The 1979 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 26 August 1979 at Zandvoort.
Summary
René Arnoux put his Renault on pole position but the slow start of the turbocharged car allowed Alan Jones to break free. Arnoux and Clay Regazzoni collided, eliminating the Williams on the spot while the poleman only lasted to the end of the lap as he limped back to the pits. Jody Scheckter fell to last place on the first lap and began the task of working through the field. Gilles Villeneuve, who made it through the first lap ahead of Jean-Pierre Jabouille, passed Jones at Tarzan on lap 11. He gave the lead back to Jones when he spun on lap 47. On lap 51, just after passing the pits, Villeneuve's left rear tyre exploded causing him to spin. He regained control to begin one of the wildest laps in history. He drove an entire lap on two tyres, the right front was in the air and the left rear was shredding rubber and sparking with the pavement. Reaction was mixed. It was either an act of the ultimate competitor not wanting to give up or an irresponsible, emotional decision. Either way he was out as his suspension was too damaged to rejoin the race. Jones finished first giving him his third consecutive and Williams their fourth consecutive victory. However, Scheckter worked his way up to finish second and due to Jones' poor performance in the first half of the season thanks to the Williams only getting quicker halfway through the season, Ferrari driver only needed 4 more points to ensure a Ferrari would win the driver's title.
Classification Qualifying Pos. No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 16 René Arnoux Renault 1:17.100 1:15.461 — 2 27 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:16.883 1:15.646 +0.185 3 28 Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford 1:16.316 1:16.228 +0.767 4 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:16.338 1:16.304 +0.843 5 11 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 1:17.313 1:16.392 +0.931 6 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:16.939 1:16.946 +1.478 7 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 1:17.129 1:17.639 +1.668 8 20 Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford 1:18.180 1:17.280 +1.819 9 5 Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:17.661 1:17.495 +2.034 10 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:18.398 1:17.625 +2.164 11 6 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:17.821 1:17.667 +2.206 12 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:21.799 1:17.750 +2.289 13 2 Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford 1:18.671 1:18.001 +2.540 14 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 1:21.892 1:18.147 +2.686 15 9 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford 1:20.581 1:18.256 +2.795 16 4 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 1:18.946 1:18.430 +2.969 17 1 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:18.896 1:18.452 +2.991 18 30 Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 1:18.817 1:18.606 +3.145 19 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:20.051 1:18.629 +3.168 20 25 Jacky Ickx Ligier-Ford 1:18.706 1:19.143 +3.245 21 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:21.005 1:19.433 +3.972 22 18 Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford 1:21.065 1:20.709 +5.248 23 17 Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford 1:23.404 1:21.084 +5.623 24 31 Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 1:21.502 1:21.344 +5.883 22 Patrick Gaillard Ensign-Ford 1:37.600 1:22.922 +7.461 24 Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:23.613 - +8.152Source:
Race
Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 27 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 75 1:41:19.775 2 9 2 11 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 75 +21.783 5 6 3 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 75 +1:03.253 7 4 4 6 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo 74 +1 Lap 11 3 5 25 Jacky Ickx Ligier-Ford 74 +1 Lap 20 2 6 30 Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 73 +2 Laps 18 1 7 31 Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 73 +2 Laps 24 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 51 Suspension 10 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 49 Tyre 6 18 Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford 40 Transmission 22 20 Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford 33 Engine 8 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 26 Clutch 4 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 22 Engine 12 4 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 20 Spun Off 16 9 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford 19 Transmission 15 17 Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford 12 Gearbox 23 1 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 9 Suspension 17 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 7 Brakes 19 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 6 Engine 14 5 Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 4 Withdrew 9 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 2 Electrical 21 2 Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford 1 Suspension 13 16 René Arnoux Renault 1 Suspension 1 28 Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford 0 Collision 3 22 Patrick Gaillard Ensign-Ford 24 Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford
Notes
This was the 100th Grand Prix start for Shadow. In those 100 races, Shadow had won 1 Grand Prix, achieved 7 podium finishes, 3 pole positions and 2 fastest laps. This was the 5th pole position for Renault and a Renault-powered car. This was the 300th Grand Prix start for a Ferrari-powered car. In those 300 races, a Ferrari-powered car had won 77 Grands Prix, achieved 253 podium finishes, 89 pole positions, 88 fastest laps, 23 Grand Slams and won 8 Driver's and 5 Constructor's Championships.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jody Scheckter* 44 (48) 1 2 Jacques Laffite* 36 1 3 Alan Jones* 34 2 4 Gilles Villeneuve* 32 5 Clay Regazzoni* 24Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari* 80 2 Ligier-Ford* 61 3 Williams-Ford* 58 4 Lotus-Ford 37 5 Tyrrell-Ford 21Source:
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. Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
References