| 1979 Brazilian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 15 in the 1979 Formula One season | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 4 February 1979 | ||
| Location |
Autódromo de Interlagos São Paulo, Brazil | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 7.960 km (4.946 miles) | ||
| Distance | 40 laps, 318.400 km (197.840 miles) | ||
| Weather | Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ligier-Ford | ||
| Time | 2:23.07 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford | |
| Time | 2:28.76 on lap 23 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ligier-Ford | ||
| Second | Ligier-Ford | ||
| Third | Lotus-Ford | ||
|
Lap leaders
| |||
The 1979 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos on 4 February 1979. It was the second race of the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors.
Qualifying
Qualifying classification
Race
Race report
The Ligier team dominated the race weekend with their superior ground-effect JS11. Frenchman Jacques Laffite dominated the race weekend and made the most of his superbly set-up Ligier by taking pole position, smashing Jean-Pierre Jarier's 1975 pole time by 7 seconds, setting fastest lap and leading every lap of the race up to the finish. Laffite's teammate Patrick Depailler started and finished 2nd. Laffite and the Ligier team completed their domination of the South American fortnight, Laffite also dominantly won in Argentina.
Classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Jacques Laffite
|
Ligier-Ford | G | 40 | 1:40:09.64 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 25 | Patrick Depailler
|
Ligier-Ford | G | 40 | + 5.28 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 2 |  Carlos Reutemann
|
Lotus-Ford | G | 40 | + 44.14 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 3 | Didier Pironi
|
Tyrrell-Ford | G | 40 | + 1:25.88 | 8 | 3 |
| 5 | 12 |  Gilles Villeneuve
|
Ferrari | M | 39 | + 1 Lap | 5 | 2 |
| 6 | 11 |  Jody Scheckter
|
Ferrari | M | 39 | + 1 Lap | 6 | 1 |
| 7 | 30 |  Jochen Mass
|
Arrows-Ford | G | 39 | + 1 Lap | 19 | |
| 8 | 7 |  John Watson
|
McLaren-Ford | G | 39 | + 1 Lap | 14 | |
| 9 | 29 |  Riccardo Patrese
|
Arrows-Ford | G | 39 | + 1 Lap | 16 | |
| 10 | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille
|
Renault | M | 39 | + 1 Lap | 7 | |
| 11 | 14 |  Emerson Fittipaldi
|
Fittipaldi-Ford | G | 39 | + 1 Lap | 9 | |
| 12 | 18 | Elio de Angelis
|
Shadow-Ford | G | 39 | + 1 Lap | 20 | |
| 13 | 22 |  Derek Daly
|
Ensign-Ford | G | 39 | + 1 Lap | 23 | |
| 14 | 17 |  Jan Lammers
|
Shadow-Ford | G | 39 | + 1 Lap | 21 | |
| 15 | 28 |  Clay Regazzoni
|
Williams-Ford | G | 38 | + 2 Laps | 17 | |
| Ret | 27 |  Alan Jones
|
Williams-Ford | G | 33 | Fuel System | 13 | |
| Ret | 9 | Hans-Joachim Stuck
|
ATS-Ford | G | 31 | Steering | 24 | |
| Ret | 16 | René Arnoux
|
Renault | M | 28 | Spun Off | 11 | |
| Ret | 20 | James Hunt
|
Wolf-Ford | G | 7 | Steering | 10 | |
| Ret | 8 | Patrick Tambay
|
McLaren-Ford | G | 7 | Collision | 18 | |
| Ret | 5 |  Niki Lauda
|
Brabham-Alfa Romeo | G | 5 | Gearbox | 12 | |
| Ret | 6 | Nelson Piquet
|
Brabham-Alfa Romeo | G | 5 | Accident | 22 | |
| Ret | 1 |  Mario Andretti
|
Lotus-Ford | G | 2 | Fuel Leak | 4 | |
| Ret | 4 | Jean-Pierre Jarier
|
Tyrrell-Ford | G | 0 | Electrical | 15 | |
| DNQ | 31 |  Héctor Rebaque
|
Lotus-Ford | G | ||||
| DNQ | 24 | Arturo Merzario
|
Merzario-Ford | G | ||||
| Source: | ||||||||
Notes
- This was the 9th and 10th podium finish for Ligier.
Championship standings after the race
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
Additional notes
- ^a Although the circuit length was quoted in MotorSport magazine as 7.873 km, the fastest lap's time/speed quoted are consistent with the 7.87385 km length, same as quoted in 1980 race report.
- ^b Although the race distance was quoted in MotorSport magazine as 314.92 km, the winner's time/speed quoted are consistent with the 314.954 km distance, same as quoted in 1980 race report.
References
- "1979 Brazilian Grand Prix | Motorsport Database".
- "1979 Brazilian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- "1979 Brazilian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 4 February 1979. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ "Brazil 1979 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "Brazilian Grand Prix". MotorSport. March 1979. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
- ^ "Brazilian Grand Prix". MotorSport. March 1980. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
| Previous race: 1979 Argentine Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1979 season |
Next race: 1979 South African Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix |
Brazilian Grand Prix | Next race: 1980 Brazilian Grand Prix |
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