1979 Argentine Grand Prix

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.

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 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford
Time 1:46.91 on lap 42
Podium
First Ligier-Ford
Second Lotus-Ford
Third McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders

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.[1]

Classification

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Qualifying classification

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Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Grid
1 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 1:44.20 1
2 25   Patrick Depailler Ligier-Ford 1:45.24 2
3 2   Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford 1:45.34 3
4 4   Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 1:45.36 4
5 11   Jody Scheckter Ferrari 1:45.58 5
6 7   John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:45.76 6
7 1   Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:45.96 7
8 3   Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:46,43 8
9 8   Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 1:46.56 9
10 12   Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:46.88 10
11 14   Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:47.15 11
12 15   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:47.46 12
13 29   Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:48.33 DNS
14 30   Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 1:48.34 13
15 27   Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:48.44 14
16 17   Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford 1:48.51 15
17 28   Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford 1:48.64 16
18 20   James Hunt Wolf-Ford 1:48.77 17
19 31   Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 1:49.36 18
20 6   Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:49.49 19
21 18   Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford 1:49.51 20
22 24   Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:50.26 21
23 5   Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:50.29 22
24 22   Derek Daly Ensign-Ford 1:51.05 23
25 9   Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford 1:51.28 DNS
26 16   René Arnoux Renault 1:51.52 24

Race classification

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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:[2][3]

Notes

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  • 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

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  1. ^ Taylor, Simon. "Lunch with... Walter Wolf". motorsportmagazine.com. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  2. ^ "1979 Argentine Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. ^ "1979 Argentine Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 21 January 1979. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b "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
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1978 Argentine Grand Prix
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1980 Argentine Grand Prix