1979 Argentine Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jacques Laffite and Ligier opened the 1979 F1 World Championship with a statement victory at the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez. The new JS11 had the speed to beat the established favourites, but a frightening first-lap pile-up meant the season began with a red flag before Laffite could turn that promise into nine points.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jacques Laffite	Ligier
Pole time	1:44.20
Fastest lap	Jacques Laffite	Ligier
Fastest-lap time	1:46.910 on lap 42
First	Jacques Laffite	Ligier
Second	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus
Third	John Watson	McLaren

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
18 January 1979	Thursday unofficial practice	Start time unconfirmed
19 January 1979	Friday morning timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
19 January 1979	Friday afternoon timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
20 January 1979	Saturday untimed practice	Start time unconfirmed
20 January 1979	Saturday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
21 January 1979	Warm-up	Morning; start unconfirmed
21 January 1979	Race	Start time unconfirmed

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Mario Andretti began his title defence with Lotus, but the rush to develop ground-effect cars had transformed the opposition. Ligier’s switch to Ford power and expansion to two cars immediately looked significant. A new constructors’ scoring system allowed both cars to earn points, while the drivers still faced sharply restricted totals: only four results from each part of the season would count.

Race entries

Jody Scheckter joined Gilles Villeneuve at Ferrari, Carlos Reutemann moved to Lotus and James Hunt took over at Wolf. Ligier paired Jacques Laffite with Patrick Depailler, while Renault added René Arnoux alongside Jean-Pierre Jabouille. Jan Lammers and Elio de Angelis made their World Championship debuts with Shadow; Clay Regazzoni joined Alan Jones at Williams.

Thursday unofficial practice

The opening running gave the teams a chance to shake down an unusually large collection of new cars. Wolf’s preparations immediately went awry when a loose bolt struck the radiator of James Hunt’s car. With several designs barely tested before being shipped to Argentina, keeping them running was already as important as finding outright speed.

Friday morning timed practice

Patrick Depailler put the new Ligier straight on the pace, underlining how quickly its ground-effect package had come together. Behind him, trouble spread through the paddock: debris from James Hunt’s detached nose punctured Didier Pironi’s Tyrrell tyre and sent him off, while Gilles Villeneuve lost running to fuel-pump problems. The heat also punished Renault’s turbo engines.

Friday afternoon timed practice

The afternoon offered little relief for the struggling teams. Lotus worked to balance the cars on Goodyear’s latest tyres, and Niki Lauda wrestled with fuel-system and skirt problems on the new Brabham. Hunt tried running without front fins, abandoned the experiment and then suffered an engine failure. Ligier’s comparatively clean day made its front-running pace all the more striking.

Saturday untimed practice

Mario Andretti’s preparation was interrupted by a broken rear-suspension mounting, while Patrick Tambay spun into a post and damaged his McLaren. Both teams repaired their cars for the final timed session. Hans-Joachim Stuck was less fortunate: a suspension failure left his ATS damaged and unable to defend its place on the grid.

Saturday final qualifying

Jacques Laffite delivered the decisive lap to claim pole ahead of Patrick Depailler, giving Ligier the entire front row. Carlos Reutemann lifted Lotus into third in front of his home crowd. The session was interrupted when Jean-Pierre Jarier lost his rear wing and crashed; his earlier time still secured fourth.

Niki Lauda briefly resorted to the older Brabham before its engine spread oil across the circuit. James Hunt’s Wolf also required an overnight alteration to its oil-cooling arrangement after the clutch-driven fan attracted scrutiny under the aerodynamic-device rules. Renault’s René Arnoux and ATS driver Hans-Joachim Stuck initially missed the cut.

Qualifying Classification

Eligible timed-practice laps set the qualifying order; Saturday morning’s untimed running did not count. René Arnoux was subsequently admitted after Riccardo Patrese withdrew and the first reserve could not take the place.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	1:44.20
2	25	Patrick Depailler	Ligier	1:45.24
3	2	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus	1:45.34
4	4	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell	1:45.36
5	11	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	1:45.58
6	7	John Watson	McLaren	1:45.76
7	1	Mario Andretti	Lotus	1:45.96
8	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell	1:46.43
9	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren	1:46.56
10	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1:46.88
11	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi	1:47.15
12	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	1:47.46
13	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows	1:48.33
14	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows	1:48.34
15	27	Alan Jones	Williams	1:48.44
16	18	Elio de Angelis	Shadow	1:48.51
17	28	Clay Regazzoni	Williams	1:48.64
18	20	James Hunt	Wolf	1:48.77
19	31	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus	1:49.36
20	6	Nelson Piquet	Brabham	1:49.49
21	17	Jan Lammers	Shadow	1:49.51
22	24	Arturo Merzario	Merzario	1:50.26
23	5	Niki Lauda	Brabham	1:50.29
24	22	Derek Daly	Ensign	1:51.05
25	9	Hans-Joachim Stuck	ATS	1:51.28
26	16	René Arnoux	Renault	1:51.52

Sunday warm-up

Riccardo Patrese collided with Nelson Piquet during the Sunday warm-up, reporting brake failure. The Arrows was too badly damaged to race, although Brabham could repair Piquet’s car. Hans-Joachim Stuck’s ATS was not ready to take the vacant place, so René Arnoux gained a late opportunity to start for Renault.

What happened in the 1979 Argentine Grand Prix?

