1979 Brazilian Grand Prix

  1979 Brazilian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 2 of 15 in the 1979 Formula One season
Date	February 4, 1979
Location	São Paulo, Brazil
Course	Permanent race track
Course length	7.873 km (4.73 mi)
Distance	40 laps, 314.92 km (189.2 mi)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford
Time	2:23.07
Fastest lap
Driver	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford
Time	2:28.76 on lap 23
Podium
First	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford
Second	Patrick Depailler	Ligier-Ford
Third	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus-Ford

The 1979 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 4 February 1979 at Interlagos.

Race report

The Ligier team dominated the race weekend with their superior ground-effect JS11. Frenchman Jacques Laffite dominated the race weekend and made the most of his superbly set-up Ligier by taking pole position, smashing Jean-Pierre Jarier's 1975 pole time by 7 seconds, setting fastest lap and leading every lap of the race up to the finish. Laffite's teammate Patrick Depailler started and finished 2nd. Laffite and the Ligier team completed their domination of the South American fortnight, Laffite also dominantly won in Argentina.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford	40	1:40:09.64	1	9
2	25	Patrick Depailler	Ligier-Ford	40	+5.28 secs	2	6
3	2	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus-Ford	40	+44.14 secs	3	4
4	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	40	+1:25.88	8	3
5	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	39	+1 Lap	5	2
6	11	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	39	+1 Lap	6	1
7	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows-Ford	39	+1 Lap	19
8	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	39	+1 Lap	14
9	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	39	+1 Lap	16
10	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	39	+1 Lap	7
11	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	39	+1 Lap	9
12	18	Elio de Angelis	Shadow-Ford	39	+1 Lap	20
13	22	Derek Daly	Ensign-Ford	39	+1 Lap	23
14	17	Jan Lammers	Shadow-Ford	39	+1 Lap	21
15	28	Clay Regazzoni	Williams-Ford	38	+2 Laps	17
Ret	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	33	Fuel System	13
Ret	9	Hans Joachim Stuck	ATS-Ford	31	Steering	24
Ret	16	René Arnoux	Renault	28	Spun Off	11
Ret	20	James Hunt	Wolf-Ford	7	Steering	10
Ret	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	7	Collision	18
Ret	5	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	5	Gearbox	12
Ret	6	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	5	Accident	22
Ret	1	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	2	Fuel Leak	4
Ret	4	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford	0	Electrical	15
DNQ	31	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus-Ford
DNQ	24	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford
Source:

Notes

• Lap Leaders: Jacques Laffite 40 laps (1-40).

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Jacques Laffite	18
2	Carlos Reutemann	10
3	Patrick Depailler	9
4	John Watson	4
5	Didier Pironi	3

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Ligier-Ford	27
2	Lotus-Ford	12
3	McLaren-Ford	4
4	Tyrrell-Ford	3
5	Ferrari	3

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

Previous race: 1979 Argentine Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 1979 season	Next race: 1979 South African Grand Prix
Previous race: 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix	Brazilian Grand Prix	Next race: 1980 Brazilian Grand Prix

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