The 1979 British Grand Prix (formally the XXXII Marlboro British Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 14 July 1979. It was the ninth race of the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors.
The 68-lap race was won by Clay Regazzoni, driving a Williams-Ford. It was the first Formula One victory for the Williams team and Regazzoni's final victory in Formula One. René Arnoux finished second in a Renault, with Jean-Pierre Jarier third in a Tyrrell-Ford.
Qualifying
Qualifying report Qualifying saw Alan Jones take his and the Williams team's first pole position by 0.6 seconds from Jean-Pierre Jabouille in the Renault; the Williams FW07 had been modified by engineers Patrick Head and Frank Dernie to correct some aerodynamic problems on the car. Nelson Piquet took third in the Brabham with the second Williams of Clay Regazzoni alongside him on the second row, while René Arnoux in the second Renault and Niki Lauda in the second Brabham made up the third row. Completing the top ten were John Watson in the McLaren, the Lotuses of Carlos Reutemann and Mario Andretti, and Jacques Laffite in the Ligier. The Ferraris disappointed, with championship leader Jody Scheckter only managing 11th and Gilles Villeneuve 13th.
Qualifying classification Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo1Alan JonesWilliams-Ford1:11.8812Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1:12.4823Nelson PiquetBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:12.6534Clay RegazzoniWilliams-Ford1:13.1145René ArnouxRenault1:13.2956Niki LaudaBrabham-Alfa Romeo1:13.4467John WatsonMcLaren-Ford1:13.5778Carlos ReutemannLotus-Ford1:13.8789Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:14.20910Jacques LaffiteLigier-Ford1:14.371011Jody ScheckterFerrari1:14.601112Elio de AngelisShadow-Ford1:14.871213Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:14.901314Keke RosbergWolf-Ford1:14.961415Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford1:15.281516Jean-Pierre JarierTyrrell-Ford1:15.631617Jacky IckxLigier-Ford1:15.631718Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford1:15.671819Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:15.771920Jochen MassArrows-Ford1:16.192021Jan LammersShadow-Ford1:16.662122Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:16.682223Patrick GaillardEnsign-Ford1:17.072324Héctor RebaqueLotus-Ford1:17.3224Hans-Joachim StuckATS-Ford1:17.44—Arturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford1:19.57—
Race
Race report At the start of the race, Regazzoni charged into the lead, but was repassed by team-mate Jones and Jabouille before the end of the first lap. Andretti and the Ferraris also made fast starts, running close to Piquet, Lauda and Arnoux. At the end of lap 2, Piquet made a mistake at Woodcote and spun off, before Andretti dropped out with a broken wheel bearing on lap 4. Then Lauda encountered brake problems which eventually led to his retirement on lap 13, leaving Arnoux fourth with Scheckter fifth and Villeneuve dutifully following the South African.
Up at the front, Jones established a commanding lead over Jabouille, who was struggling on Michelin tyres that were wearing quickly. On lap 17, the Frenchman pitted for new tyres, promoting Regazzoni to second. However, disaster struck for Jabouille when, after a long stop, part of his front wing got caught in an air hose that had not been removed from under the car and was broken off as he accelerated. He was forced to return to the pits for repairs, during which his turbo overheated.
At half-distance, Jones still led comfortably, with Regazzoni still second and well clear of Arnoux, and Laffite moving ahead of the Ferraris into fourth. Then, approaching Woodcote at the end of lap 39, Jones's engine failed, a water pump problem causing it to overheat. Six laps later, Laffite also retired with engine trouble. This left only four drivers on the lead lap - Regazzoni, Arnoux, Scheckter and Villeneuve - with Jean-Pierre Jarier up to fifth in his Tyrrell and Watson sixth.
The Ferraris were also struggling on Michelins, and Villeneuve pitted for new tyres on lap 50, before stopping with fuel vaporization problems five laps from the end. Scheckter, meanwhile, was lapped by Regazzoni on lap 56, before Jarier and Watson passed him in the closing laps.
Regazzoni eventually took the chequered flag 24 seconds ahead of Arnoux, giving Williams their first Formula One victory. It was also Regazzoni's fifth and final win and, as of 2024, the last win in F1 for a Swiss driver. After Jarier, Watson and Scheckter came Jacky Ickx, taking the final point in the second Ligier.
This was the first Grand Prix on which James Hunt, who had retired from racing the previous month, commentated alongside Murray Walker for the BBC's Grand Prix programme.
Classification Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 28 Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford 68 1:26:11.17 4 9 2 16 René Arnoux Renault 68 +24.28 5 6 3 4 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 67 +1 lap 16 4 4 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 67 +1 lap 7 3 5 11 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 67 +1 lap 11 2 6 25 Jacky Ickx Ligier-Ford 67 +1 lap 17 1 7 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 66 Out of fuel 18 8 2 Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford 66 +2 laps 8 9 31 Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 66 +2 laps 24 10 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 66 +2 laps 15 11 17 Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford 65 +3 laps 21 12 18 Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford 65 +3 laps 12 13 22 Patrick Gaillard Ensign-Ford 65 +3 laps 23 14 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 63 Fuel system 13 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 45 Gearbox 19 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 44 Engine 10 20 Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford 44 Fuel system 14 27 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 38 Water pump 1 30 Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 37 Gearbox 20 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 25 Engine 22 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 21 Turbo 2 5 Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 12 Brakes 6 1 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 3 Wheel bearing 9 6 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1 Spun off 3 9 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford 24 Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford
Notes – Elio de Angelis finished 11th, but received a one-minute time penalty for a jump start.
Notes
This was the 25th Grand Prix start for Williams, their first pole position and their first Grand Prix win.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jody Scheckter 32 (36) 2 Gilles Villeneuve 26 3 Jacques Laffite 24 4 Patrick Depailler 20 (22) 5 Carlos Reutemann 20 (25)Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 62 2 Ligier-Ford 47 3 Lotus-Ford 37 1 4 Williams-Ford 23 1 5 Tyrrell-Ford 21Source:
References