1979 Formula One season

The 1979 Formula One season was the 33rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors which were contested concurrently over a fifteen-round series which commenced on 21 January 1979, and ended on 7 October 1979. The season also included three non-championship Formula One races.

Jody Scheckter won the Drivers' Championship and, with teammate Gilles Villeneuve in second place, Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship. This was the team's fourth Constructors' Championship in five years, and more would follow, but it would be their last Drivers' Championship for the next 21 years. As of 2025, Scheckter remains the first and only driver from an African country to win the World Championship.

This was the final season for 1976 F1 world champion James Hunt.

Drivers and constructors

The following drivers and constructors contested the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 85%"

! Entrant

! Constructor

! Chassis

! Engine

! Tyres

! No

! Driver

! Rounds

|rowspan="2"| Martini Racing Team Lotus

!rowspan="2"| Lotus-Ford

|rowspan="2"| 79 80

|rowspan="2"| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|rowspan="2"|

| 1

| Mario Andretti

| All

| 2

| Carlos Reutemann

| All

|rowspan="5"| Team Tyrrell Candy Tyrrell Team

!rowspan="5"| Tyrrell-Ford

|rowspan="5"| 009

|rowspan="5"| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|rowspan="5"|

| 3

| Didier Pironi

| All

|rowspan="3"| 4

| Jean-Pierre Jarier

|nowrap| 1–9, 12–15

| Geoff Lees

| 10

|rowspan="2"| Derek Daly

| 11

| 33

| 14–15

|rowspan=4| Parmalat Racing

!rowspan=2 nowrap| Brabham-Alfa Romeo

|rowspan=2| BT46 BT48

|rowspan=2| Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12 Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12

