1979 Canadian Grand Prix

The 1979 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 September 1979 at the Circuit Île Notre-Dame, Montreal.

1979 Canadian Grand Prix
Race 14 of 15 in the 1979 Formula One season
Race details
Date 30 September 1979
Location Circuit Île Notre-Dame, Montreal
Course Semi-permanent racing facility
Course length 4.500 km (2.796 miles)
Distance 72 laps, 324.000 km (201.324 miles)
Weather Partially cloudy, mild and dry with temperatures reaching up to 21 °C (70 °F); wind speeds up to 18.3 kilometres per hour (11.4 mph)[1]
Pole position
Driver Williams-Ford
Time 1:29.892
Fastest lap
Driver Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford
Time 1:31.272 on lap 65
Podium
First Williams-Ford
Second Ferrari
Third Williams-Ford
Lap leaders

During practice Niki Lauda announced his retirement from Formula One. The Brabham team, who had replaced their Alfa Romeo-engined BT48 with the Cosworth DFV-engined BT49, recruited Argentine newcomer Ricardo Zunino as Lauda's replacement.

The organizers would not let the Alfa Romeo factory team compete unless they pre-qualified. They refused to do so but a compromise was reached where one of their drivers would be allowed to take part in practice. The other, Bruno Giacomelli, was not allowed to enter the race.

The race turned into a close duel between Alan Jones and Gilles Villeneuve that continued the entire race.

Qualifying edit

Qualifying classification edit

Pos. Driver Constructor Time No
1 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:29,892 1
2 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:30,554 2
3 Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford 1:30,768 3
4 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:30,775 4
5 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 1:30,820 5
6 Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:31,941 6
7 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:32,103 7
8 René Arnoux Renault 1:32,116 8
9 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 1:32,280 9
10 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:32,651 10
11 Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford 1:32,682 11
12 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford 1:32,858 12
13 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 1:33,065 13
14 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:33,090 14
15 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:33,297 15
16 Jacky Ickx Ligier-Ford 1:33,355 16
17 John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:33,362 17
18 Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo 1:33,378 18
19 Ricardo Zunino Brabham-Ford 1:33,511 19
20 Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 1:33,603 20
21 Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford 1:34,102 21
22 Héctor Rebaque Rebaque-Ford 1:34,129 22
23 Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford 1:34,256 23
24 Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford 1:34,301 24
DNQ Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 1:34,365
DNQ Marc Surer Ensign-Ford 1:34,747
DNQ Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford 1:35,061
DNQ Alex Ribeiro Fittipaldi-Ford 1:36,901
DNQ Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:37,590

Race edit

Classification edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 27   Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 72 1:52:06.892 1 9
2 12   Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 72 + 1.080 2 6
3 28   Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford G 72 + 1:13.656 3 4
4 11   Jody Scheckter Ferrari M 71 + 1 Lap 9 3
5 3   Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford G 71 + 1 Lap 6 2
6 7   John Watson McLaren-Ford G 70 + 2 Laps 17 1
7 5   Ricardo Zunino Brabham-Ford G 68 + 4 Laps 19
8 14   Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 67 + 5 Laps 15
9 17   Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford G 67 + 5 Laps 21
10 1   Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 66 Out of Fuel 10
Ret 6   Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford G 61 Gearbox 4
Ret 36   Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo G 52 Fuel System 18
Ret 25   Jacky Ickx Ligier-Ford G 47 Gearbox 16
Ret 4   Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford G 33 Engine 13
Ret 33   Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford G 28 Engine 24
Ret 31   Héctor Rebaque Rebaque-Ford G 26 Chassis 22
Ret 15   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault M 24 Brakes 7
Ret 18   Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford G 24 Ignition 23
Ret 2   Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford G 23 Suspension 11
Ret 29   Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford G 20 Spun Off 14
Ret 8   Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford G 19 Engine 20
Ret 16   René Arnoux Renault M 14 Accident 8
Ret 9   Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford G 14 Accident 12
Ret 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford G 10 Engine 5
DNQ 30   Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford G
DNQ 22   Marc Surer Ensign-Ford G
DNQ 20   Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford G
DNQ 19   Alex Ribeiro Fittipaldi-Ford G
DNQ 24   Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford G
WD 5   Niki Lauda Brabham-Ford G Retired in Practice
Source:[2][3]

Championship standings after the race edit

  • 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 edit

  1. ^ "Weather information for the "1979 Canadian Grand Prix"". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  2. ^ "1979 Canadian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. ^ "1979 Canadian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 30 September 1979. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Canada 1979 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.


Previous race:
1979 Italian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1979 season
Next race:
1979 United States Grand Prix
Previous race:
1978 Canadian Grand Prix
Canadian Grand Prix Next race:
1980 Canadian Grand Prix