327

Grand Prix du Canada

30 Sep 1979Montréal317.520 km (4410 m x 72 Laps)

 Pole Position: Alan Jones, Williams FW07-Ford, 1:29.892 (176.612 km/h) Fastest Lap: Alan Jones, Williams FW07-Ford, 1:31.272 (173.942 km/h lap 65) Race Results: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed 1 27 Alan Jones Williams FW07-Ford 1:52:06.892 169.926 km/h 2 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 312T4 1:52:07.972 169.898 km/h 3 28 Clay Regazzoni Williams FW07-Ford 1:53:20.548 168.085 km/h 4 11 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 312T4 -1 Lap 5 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell 009-Ford -1 Lap 6 7 John Watson McLaren M29-Ford -2 Laps 7 5 Riccardo Zunino Brabham BT49-Ford -4 Laps 8 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi F6A-Ford -5 Laps 9 17 Jan Lammers Shadow DN9-Ford -5 Laps l0 1 Mario Andretti Lotus 79-Ford 66 Out of fuel Did Not Finish: 6 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49-Ford 61 Gearbox 36 Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo N179 52 Fuel Metering unit 25 Jacky Ickx Ligier JS11-Ford 47 Gearbox 4 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell 009-Ford 33 Engine 33 Derek Daly Tyrrell 009-Ford 28 Engine 31 Héctor Rebaque Rebaque HR100-Ford 26 Engine mounting 18 Elio de Angelis Shadow DN9-Ford 24 Distributor rotor arm 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault RS10 24 Brakes 2 Carlos Reutemann Lotus 79-Ford 23 Rear suspension 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A1C-Ford 20 Spun off 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren M29-Ford 19 Engine 16 René Arnoux Renault RS10 14 Collision with Stuck 9 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS D3-Ford 14 Collision with Arnoux 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS11-Ford 10 Engine Did Not Qualify: 30 Jochen Mass Arrows A2-Ford 22 Marc Surer Ensign N179-Ford 20 Keke Rosberg Wolf WR9-Ford 19 Alex Ribeiro Fittipaldi F6A-Ford 24 Arturo Merzario Merzario A4-Ford Withdrawn: 5 Niki Lauda Brabham BT49-Ford Sudden retirement during friday practice 35 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo N179 Dispute about entry list Lap Leaders: Car# Driver Car Laps Total 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 312T4 1-50 50 27 Alan Jones Williams FW07-Ford 51-72 22 Fastest Laps: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed Lap 1 27 Alan Jones Williams FW07-Ford 1:31.272 173.942 65 2 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 312T4 1:31.467 173.571 66 3 11 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 312T4 1:31.617 173.287 60 4 28 Clay Regazzoni Williams FW07-Ford 1:32.397 171.824 57 5 6 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49-Ford 1:32.858 170.971 36 6 5 Riccardo Zunino Brabham BT49-Ford 1:33.212 170.321 36 7 7 John Watson McLaren M29-Ford 1:33.781 169.288 52 8 2 Carlos Reutemann Lotus 79-Ford 1:33.786 169.279 22 9 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell 009-Ford 1:33.876 169.117 56 10 1 Mario Andretti Lotus 79-Ford 1:34.178 168.574 54 11 36 Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo N179 1:34.318 168.324 47 12 25 Jacky Ickx Ligier JS11-Ford 1:34.350 168.267 46 13 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS11-Ford 1:34.381 168.212 6 14 4 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell 009-Ford 1:35.124 166.898 21 15 16 René Arnoux Renault RS10 1:35.132 166.884 6 16 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault RS10 1:35.210 166.747 7 17 18 Elio de Angelis Shadow DN9-Ford 1:35.431 166.361 23 18 33 Derek Daly Tyrrell 009-Ford 1:35.641 165.996 28 19 9 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS D3-Ford 1:35.656 165.970 11 20 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren M29-Ford 1:35.969 165.428 14 21 31 Héctor Rebaque Rebaque