The first start lasted only moments before contact involving Jody Scheckter and John Watson triggered a pile-up in the fast opening sequence. Several cars were wrecked and Nelson Piquet injured his foot. After the stoppage, only 19 drivers lined up for the restart, with Watson’s McLaren repaired using parts from Patrick Tambay’s car.

Patrick Depailler led away again, but Jacques Laffite recovered through the leading group and took control as his team-mate struggled with fuel vaporisation and overheating. Carlos Reutemann passed John Watson to lead the pursuit, then inherited second when Depailler stopped for water late in the race. The home favourite could not threaten the leading Ligier.

Laffite completed a convincing debut victory for the JS11, with Reutemann second and Watson third. Depailler recovered to fourth ahead of Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi, while Elio de Angelis finished an encouraging seventh on debut. It was a troubled afternoon for much of the field, but Ligier left with the early championship initiative.

After the race, Jacques Laffite headed the drivers’ standings with 9 points, followed by Carlos Reutemann on 6. Ligier – Ford led the constructors’ table on 12, with Lotus – Ford on 8.

1979 Argentine Grand Prix race results

The 1979 Argentine Grand Prix was held on 21 January 1979.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	53	1:36:03.21	9
2	2	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus	53	+14.94 secs	6
3	7	John Watson	McLaren	53	+1:28.81	4
4	25	Patrick Depailler	Ligier	53	+1:41.72	3
5	1	Mario Andretti	Lotus	52	+1 Lap	2
6	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi	52	+1 Lap	1
7	18	Elio de Angelis	Shadow	52	+1 Lap	0
8	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows	51	+2 Laps	0
9	27	Alan Jones	Williams	51	+2 Laps	0
10	28	Clay Regazzoni	Williams	51	+2 Laps	0
11	22	Derek Daly	Ensign	51	+2 Laps	0
Ret	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	48	Engine	0
Ret	31	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus	46	Suspension	0
Ret	17	Jan Lammers	Shadow	42	Transmission	0
Ret	20	James Hunt	Wolf	41	Electrical	0
Ret	4	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell	15	Engine	0
Ret	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	15	Engine	0
Ret	5	Niki Lauda	Brabham	8	Fuel System	0
Ret	16	René Arnoux	Renault	6	Engine	0
Ret	11	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	0	Collision	0
Ret	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell	0	Collision	0
Ret	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren	0	Collision	0
Ret	6	Nelson Piquet	Brabham	0	Collision	0
Ret	24	Arturo Merzario	Merzario	0	Collision	0
DNS	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows	0	Accident	0
DNS	9	Hans-Joachim Stuck	ATS	0		0

1979 Argentine Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	42	1:46.910

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

1979 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1979 Argentine Grand Prix.

1979 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jacques Laffite	French	Ligier	9
2	Carlos Reutemann	Argentine	Lotus	6
3	John Watson	British	McLaren	4
4	Patrick Depailler	French	Ligier	3
5	Mario Andretti	American	Lotus	2
6	Emerson Fittipaldi	Brazilian	Fittipaldi	1
–	Elio de Angelis	Italian	Shadow	0
–	Jochen Mass	German	Arrows	0
–	Alan Jones	Australian	Williams	0
–	Clay Regazzoni	Swiss	Williams	0
–	Derek Daly	Irish	Ensign	0
–	Gilles Villeneuve	Canadian	Ferrari	0
–	Hector Rebaque	Mexican	Lotus	0
–	Jan Lammers	Dutch	Shadow	0
–	James Hunt	British	Wolf	0
–	Jean-Pierre Jarier	French	Tyrrell	0
–	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	French	Renault	0
–	Niki Lauda	Austrian	Brabham	0
–	René Arnoux	French	Renault	0
–	Jody Scheckter	South African	Ferrari	0
–	Didier Pironi	French	Tyrrell	0
–	Patrick Tambay	French	McLaren	0
–	Nelson Piquet	Brazilian	Brabham	0
–	Arturo Merzario	Italian	Merzario	0
–	Riccardo Patrese	Italian	Arrows	0
–	Hans-Joachim Stuck	German	ATS	0

1979 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Ligier – Ford	12
2	Lotus – Ford	8
3	McLaren – Ford	4
4	Fittipaldi – Ford	1
—	Shadow – Ford	0
—	Arrows – Ford	0
—	Williams – Ford	0
—	Ensign – Ford	0
—	Ferrari	0
—	Wolf – Ford	0
—	Tyrrell – Ford	0
—	Renault	0
—	Brabham – Alfa Romeo	0
—	Merzario – Ford	0
—	ATS – Ford	0

Drivers counted their best 4 results from rounds 1–7 and their best 4 from rounds 8–15. Both cars could score constructor points, with every round counting.

1979 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1979 Argentine Grand Prix	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires	21 January
2	1979 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo de Interlagos, São Paulo	4 February
3	1979 South African Grand Prix	Kyalami, Midrand	3 March
4	1979 United States West Grand Prix	Long Beach Street Circuit, Long Beach, California	8 April
5	1979 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuito del Jarama, San Sebastián de los Reyes	29 April
6	1979 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder	13 May
7	1979 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	27 May
8	1979 French Grand Prix	Dijon-Prenois, Dijon	1 July
9	1979 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	14 July
10	1979 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	29 July
11	1979 Austrian Grand Prix	Österreichring, Spielberg	12 August
12	1979 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	26 August
13	1979 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	9 September
14	1979 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Île Notre-Dame, Montréal	30 September
15	1979 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	7 October