1979 Belgian Grand Prix
# 1979 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1979 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1979 at Zolder. It was the sixth race of the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors.

The 70-lap race was won by Jody Scheckter, driving a Ferrari. Jacques Laffite finished second in a Ligier-Ford, having started from pole position, while Didier Pironi achieved his first podium finish with third in a Tyrrell-Ford.

The race also saw the first appearance of Alfa Romeo as a works team since 1951. Driving the Alfa Romeo 177, Bruno Giacomelli qualified 14th, ahead of both Renaults and both McLarens, before retiring following a collision with Elio de Angelis in the Shadow-Ford.

## Qualifying

### Qualifying classification

| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Time | No |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford | 1:21,13 | 1 |
| 2 | Patrick Depailler | Ligier-Ford | 1:21,20 | 2 |
| 3 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 1:21,35 | 3 |
| 4 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | 1:21,59 | 4 |
| 5 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | 1:21,83 | 5 |
| 6 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 1:22,08 | 6 |
| 7 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | 1:22,09 | 7 |
| 8 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams-Ford | 1:22,40 | 8 |
| 9 | James Hunt | Wolf-Ford | 1:22,55 | 9 |
| 10 | Carlos Reutemann | Lotus-Ford | 1:22,56 | 10 |
| 11 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:22,68 | 11 |
| 12 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:22,85 | 12 |
| 13 | Niki Lauda | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 1:22,87 | 13 |
| 14 | Bruno Giacomelli | Alfa Romeo | 1:23,15 | 14 |
| 15 | Héctor Rebaque | Lotus-Ford | 1:23,63 | 15 |
| 16 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford | 1:23,92 | 16 |
| 17 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | 1:24,02 | 17 |
| 18 | René Arnoux | Renault | 1:24,33 | 18 |
| 19 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford | 1:24,37 | 19 |
| 20 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS-Ford | 1:24,62 | 20 |
| 21 | Jan Lammers | Shadow-Ford | 1:24,76 | 21 |
| 22 | Jochen Mass | Arrows-Ford | 1:25,08 | 22 |
| 23 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | 1:25,18 | 23 |
| 24 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow-Ford | 1:25,48 | 24 |
| DNQ | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford | 1:25,69 | — |
| DNQ | Arturo Merzario | Merzario-Ford | 1:25,92 | — |
| DNQ | Derek Daly | Ensign-Ford | 1:27,83 | — |
| DNQ | Gianfranco Brancatelli | Kauhsen-Ford | 1:34,48 | — |

## Race

### Classification

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 11 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | M | 70 | 1:39:59.53 | 7 | 9 |
| 2 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford | G | 70 | + 15.36 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | 3 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 70 | + 35.17 | 12 | 4 |
| 4 | 2 | Carlos Reutemann | Lotus-Ford | G | 70 | + 46.49 | 10 | 3 |
| 5 | 29 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford | G | 70 | + 1:04.31 | 16 | 2 |
| 6 | 7 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford | G | 70 | + 1:05.85 | 19 | 1 |
| 7 | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | M | 69 | + 1 Lap | 6 | |
| 8 | 9 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS-Ford | G | 69 | + 1 Lap | 20 | |
| 9 | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | G | 68 | + 2 Laps | 23 | |
| 10 | 17 | Jan Lammers | Shadow-Ford | G | 68 | + 2 Laps | 21 | |
| 11 | 4 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 67 | + 3 Laps | 11 | |
| Ret | 25 | Patrick Depailler | Ligier-Ford | G | 46 | Accident | 2 | |
| Ret | 20 | James Hunt | Wolf-Ford | G | 40 | Accident | 9 | |
| Ret | 27 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | G | 39 | Electrical | 4 | |
| Ret | 1 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | G | 27 | Brakes | 5 | |
| Ret | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | G | 23 | Engine | 3 | |
| Ret | 5 | Niki Lauda | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | G | 23 | Engine | 13 | |
| Ret | 16 | René Arnoux | Renault | M | 22 | Turbo | 18 | |
| Ret | 35 | Bruno Giacomelli | Alfa Romeo | G | 21 | Collision | 14 | |
| Ret | 18 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow-Ford | G | 21 | Collision | 24 | |
| Ret | 30 | Jochen Mass | Arrows-Ford | G | 17 | Spun Off | 22 | |
| Ret | 31 | Héctor Rebaque | Lotus-Ford | G | 13 | Transmission | 15 | |
| Ret | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | M | 13 | Turbo | 17 | |
| Ret | 28 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams-Ford | G | 1 | Collision | 8 | |
| DNQ | 8 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNQ | 24 | Arturo Merzario | Merzario-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNQ | 22 | Derek Daly | Ensign-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNQ | 36 | Gianfranco Brancatelli | Kauhsen-Ford | G | | | | |
| Source: |||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Jacques Laffite | 24 |
| 2 | Jody Scheckter | 24 (25) |
| 3 | Gilles Villeneuve | 20 |
| 4 | Patrick Depailler | 20 |
| 5 | Carlos Reutemann | 19 (21) |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Ferrari | 45 |
| 2 | Ligier-Ford | 44 |
| 3 | Lotus-Ford | 33 |
| 4 | Tyrrell-Ford | 15 |
| 5 | McLaren-Ford | 5 |
| Source: |||

* 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.