HR100-Ford 1:36.062 165.268 18 22 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A1C-Ford 1:36.072 165.251 18 23 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi F6A-Ford 1:36.502 164.515 18 24 17 Jan Lammers Shadow DN9-Ford 1:36.700 164.178 9 Qualifying Times: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed Entrant 1 27 Alan Jones Williams FW07-Ford 1:29.892 176.612 Albilad-Saudia Racing Team 2 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 312T4 1:30.554 175.321 Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 3 28 Clay Regazzoni Williams FW07-Ford 1:30.768 174.907 Albilad-Saudia Racing Team 4 6 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49-Ford 1:30.775 174.894 Parmalat Racing Team 5 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS11-Ford 1:30.820 174.807 Ligier Gitanes 6 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell 009-Ford 1:31.941 172.676 Candy Team Tyrrell 7 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault RS10 1:32.103 172.372 Equipe Renault Elf 8 16 René Arnoux Renault RS10 1:32.116 172.348 Equipe Renault Elf 9 11 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 312T4 1:32.280 172.042 Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 10 1 Mario Andretti Lotus 79-Ford 1:32.651 171.353 Martini Racing Team Lotus 11 2 Carlos Reutemann Lotus 79-Ford 1:32.682 171.295 Martini Racing Team Lotus 12 9 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS D3-Ford 1:32.858 170.971 ATS Wheels 13 4 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell 009-Ford 1:33.065 170.590 Candy Team Tyrrell 14 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A1C-Ford 1:33.090 170.545 Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team 15 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi F6A-Ford 1:33.297 170.166 Fittipaldi Automotive 16 25 Jacky Ickx Ligier JS11-Ford 1:33.355 170.061 Ligier Gitanes 17 7 John Watson McLaren M29-Ford 1:33.362 170.048 Marlboro Team McLaren 18 36 Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo N179 1:33.378 170.019 Autodelta 19 5 Riccardo Zunino Brabham BT49-Ford 1:33.511 169.777 Parmalat Racing Team 20 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren M29-Ford 1:33.603 169.610 Marlboro Team McLaren 21 17 Jan Lammers Shadow DN9-Ford 1:34.102 168.711 Samson Shadow Racing Team 22 31 Héctor Rebaque Rebaque HR100-Ford 1:34.129 168.662 Team Rebaque 23 18 Elio de Angelis Shadow DN9-Ford 1:34.256 168.435 Interscope Shadow Racing Team 24 33 Derek Daly Tyrrell 009-Ford 1:34.301 168.355 Candy Team Tyrrell Did Not Qualify: 25 30 Jochen Mass Arrows A2-Ford 1:34.365 168.240 Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team 26 22 Marc Surer Ensign N179-Ford 1:34.747 167.562 Team Ensign 27 20 Keke Rosberg Wolf WR9-Ford 1:35.061 167.009 Olympus Cameras Wolf Racing 28 19 Alex Ribeiro Fittipaldi F6A-Ford 1:36.901 163.837 Fittipaldi Automotive 29 24 Arturo Merzario Merzario A4-Ford 1:37.590 162.681 Team Merzario Not Present: 30 5 Niki Lauda Brabham BT49-Ford - - Parmalat Racing Team 35 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo N179 - - Autodelta 2nd Friday Practice: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed 1 27 Alan Jones Williams FW07-Ford 1:30.625 175.183 2 28 Clay Regazzoni Williams FW07-Ford 1:31.577 173.362 3 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS11-Ford 1:31.895 172.762 4 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 312T4 1:32.091 172.395 5 11 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 312T4 1:32.300 172.004 6 6 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49-Ford 1:32.332 171.945 7 2 Carlos Reutemann Lotus 79-Ford 1:32.682 171.295 8 16 René Arnoux Renault RS10 1:33.303 170.155 9 25 Jacky Ickx Ligier JS11-Ford 1:33.355 170.061 10 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault RS10 1:33.442 169.902 11 