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 Pos.No.DriverConstructorTimeGrid126 Jacques LaffiteLigier-Ford1:44.201225 Patrick DepaillerLigier-Ford1:45.24232 Carlos ReutemannLotus-Ford1:45.34344 Jean-Pierre JarierTyrrell-Ford1:45.364511 Jody ScheckterFerrari1:45.58567 John WatsonMcLaren-Ford1:45.76671 Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:45.96783 Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford1:46,43898 Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford1:46.5691012 Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:46.88101114 Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:47.15111215 Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1:47.46121329 Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:48.331430 Jochen MassArrows-Ford1:48.34131527 Alan JonesWilliams-Ford1:48.44141617 Elio de AngelisShadow-Ford1:48.51151728 Clay RegazzoniWilliams-Ford1:48.64161820 James HuntWolf-Ford1:48.77171931 Héctor RebaqueLotus-Ford1:49.3618206 Nelson PiquetBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:49.49192118 Jan LammersShadow-Ford1:49.51202224 Arturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford1:50.2621235 Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:50.29222422 Derek DalyEnsign-Ford1:51.0523259 Hans-Joachim StuckATS-Ford1:51.282616 René ArnouxRenault1:51.5224
Race classification Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 53 1:36:03.21 1 9 2 2 Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford 53 +14.94 secs 3 6 3 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 53 +1:28.81 6 4 4 25 Patrick Depailler Ligier-Ford 53 +1:41.72 2 3 5 1 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 52 +1 Lap 7 2 6 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 52 +1 Lap 11 1 7 18 Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford 52 +1 Lap 16 8 30 Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 51 +2 Laps 14 9 27 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 51 +2 Laps 15 10 28 Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford 51 +2 Laps 17 11 22 Derek Daly Ensign-Ford 51 +2 Laps 24 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 48 Engine 10 31 Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 46 Suspension 19 17 Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford 42 Transmission 21 20 James Hunt Wolf-Ford 41 Electrical 18 4 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 15 Engine 4 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 15 Engine 12 5 Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 8 Fuel System 23 16 René Arnoux Renault 6 Engine 26 11 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 0 Collision 5 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 0 Collision 8 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 0 Collision 9 6 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo 0 Collision 20 24 Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 0 Collision 22 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 0 Accident 13 9 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford 0 25
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
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jacques Laffite 9 2 Carlos Reutemann 6 3 John Watson 4 4 Patrick Depailler 3 5 Mario Andretti 2Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ligier-Ford 12 2 Lotus-Ford 8 3 McLaren-Ford 4 4 Fittipaldi-Ford 1Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References