Brazilian Grand Prix 1979

José Carlos Pace
São Paulo
4 February 1979
40 laps
318.4 km
7.873 km a lap

Pole positionJacques LaffiteLigier · 2:23.070
Fastest lapJacques Laffite2:28.760 · lap 23
Winner started fromP1on the grid

Result

Pos	Driver	No.	Team · engine	Grid	Laps	Time / reason	Points
1	Jacques Laffitefastest lap	26	Ligier · Ford	1	40	1:40:09.640	9
2	Patrick Depailler	25	Ligier · Ford	2	40	+5.280	6
3	Carlos Reutemann	2	Lotus · Ford	3	40	+44.140	4
4	Didier Pironi	3	Tyrrell · Ford	8	40	+1:25.880	3
5	Gilles Villeneuve	12	Ferrari	5	39	+1 lap	2
6	Jody Scheckter	11	Ferrari	6	39	+1 lap	1
7	Jochen Mass	30	Arrows · Ford	19	39	+1 lap
8	John Watson	7	McLaren · Ford	14	39	+1 lap
9	Riccardo Patrese	29	Arrows · Ford	16	39	+1 lap
10	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	15	Renault	7	39	+1 lap
11	Emerson Fittipaldi	14	Fittipaldi · Ford	9	39	+1 lap
12	Elio de Angelis	18	Shadow · Ford	20	39	+1 lap
13	Derek Daly	22	Ensign · Ford	23	39	+1 lap
14	Jan Lammers	17	Shadow · Ford	21	39	+1 lap
15	Clay Regazzoni	28	Williams · Ford	17	38	+2 laps
DNF	Alan Jones	27	Williams · Ford	13	33	Fuel system
DNF	Hans-Joachim Stuck	9	ATS · Ford	24	31	Steering
DNF	René Arnoux	16	Renault	11	28	Spun off
DNF	Patrick Tambay	8	McLaren · Ford	18	7	Collision
DNF	James Hunt	20	Wolf · Ford	10	7	Steering
DNF	Nelson Piquet	6	Brabham · Alfa Romeo	22	5	Accident
DNF	Niki Lauda	5	Brabham · Alfa Romeo	12	5	Gearbox
DNF	Mario Andretti	1	Lotus · Ford	4	2	Fuel leak
DNF	Jean-Pierre Jarier	4	Tyrrell · Ford	15	0	Electrical
DNQ	Héctor Rebaque	31	Lotus · Ford	–
DNQ	Arturo Merzario	24	Merzario · Ford	–

A number in the first column means classified. DNF, DNQ and DNS stand for retirement, did not qualify and did not start. ‘shared’ marks a car that two drivers shared between them – permitted in the 1950s, and both were classified.

Qualifying

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	2:23.070
2	Patrick Depailler	Ligier	2:23.990	+0.920
3	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus	2:24.150	+1.080
4	Mario Andretti	Lotus	2:24.280	+1.210
5	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	2:24.340	+1.270
6	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	2:24.480	+1.410
7	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	2:24.850	+1.780
8	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell	2:25.160	+2.090
9	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi	2:26.250	+3.180
10	James Hunt	Wolf	2:26.370	+3.300
11	René Arnoux	Renault	2:26.430	+3.360
12	Niki Lauda	Brabham	2:27.570	+4.500
13	Alan Jones	Williams	2:27.670	+4.600
14	John Watson	McLaren	2:27.820	+4.750
15	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell	2:27.890	+4.820
16	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows	2:28.080	+5.010
17	Clay Regazzoni	Williams	2:28.880	+5.810
18	Patrick Tambay	McLaren	2:29.390	+6.320
19	Jochen Mass	Arrows	2:29.420	+6.350
20	Elio de Angelis	Shadow	2:30.290	+7.220
21	Jan Lammers	Shadow	2:31.600	+8.530
22	Nelson Piquet	Brabham	2:31.640	+8.570
23	Derek Daly	Ensign	2:31.780	+8.710
24	Hans-Joachim Stuck	ATS	2:32.270	+9.200
25	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus	2:32.660	+9.590
26	Arturo Merzario	Merzario	2:34.080	+11.010

Fastest laps

Each driver's quickest lap of the race.

Pos	Driver	Lap	Time	Gap
1	Jacques Laffite	23	2:28.760

Championship after this race

The official standings after round 2. Arrows show the change against the round before.

The whole season

Drivers' championship after round 2
Pos	Driver	Points	Change
1	Jacques Laffite	18
2	Carlos Reutemann	10
3	Patrick Depailler	9	▲1
4	John Watson	4	▼1
5	Didier Pironi	3
6	Gilles Villeneuve	2
6	Mario Andretti	2	▼1
8	Emerson Fittipaldi	1	▼2
8	Jody Scheckter	1

Constructors' championship after round 2
Pos	Team	Points	Change
1	Ligier	27
2	Lotus	12
3	McLaren	4
4	Tyrrell	3
5	Ferrari	3
6	Fittipaldi	1	▼2