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1979 French Grand Prix

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1979 French Grand Prix
Race 8 of 15 in the 1979 Formula One season
Race details
Date July 1, 1979
Location Dijon
Course length 3.801 km (2.361 miles)
Distance 80 laps, 304.08 km (188.88 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Renault
Time 1:07.19
Fastest lap
Driver France René Arnoux Renault
Time 1:09.16 on lap 71
Podium
First Renault
Second Ferrari
Third Renault
Lap leaders

The 1979 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 1 July 1979 at Dijon-Prenois near Dijon, France.

It marked not just the first victory of a forced-induction car in Formula One since the Alfa Romeo 159's victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in 1951, but also the first victory of a turbocharged car in Formula One, with Renault overcoming the reliability problems that had initially plagued their car. For Jean-Pierre Jabouille it was a victory on home soil, driving a French car (Renault), on French tyres (Michelin), powered by a French engine (Renault), burning French fuel (Elf). Jabouille was the first Frenchman to win the French Grand Prix since Jean-Pierre Wimille in 1948.

The race featured one of the fiercest battles ever for second place, between Ferrari driver Gilles Villeneuve and Renault driver René Arnoux, who on several occasions during the final laps touched wheels and swapped positions. The fight is often cited as one of the most memorable pieces of racing in Formula One.[1] Villeneuve, who passed the finish line less than a quarter of a second ahead of Arnoux, later described the occasion as "my best memory of Grand Prix racing".[2]

Qualifying

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Qualifying classification

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Pos. Driver Constructor Time No
1 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:07,19 1
2 René Arnoux Renault 1:07,45 2
3 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:07,65 3
4 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:08,13 4
5 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 1:08,15 5
6 Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 1:08,20 6
7 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:08,23 7
8 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 1:08,55 8
9 Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford 1:08,65 9
10 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 1:08,80 10
11 Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford 1:08,95 11
12 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:09,35 12
13 Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford 1:09,36 13
14 Jacky Ickx Ligier-Ford 1:09,68 14
15 John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:09,97 15
16 Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford 1:10,15 16
17 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:10,59 17
18 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:10,61 18
19 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:10,70 19
20 Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford 1:10,92 20
21 Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford 1:11,14 21
22 Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 1:11,40 22
23 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford 1:11,75 DNS
24 Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford 1:11,97 23
25 Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford 1:12,23 24
DNQ Patrick Gaillard Ensign-Ford 1:13,00
DNQ Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford 1:14,95

Race

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Classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault M 80 1:35:20.42 1 9
2 12 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 80 + 14.59 3 6
3 16 France René Arnoux Renault M 80 + 14.83 2 4
4 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 80 + 36.61 7 3
5 4 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford G 80 + 1:04.51 10 2
6 28 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Williams-Ford G 80 + 1:05.51 9 1
7 11 South Africa Jody Scheckter Ferrari M 79 + 1 Lap 5
8 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford G 79 + 1 Lap 8
9 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Wolf-Ford G 79 + 1 Lap 16
10 8 France Patrick Tambay McLaren-Ford G 78 + 2 Laps 20
11 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford G 78 + 2 Laps 15
12 31 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Lotus-Ford G 78 + 2 Laps 23
13 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Lotus-Ford G 77 + 3 Laps 13
14 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford G 77 + 3 Laps 19
15 30 West Germany Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford G 75 + 5 Laps 22
16 18 Italy Elio de Angelis Shadow-Ford G 75 + 5 Laps 24
17 35 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo G 75 + 5 Laps 17
18 17 Netherlands Jan Lammers Shadow-Ford G 73 + 7 Laps 21
Ret 3 France Didier Pironi Tyrrell-Ford G 71 Suspension 11
Ret 14 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 53 Engine 18
Ret 6 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 52 Accident 4
Ret 1 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 51 Brakes 12
Ret 25 Belgium Jacky Ickx Ligier-Ford G 45 Engine 14
Ret 5 Austria Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo G 23 Spun Off 6
DNS 9 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS-Ford G Tyre Dispute
DNQ 22 France Patrick Gaillard Ensign-Ford G
DNQ 24 Italy Arturo Merzario Merzario-Ford G
Source:[3][4]

Notes

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  • This was the Formula One World Championship debut for French driver Patrick Gaillard.
  • This race marked the 25th Grand Prix start for Renault and a Renault-powered car. It was also the first fastest lap set, podium finish and Grand Prix win for the French team and engine supplier.

Championship standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 4 results from the first 7 races and the best 4 results from the last 8 races counted towards the Drivers' Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

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  1. ^ "Autosport.com on the 1979 French Grand Prix". Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  2. ^ "Formula1.com on the 1979 French Grand Prix". Archived from the original on 8 July 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  3. ^ "1979 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. ^ "1979 French Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. July 1979. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  5. ^ a b "France 1979 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.


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1979 Monaco Grand Prix
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1979 British Grand Prix
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1980 French Grand Prix