14.961415Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford1:15.281516Jean-Pierre JarierTyrrell-Ford1:15.631617Jacky IckxLigier-Ford1:15.631718Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford1:15.671819Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:15.771920Jochen MassArrows-Ford1:16.192021Jan LammersShadow-Ford1:16.662122Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:16.682223Patrick GaillardEnsign-Ford1:17.072324Héctor RebaqueLotus-Ford1:17.3224DNQ Did not qualifyHans-Joachim StuckATS-Ford1:17.44—DNQ Did not qualifyArturo 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.http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-1979/33/british-grand-prix The British Grand Prix: Williams all the way Motor Sport magazine archive August 1979 33 Jenkinson Denis Denis Jenkinson 26 October 2017 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.http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr322.html Grand Prix results: British GP, 1979 Grandprix.com 23 October 2013 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. 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 Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 28 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford Goodyear 68 1:26:11.17 4 9 2 16 France René Arnoux Renault Michelin 68 +24.28 5 6 3 4 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 67 +1 lap 16 4 4 7 UK John Watson McLaren-Ford Goodyear 67 +1 lap 7 3 5 11 South Africa 1928 Jody Scheckter Ferrari Michelin 67 +1 lap 11 2 6 25 Belgium Jacky Ickx Ligier-Ford Goodyear 67 +1 lap 17 1 7 8 France Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford Goodyear 66 Out of fuel 18 8 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford Goodyear 66 +2 laps 8 9 31 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford Goodyear 66 +2 laps 24 10 3 France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 66 +2 laps 15 11 17 Netherlands Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford Goodyear 65 +3 laps 21 12 18 Italy Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford Goodyear 65 +3 laps1 1 12 13 22 France Patrick Gaillard Ensign-Ford Goodyear 65 +3 laps 23 14 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari Michelin 63 Fuel system 13 Ret Retired 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford Goodyear 45 Gearbox 19 Ret Retired 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford Goodyear 44 Engine 10 Ret Retired 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford Goodyear 44 Fuel system 14 Ret Retired 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford Goodyear 38 Water pump 1 Ret Retired 30 FRG Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford Goodyear 37 Gearbox 20 Ret Retired 14 Brazil 1968 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford Goodyear 25 Engine 22 Ret Retired 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault Michelin 21 Turbo 2 Ret Retired 5 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo Goodyear 12 Brakes 6 Ret Retired 1 US Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford Goodyear 3 Wheel bearing 9 Ret Retired 6 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo Goodyear 1 Spun off 3 DNQ Did not qualify 9 FRG Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 24 Italy Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford Goodyear Source:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1979/402/ 1979 British Grand Prix Formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20140703033838/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1979/402/ 3 July 2014https://gparchive.com/formula-1/1979-british-grand-prix/ 1979 British Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive GPArchive.com 14 July 1979 3 November 2021https://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx Britain 1979 - Result StatsF1.com 2022-12-14 Notes 1 1 – Elio de Angelis finished 11th, but received a one-minute time penalty for a jump start. Notes This was the 25th Grand Prix start for Williams, their first pole position and their first Grand Prix win. Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 South Africa 1928 Jody Scheckter 32 (36) 10px 2 CAN Gilles Villeneuve 26 10px 3 FRA Jacques Laffite 24 10px 4 FRA Patrick Depailler 20 (22) 10px 5 ARG Carlos Reutemann 20 (25)Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/grande-bretagne/championnat.aspx Britain 1979 - Championship StatsF1.com 13 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 10px 1 ITA Ferrari 62 10px 2 FRA Ligier-Ford 47 10px 3 UK Lotus-Ford 37 10px 1 4 UK Williams-Ford 23 10px 1 5 UK Tyrrell-Ford 21Source: 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. References British Grand Prix 1979 1979 French Grand Prix 1979 German Grand Prix 1978 British Grand Prix 1980 British Grand Prix British Grand Prix Category:British Grand Prix Grand Prix British Grand Prix