1979 Belgian F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Belgian Grand Prix
Track: Zolder

Weather: overcast, dry, mild

Jody Scheckter won his 8th F1 World Championship race at the 1979 Belgian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver started from 7th on the grid and won on the Zolder circuit for the 1st time. It was also his 1st win of the season and the 76th win for the Ferrari F1 team.

Scheckter’s first for Ferrari

The 1979 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder gave Jody Scheckter his first victory for Ferrari and put him level with Jacques Laffite at the championship summit. Alfa Romeo returned to F1 with Bruno Giacomelli in the 177, ending a 28-year absence as a constructor; BMW M1 Procar launched as a Grand Prix support series with Elio de Angelis winning the first round.

The race

Patrick Depailler led from Alan Jones and Jacques Laffite for the opening sequence, the trio swapping the lead several times. Laffite passed Depailler on lap 19, Jones passed Laffite on lap 24. Jones was eight seconds clear when his Williams’ alternator regulator wire came loose on lap 40 and the FW07 coasted to a stop.

Depailler then ran away with it for seven laps until his Ligier refused to turn into the first corner on lap 47, the front suspension had failed, and he speared into the barriers, breaking his right wrist. Laffite inherited the lead but Scheckter, who had been husbanding his Michelins for two-thirds of the race, was closing at over a second a lap and passed him at the chicane on lap 54. Pironi a fine third for Tyrrell on his first podium; Reutemann 4th; Patrese 5th; Watson 6th. Villeneuve ran out of fuel 200m from the line in seventh having recovered from a lap-2 incident and a 53-second pit stop. Scheckter and Laffite shared the championship lead on 24.

Classification 1979 Belgian F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Team	Time	Laps	Grid	Pts
1	11	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	1:39:59.530	70	7	9
2	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	1:40:14.890	70	1	6
3	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell	1:40:34.700	70	12	4
4	2	Carlos Reutemann	Team Lotus	1:40:46.020	70	10	3
5	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows	1:41:03.840	70	16	2
6	7	John Watson	McLaren	1:41:05.380	70	19	1
7	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	+1 lap	69	6	0
8	9	Hans Joachim Stuck	ATS	+1 lap	69	20	0
9	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi	+2 laps	68	23	0
10	17	Jan Lammers	Shadow	+2 laps	68	21	0
11	4	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell	+3 laps	67	11	0
DNF	25	Patrick Depailler	Ligier	Accident	46	2	0
DNF	20	James Hunt	Wolf	Accident	40	9	0
DNF	27	Alan Jones	Williams	Electrical	39	4	0
DNF	1	Mario Andretti	Team Lotus	Brakes	27	5	0
DNF	6	Nelson Piquet	Brabham	Engine	23	3	0
DNF	5	Niki Lauda	Brabham	Engine	23	13	0
DNF	16	René Arnoux	Renault	Turbo	22	18	0
DNF	35	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	Accident	21	14	0
DNF	18	Elio de Angelis	Shadow	Accident	21	24	0
DNF	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows	Spun Off	17	22	0
DNF	31	Hector Rebaque	Team Lotus	Transmission	13	15	0
DNF	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	Turbo	13	17	0
DNF	28	Clay Regazzoni	Williams	Accident	1	8	0
DNQ	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren	No Time	0		0
DNQ	24	Arturo Merzario	Merzario	No Time	0		0
DNQ	22	Derek Daly	Ensign	No Time	0		0
DNQ	36	Gianfranco Brancatelli	Kauhsen	No Time	0		0

Fastest lap: 1:23.090 min by Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari 312T4) in lap 63

✅ Check out 1979 F1 Championship Standings
✅ Check out 1979 F1 Teams & Drivers

✅ Check out All Time F1 Drivers Rankings
✅ Check out All Time F1 Driver Records
✅ Check out All Time F1 Teams Rankings

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

Related topics