| 1979 Argentine Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 15 in the 1979 Formula One season | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | January 21, 1979 | ||
| Location | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||
| Course | Permanent road course | ||
| Course length | 5.81 km (3.61 miles) | ||
| Distance | 53 laps, 307.93 km (191.33 miles) | ||
| Weather | Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ligier-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:44.20 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford | |
| Time | 1:46.91 on lap 42 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ligier-Ford | ||
| Second | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Third | McLaren-Ford | ||
|
Lap leaders
| |||
The 1979 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 21 January 1979 at the Autódromo Municipal Ciudad de Buenos Aires. The race had to be restarted because there was a huge crash at the second of the very fast esses after the pit straight that took off a number of drivers, including Jody Scheckter, Nelson Piquet, John Watson, Patrick Tambay and Mario Andretti.
After qualifying, James Hunt's WR7 was declared illegal, as the clutch-driven impeller blades which drew air through the air coiler were ruled an 'aerodynamic device'. Wolf mechanics modified the fan, and the car was allowed to start.
Classification
Qualifying classification
Race classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Jacques Laffite
|
Ligier-Ford | G | 53 | 1:36:03.21 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 2 |  Carlos Reutemann
|
Lotus-Ford | G | 53 | +14.94 secs | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 7 |  John Watson
|
McLaren-Ford | G | 53 | +1:28.81 | 6 | 4 |
| 4 | 25 | Patrick Depailler
|
Ligier-Ford | G | 53 | +1:41.72 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | 1 |  Mario Andretti
|
Lotus-Ford | G | 52 | +1 Lap | 7 | 2 |
| 6 | 14 |  Emerson Fittipaldi
|
Fittipaldi-Ford | G | 52 | +1 Lap | 11 | 1 |
| 7 | 18 |  Elio de Angelis
|
Shadow-Ford | G | 52 | +1 Lap | 16 | |
| 8 | 30 |  Jochen Mass
|
Arrows-Ford | G | 51 | +2 Laps | 14 | |
| 9 | 27 |  Alan Jones
|
Williams-Ford | G | 51 | +2 Laps | 15 | |
| 10 | 28 |  Clay Regazzoni
|
Williams-Ford | G | 51 | +2 Laps | 17 | |
| 11 | 22 |  Derek Daly
|
Ensign-Ford | G | 51 | +2 Laps | 24 | |
| Ret | 12 |  Gilles Villeneuve
|
Ferrari | M | 48 | Engine | 10 | |
| Ret | 31 |  Héctor Rebaque
|
Lotus-Ford | G | 46 | Suspension | 19 | |
| Ret | 17 |  Jan Lammers
|
Shadow-Ford | G | 42 | Transmission | 21 | |
| Ret | 20 | James Hunt
|
Wolf-Ford | G | 41 | Electrical | 18 | |
| Ret | 4 | Jean-Pierre Jarier
|
Tyrrell-Ford | G | 15 | Engine | 4 | |
| Ret | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille
|
Renault | M | 15 | Engine | 12 | |
| Ret | 5 |  Niki Lauda
|
Brabham-Alfa Romeo | G | 8 | Fuel System | 23 | |
| Ret | 16 | René Arnoux
|
Renault | M | 6 | Engine | 26 | |
| Ret | 11 |  Jody Scheckter
|
Ferrari | M | 0 | Collision | 5 | |
| Ret | 3 | Didier Pironi
|
Tyrrell-Ford | G | 0 | Collision | 8 | |
| Ret | 8 | Patrick Tambay
|
McLaren-Ford | G | 0 | Collision | 9 | |
| Ret | 6 | Nelson Piquet
|
Brabham-Alfa Romeo | G | 0 | Collision | 20 | |
| Ret | 24 | Arturo Merzario
|
Merzario-Ford | G | 0 | Collision | 22 | |
| DNS | 29 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Arrows-Ford | G | 0 | Accident | 13 | |
| DNS | 9 | Hans-Joachim Stuck
|
ATS-Ford | G | 0 | 25 | ||
| Source: | ||||||||
Notes
- This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Dutch driver and future Le Mans winner Jan Lammers and Italian driver and future Grand Prix winner Elio de Angelis.
- This was the 1st Grand Slam for Ligier and for a French driver.
- This was the 50th Grand Prix start for Ligier.
Championship standings after the race
|
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- Taylor, Simon. "Lunch with... Walter Wolf". motorsportmagazine.com. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- "1979 Argentine Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- "1979 Argentine Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 21 January 1979. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ "Argentina 1979 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
| Previous race: 1978 Canadian Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1979 season |
Next race: 1979 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1978 Argentine Grand Prix |
Argentine Grand Prix | Next race: 1980 Argentine Grand Prix |
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