1979 British Grand Prix

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.	Driver	Constructor	Time	No
1	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	1:11.88	1
2	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	1:12.48	2
3	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	1:12.65	3
4	Clay Regazzoni	Williams-Ford	1:13.11	4
5	René Arnoux	Renault	1:13.29	5
6	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	1:13.44	6
7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	1:13.57	7
8	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus-Ford	1:13.87	8
9	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	1:14.20	9
10	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford	1:14.37	10
11	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	1:14.60	11
12	Elio de Angelis	Shadow-Ford	1:14.87	12
13	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1:14.90	13
14	Keke Rosberg	Wolf-Ford	1:14.96	14
15	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	1:15.28	15
16	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford	1:15.63	16
17	Jacky Ickx	Ligier-Ford	1:15.63	17
18	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	1:15.67	18
19	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	1:15.77	19
20	Jochen Mass	Arrows-Ford	1:16.19	20
21	Jan Lammers	Shadow-Ford	1:16.66	21
22	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	1:16.68	22
23	Patrick Gaillard	Ensign-Ford	1:17.07	23
24	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus-Ford	1:17.32	24
DNQ	Hans-Joachim Stuck	ATS-Ford	1:17.44	—
DNQ	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	1:19.57	—

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.<ref name="motorsport">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="grandprix">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="motorsport"/>

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	Template:Flagicon Clay Regazzoni	Williams-Ford	Template:Goodyear	68	1:26:11.17	4	9
2	16	Template:Flagicon René Arnoux	Renault	Template:Michelin	68	+24.28	5	6
3	4	Template:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford	Template:Goodyear	67	+1 lap	16	4
4	7	Template:Flagicon John Watson	McLaren-Ford	Template:Goodyear	67	+1 lap	7	3
5	11	Template:Flagicon Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	Template:Michelin	67	+1 lap	11	2
6	25	Template:Flagicon Jacky Ickx	Ligier-Ford	Template:Goodyear	67	+1 lap	17	1
7	8	Template:Flagicon Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	Template:Goodyear	66	Out of fuel	18
8	2	Template:Flagicon Carlos Reutemann	Lotus-Ford	Template:Goodyear	66	+2 laps	8
9	31	Template:Flagicon Héctor Rebaque	Lotus-Ford	Template:Goodyear	66	+2 laps	24
10	3	Template:Flagicon Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	Template:Goodyear	66	+2 laps	15
11	17	Template:Flagicon Jan Lammers	Shadow-Ford	Template:Goodyear	65	+3 laps	21
12	18	Template:Flagicon Elio de Angelis	Shadow-Ford	Template:Goodyear	65	1|[1]}}	12
13	22	Template:Flagicon Patrick Gaillard	Ensign-Ford	Template:Goodyear	65	+3 laps	23
14	12	Template:Flagicon Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	Template:Michelin	63	Fuel system	13
Ret	29	Template:Flagicon Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	Template:Goodyear	45	Gearbox	19
Ret	26	Template:Flagicon Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford	Template:Goodyear	44	Engine	10
Ret	20	Template:Flagicon Keke Rosberg	Wolf-Ford	Template:Goodyear	44	Fuel system	14
Ret	27	Template:Flagicon Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	Template:Goodyear	38	Water pump	1
Ret	30	Template:Flagicon Jochen Mass	Arrows-Ford	Template:Goodyear	37	Gearbox	20
Ret	14	Template:Flagicon Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	Template:Goodyear	25	Engine	22
Ret	15	Template:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	Template:Michelin	21	Turbo	2
Ret	5	Template:Flagicon Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	Template:Goodyear	12	Brakes	6
Ret	1	Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	Template:Goodyear	3	Wheel bearing	9
Ret	6	Template:Flagicon Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	Template:Goodyear	1	Spun off	3
DNQ	9	Template:Flagicon Hans-Joachim Stuck	ATS-Ford	Template:Goodyear
DNQ	24	Template:Flagicon Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	Template:Goodyear
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Notes

• ^1{{#if:| }} – Elio de Angelis finished 11th, but received a one-minute time penalty for a jump start.<ref name=GPA/><ref name="motorsport"/><ref name="statsf1-result"/><ref name=f1/>

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	Template:Flagicon Jody Scheckter	32 (36)
2	Template:Flagicon Gilles Villeneuve	26
3	Template:Flagicon Jacques Laffite	24
4	Template:Flagicon Patrick Depailler	20 (22)
5	Template:Flagicon Carlos Reutemann	20 (25)
Source:<ref name="statsf1-ch">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation				CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Template:Flagicon Ferrari	62
2	Template:Flagicon Ligier-Ford	47
3	Template:Flagicon Lotus-Ford	37
4	Template:Flagicon Williams-Ford	23
5	Template:Flagicon Tyrrell-Ford	21
Source:<ref name="statsf1-ch"/>

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References

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