|rowspan=4|

| 5

| Niki Lauda

| 1–13

| 6

| Nelson Piquet

| 1–13

!rowspan=2| Brabham-Ford

|rowspan=2| BT49

|rowspan=2| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

| 5

| Ricardo Zunino

| 14–15

| 6

| Nelson Piquet

| 14–15

|rowspan="2"| Marlboro Team McLaren Löwenbräu Team McLaren

!rowspan="2"| McLaren-Ford

|rowspan="2"| M26 M28 M28B M28C M29

|rowspan="2"| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|rowspan="2"|

| 7

| John Watson

| All

| 8

| Patrick Tambay

| All

| ATS Wheels

! ATS-Ford

| D2 D3

| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

| 9

| Hans-Joachim Stuck

| All

|rowspan="2"| SEFAC Ferrari

!rowspan="2"| Ferrari

|rowspan="2"| 312T3 312T4 312T4B

|rowspan="2"| Ferrari 015 3.0 F12

|rowspan="2"|

| 11

| Jody Scheckter

| All

| 12

| Gilles Villeneuve

| All

|rowspan="2"| Fittipaldi Automotive

!rowspan="2"| Fittipaldi-Ford

|rowspan="2"| F5A F6 F6A

|rowspan="2"| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|rowspan="2"|

| 14

| Emerson Fittipaldi

| All

| 19

| Alex Ribeiro

| 14–15

|rowspan="2"| Équipe Renault Elf

!rowspan="2"| Renault

|rowspan="2"| RS01 RS10

|rowspan="2" nowrap| Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t

|rowspan="2"|

| 15

|nowrap| Jean-Pierre Jabouille

| All

| 16

| René Arnoux

| All

|rowspan="2"| Samson Shadow Racing Interscope Shadow Racing Shadow Racing

!rowspan="2"| Shadow-Ford

|rowspan="2"| DN9

|rowspan="2"| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|rowspan="2"|

| 17

| Jan Lammers

| All

| 18

| Elio de Angelis

| All

|rowspan="2" nowrap| Olympus Cameras Wolf Racing Michelob Wolf Racing

!rowspan="2"| Wolf-Ford

|rowspan="2"| WR7 WR8 WR9

|rowspan="2"| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|rowspan="2"|

|rowspan="2"| 20

| James Hunt

| 1–7

| Keke Rosberg

| 8–15

|rowspan="3"| Team Ensign

!rowspan="3"| Ensign-Ford

|rowspan="3"| N177 N179

|rowspan="3"| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|rowspan="3"|

|rowspan="3"| 22

| Derek Daly

| 1–7

| Patrick Gaillard

| 8–12

| Marc Surer

| 13–15

|rowspan="2"| Team Merzario

!rowspan="2"| Merzario-Ford

|rowspan="2"| A1B A2 A4

|rowspan="2"| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|rowspan="2"|

|rowspan="2"| 24

| Arturo Merzario

| 1–6, 8–15

| Gianfranco Brancatelli

| 7

|rowspan="3"| Ligier Gitanes

!rowspan="3"| Ligier-Ford

|rowspan="3"| JS11

|rowspan="3"| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|rowspan="3"|

|rowspan="2"| 25

| Patrick Depailler

| 1–7

| Jacky Ickx

| 8–15

| 26

| Jacques Laffite

| All

|rowspan="2"| Albilad-Saudia Racing Team

!rowspan="2"| Williams-Ford

|rowspan="2"| FW06 FW07

|rowspan="2"| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|rowspan="2"|

| 27

| Alan Jones

| All

| 28

| Clay Regazzoni

| All

|rowspan="2" nowrap| Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team

!rowspan="2"| Arrows-Ford

|rowspan="2"| A1 A2

|rowspan="2"| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|rowspan="2"|

| 29

| Riccardo Patrese

| All

| 30

| Jochen Mass

| All

|rowspan=2| Team Rebaque

! Lotus-Ford

| 79

|rowspan=2| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|rowspan=2|

|rowspan=2| 31

|rowspan=2| Héctor Rebaque

| 1–6, 8–12

! Rebaque-Ford

| HR100

| 13–15

|rowspan="2"| Autodelta

!rowspan="2"| Alfa Romeo

|rowspan="2"| 177 179

|rowspan="2"| Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12 Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12

|rowspan="2"|

| 35

| Bruno Giacomelli

| 6, 8, 13, 15

| 36

| Vittorio Brambilla

| 13–15

| Willi Kauhsen Racing Team

! Kauhsen-Ford

| WK

| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

| 36

| nowrap| Gianfranco Brancatelli

| 5–6

Team and driver changes

Several high-profile changes happened among the leading teams for this season, as the death of Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson the previous September precipitated a merry-go-round of some of the most highly regarded drivers on the grid:

Reigning champions Team Lotus signed Carlos Reutemann from Ferrari to replace Peterson. Ferrari took on Jody Scheckter to fill the gap, and the Wolf team hired James Hunt in his place.
McLaren had originally signed Peterson to replace Hunt but when Peterson was killed, fellow British contender John Watson was signed instead. His place at Brabham was taken by the highly regarded but inexperienced Nelson Piquet, who had driven for them at the final race of last season.
Tyrrell attracted ex-Lotus driver Jean-Pierre Jarier instead of Patrick Depailler, who moved to Ligier. The French team had acquired Matra's assets for their entrance in Formula 1, but lost their factory support before the 1979 season. They secured a deal for Ford-Cosworth engines, just like the majority of teams.
Clay Regazzoni moved from Shadow to Williams, while René Arnoux moved to Renault for his second season. Both teams expanded their operations to two cars for the first time.
Hans-Joachim Stuck had moved to ATS, so Shadow had two open seats. They signed Jan Lammers and Elio de Angelis, both making their F1 debuts.
Arrows replaced Rolf Stommelen with Jochen Mass.

Mid-season changes

Following a string of races in which he failed to finish, James Hunt retired from driving halfway through the season to join BBC Sport as a commentator. His seat was taken by future champion Keke Rosberg.
Patrick Depailler suffered a hang gliding accident in June and broke both legs. Ligier, who were supported by the French government, were forced to find a French replacement driver, which they found in French-speaking Belgian Jacky Ickx. It was Ickx's last F1 drive.
Derek Daly was let go by the Ensign team and replaced by debutant Patrick Gaillard, who did not provide better results. Finally, Formula Two champion Marc Surer picked up the drive. He did not deliver, but for him, it was a good entry into the sport and he would eventually spend eight years in F1.
After driving a privatised Lotus 79, Héctor Rebaque debuted with his self-made chassis, the Rebaque HR100 in the Italian Grand Prix.
In , Alfa Romeo returned to F1 as engine supplier to Brabham, but designer Carlo Chiti persuaded the manufacturer to develop their own chassis. The Alfa Romeo 177 made its debut at the 1979 Belgian Grand Prix. They quit the supply deal with Brabham, leaving them to switch to Ford-Cosworth V8's with two races to go in the year. According to Niki Lauda, this was not a step forward: during the first practice session with the V8, the Austrian suddenly retired the car and quit the team, as he had no more desire to "continue the silliness of driving around in circles". Test driver Ricardo Zunino took his place.
Fittipaldi expanded to two cars with two races to go in the season.

