The 1979 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 September 1979 at the Circuit Île Notre-Dame, Montreal.
During practice Niki Lauda announced his retirement from Formula One (he subsequently returned in 1982 with McLaren). The Brabham team, who had replaced their Alfa Romeo-engined BT48 with the Cosworth DFV-engined BT49, recruited Argentine newcomer Ricardo Zunino as Lauda's replacement.
The organizers would not let the Alfa Romeo factory team compete unless they pre-qualified. They refused to do so but a compromise was reached where one of their drivers would be allowed to take part in practice. The other, Bruno Giacomelli, was not allowed to enter the race.
The race turned into a close duel between Alan Jones and Gilles Villeneuve that continued the entire race.
As of 2024, Regazzoni's podium remains the last for a Swiss driver in Formula One.
Qualifying
Qualifying classification Pos.DriverConstructorTimeNo1Alan JonesWilliams-Ford1:29.89212Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:30.55423Clay RegazzoniWilliams-Ford1:30.76834Nelson PiquetBrabham-Ford1:30.77545Jacques LaffiteLigier-Ford1:30.82056Didier PironiTyrrell-Ford1:31.94167Jean-Pierre JabouilleRenault1:32.10378René ArnouxRenault1:32.11689Jody ScheckterFerrari1:32.280910Mario AndrettiLotus-Ford1:32.6511011Carlos ReutemannLotus-Ford1:32.6821112Hans-Joachim StuckATS-Ford1:32.8581213Jean-Pierre JarierTyrrell-Ford1:33.0651314Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:33.0901415Emerson FittipaldiFittipaldi-Ford1:33.2971516Jacky IckxLigier-Ford1:33.3551617John WatsonMcLaren-Ford1:33.3621718Vittorio BrambillaAlfa Romeo1:33.3781819Ricardo ZuninoBrabham-Ford1:33.5111920Patrick TambayMcLaren-Ford1:33.6032021Jan LammersShadow-Ford1:34.1022122Héctor RebaqueRebaque-Ford1:34.1292223Elio de AngelisShadow-Ford1:34.2562324Derek DalyTyrrell-Ford1:34.30124Jochen MassArrows-Ford1:34.365—Marc SurerEnsign-Ford1:34.747—Keke RosbergWolf-Ford1:35.061—Alex RibeiroFittipaldi-Ford1:36.901—Arturo MerzarioMerzario-Ford1:37.590—
Race
Classification Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 27 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 72 1:52:06.892 1 9 2 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 72 + 1.080 2 6 3 28 Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford 72 + 1:13.656 3 4 4 11 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 71 + 1 lap 9 3 5 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 71 + 1 lap 6 2 6 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 70 + 2 laps 17 1 7 5 Ricardo Zunino Brabham-Ford 68 + 4 laps 19 8 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 67 + 5 laps 15 9 17 Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford 67 + 5 laps 21 10 1 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 66 Out of fuel 10 6 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 61 Gearbox 4 36 Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo 52 Fuel system 18 25 Jacky Ickx Ligier-Ford 47 Gearbox 16 4 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 33 Engine 13 33 Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford 28 Engine 24 31 Héctor Rebaque Rebaque-Ford 26 Chassis 22 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 24 Brakes 7 18 Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford 24 Ignition 23 2 Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford 23 Suspension 11 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 20 Spun off 14 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 19 Engine 20 16 René Arnoux Renault 14 Accident 8 9 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford 14 Accident 12 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 10 Engine 5 30 Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 22 Marc Surer Ensign-Ford 20 Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford 19 Alex Ribeiro Fittipaldi-Ford 24 Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 5 Niki Lauda Brabham-Ford Retired in practice
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Argentinian driver Ricardo Zunino. This was the 5th fastest lap, 5th Grand Prix win, 1st Hat Trick, and 10th and 11th podium finish for Williams.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jody Scheckter 51 (60) 2 Gilles Villeneuve 44 1 3 Alan Jones 40 (43) 1 4 Jacques Laffite 36 5 Clay Regazzoni 29 (32)Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 104 2 Williams-Ford 75 3 Ligier-Ford 61 4 Lotus-Ford 39 5 Tyrrell-Ford 24Source:
Bold text indicates the 1979 World Champions.
References