Calendar

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"

! Round

! Grand Prix

! Circuit

! Date

! 1

| Argentine Grand Prix

| Autodromo de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires

| 21 January

! 2

| Brazilian Grand Prix

| Autodromo de Interlagos, São Paulo

| 4 February

! 3

| South African Grand Prix

| Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand

| 3 March

! 4

| United States Grand Prix West

| Long Beach Street Circuit, Long Beach

| 8 April

! 5

| Spanish Grand Prix

| Circuito Permanente del Jarama, Madrid

| 29 April

! 6

| Belgian Grand Prix

| Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder

| 13 May

! 7

| Monaco Grand Prix

| Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo

| 27 May

! 8

| French Grand Prix

| Dijon-Prenois, Prenois

| 1 July

! 9

| British Grand Prix

| Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone

| 14 July

! 10

| German Grand Prix

| Hockenheimring, Hockenheim

| 29 July

! 11

| Austrian Grand Prix

| Österreichring, Spielberg

| 12 August

! 12

| Dutch Grand Prix

| Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort

| 26 August

! 13

| Italian Grand Prix

| Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza

| 9 September

! 14

| Canadian Grand Prix

| Île Notre-Dame Circuit, Montréal

| 30 September

! 15

| United States Grand Prix

| Watkins Glen Grand Prix Course, New York

| 7 October

Calendar changes

The Spanish Grand Prix was moved up six weeks, ahead of the Belgian and Monaco Grand Prix. Those two races also swapped places compared to .
The Swedish Grand Prix was originally scheduled to be held on 17 June at Anderstorp Raceway, but was cancelled as enthusiasm for Formula One in Sweden had faded as a result of the deaths of Swedish drivers Ronnie Peterson and Gunnar Nilsson. There was never another Swedish Grand Prix.
The French Grand Prix was moved from Circuit Paul Ricard to Dijon-Prenois, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. Likewise, the British Grand Prix was moved from Brands Hatch to Silverstone.
The United States Grand Prix and Canadian Grand Prix swapped places on the calendar. The race at Watkins Glen now hosted the season finale.

Regulation changes

The cockpit opening was to be made bigger.
It was stipulated for the first time that an F1 car had to have two rear-view mirrors.

World Drivers' Championship standings

|- valign="top"

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%; text-align:center;"

|- valign="top"

!valign="middle"| Pos

!valign="middle"| Driver

! ARG

! BRA

! RSA

! USW

! ESP

! BEL

! MON

! rowspan="38" |

! FRA

! GBR

! GER

! AUT

! NED

! ITA

! CAN

! USA

!valign="middle"| Points

! 1

|align="left"| Jody Scheckter

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| (6)

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 2

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| (4)

|style="background:#ffffbf;"| 1

|style="background:#ffffbf;"|

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 7

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| (5)

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 4

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 2

|style="background:#ffffbf;"| 1

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| (4)

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

! 51 (60)

! 2

|align="left"| Gilles Villeneuve

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 5

|style="background:#ffffbf;"|

|style="background:#cfcfff;"|

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 2

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 14†

|style="background:#cfcfff;"|

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 2

|style="background:#efcfff;"|

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 2

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| (2)

|style="background:#ffffbf;"| 1

! 47 (53)

! 3

|align="left"| Alan Jones

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 9

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 3

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| (4)

|style="background:#efcfff;"|

|style="background:#ffffbf;"| 1

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 9

|style="background:#ffffbf;"|

|style="background:#efcfff;"|

! 40 (43)

! 4

|align="left"| Jacques Laffite

|style="background:#ffffbf;"|

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#efcfff;"|

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"|

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 8

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 3

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

! 36

! 5

|align="left"| Clay Regazzoni

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 10

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 15

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 9

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 2

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| (6)

|style="background:#ffffbf;"|

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 2

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| (5)

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"|

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 3

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

! 29 (32)

! 6

|align="left"| Patrick Depailler

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 4

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 2

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 5

|style="background:#ffffbf;"| 1

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"|

! 20 (22)

! 7

|align="left"| Carlos Reutemann

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 2

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 3

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| (5)

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 2

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| (4)

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 3

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 13

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 8

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 7

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

! 20 (25)

! 8

|align="left"| René Arnoux

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#ffffff;"| DNS

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 9

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"|

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 2

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"|

|style="background:#efcfff;"|

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 2

! 17

! 9

|align="left"| John Watson

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 3

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 8

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 6

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 4

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 11

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 4

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 5

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 9

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 6

! 15

! 10

|align="left"| Didier Pironi

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 4

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#000000; color:white"| DSQ

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 6

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 3

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 10

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 9

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 7

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 10

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 5

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 3

! 14

! 11

|align="left"| Jean-Pierre Jarier

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 3

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 6

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 5

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 11

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 5

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 3

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 6

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

! 14

! 12

|align="left"| Mario Andretti

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 5

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 4

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 3

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 5

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 10

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

! 14

! 13

|align="left"|

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| 10

|style="background:#efcfff;"|

|style="background:#ffffff;"| DNS

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#cfcfff;"| NC

|style="background:#ffffbf;"|

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#efcfff;"|

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#cfcfff;"|

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

! 9

! 14

|align="left"| Niki Lauda

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 6

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 4

| WD

! 4

! 15