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren M29-Ford 1:33.603 169.610 12 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell 009-Ford 1:33.876 169.117 13 1 Mario Andretti Lotus 79-Ford 1:34.180 168.571 14 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A2-Ford 1:34.267 168.415 15 4 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell 009-Ford 1:34.307 168.344 16 30 Jochen Mass Arrows A2-Ford 1:34.365 168.240 17 17 Jan Lammers Shadow DN9-Ford 1:34.477 168.041 18 9 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS D3-Ford 1:34.627 167.775 19 18 Elio de Angelis Shadow DN9-Ford 1:34.904 167.285 20 33 Derek Daly Tyrrell 009-Ford 1:34.980 167.151 21 20 Keke Rosberg Wolf WR9-Ford 1:35.061 167.009 22 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi F6A-Ford 1:35.531 166.187 23 7 John Watson McLaren M29-Ford 1:35.561 166.135 24 31 Héctor Rebaque Rebaque HR100-Ford 1:36.030 165.323 25 24 Arturo Merzario Merzario A4-Ford 1:37.639 162.599 26 19 Alex Ribeiro Fittipaldi F6A-Ford 1:38.771 160.735 27 5 Riccardo Zunino Brabham BT49-Ford 1:41.832 155.904 28 22 Marc Surer Ensign N179-Ford 1:45.033 151.152 2nd Saturday Practice: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed 1 27 Alan Jones Williams FW07-Ford 1:29.892 176.612 2 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 312T4 1:30.554 175.321 3 28 Clay Regazzoni Williams FW07-Ford 1:30.768 174.907 4 6 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49-Ford 1:30.775 174.894 5 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS11-Ford 1:30.820 174.807 6 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell 009-Ford 1:31.941 172.676 7 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault RS10 1:32.103 172.372 8 16 René Arnoux Renault RS10 1:32.116 172.348 9 11 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 312T4 1:32.280 172.042 10 1 Mario Andretti Lotus 79-Ford 1:32.651 171.353 11 9 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS D3-Ford 1:32.858 170.971 12 4 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell 009-Ford 1:33.065 170.590 13 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A1C-Ford 1:33.090 170.545 14 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi F6A-Ford 1:33.297 170.166 15 7 John Watson McLaren M29-Ford 1:33.362 170.048 16 36 Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo N179 1:33.378 170.019 17 5 Riccardo Zunino Brabham BT49-Ford 1:33.511 169.777 18 2 Carlos Reutemann Lotus 79-Ford 1:33.644 169.536 19 17 Jan Lammers Shadow DN9-Ford 1:34.102 168.711 20 31 Héctor Rebaque Rebaque HR100-Ford 1:34.129 168.662 21 18 Elio de Angelis Shadow DN9-Ford 1:34.256 168.435 22 33 Derek Daly Tyrrell 009-Ford 1:34.301 168.355 23 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren M29-Ford 1:34.404 168.171 24 30 Jochen Mass Arrows A2-Ford 1:34.572 167.872 25 22 Marc Surer Ensign N179-Ford 1:34.747 167.562 26 20 Keke Rosberg Wolf WR9-Ford 1:35.483 166.270 27 25 Jacky Ickx Ligier JS11-Ford 1:36.387 164.711 28 19 Alex Ribeiro Fittipaldi F6A-Ford 1:36.901 163.837 29 24 Arturo Merzario Merzario A4-Ford 1:37.590 162.681
Starting Grid:
27 Alan Jones
Williams FW07-Ford
1:29.892
12 Gilles Villeneuve
Ferrari 312T4
1:30.554
28 Clay Regazzoni
Williams FW07-Ford
1:30.768
6 Nelson Piquet
Brabham BT49-Ford
1:30.775
26 Jacques Laffite
Ligier JS11-Ford
1:30.820
3 Didier Pironi
Tyrrell 009-Ford
1:31.941
15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille
Renault RS10
1:32.103
16 René Arnoux
Renault RS10
1:32.116
11 Jody Scheckter
Ferrari 312T4
1:32.280
1 Mario Andretti
Lotus 79-Ford
1:32.651
2 Carlos Reutemann
Lotus 79-Ford
1:32.682
9 Hans-Joachim Stuck
ATS D3-Ford
1:32.858
4 Jean-Pierre Jarier
Tyrrell 009-Ford
1:33.065
29 Riccardo Patrese
Arrows A1C-Ford
1:33.090
14 Emerson Fittipaldi
Fittipaldi F6A-Ford
1:33.297
25 Jacky Ickx
Ligier JS11-Ford
1:33.355
7 John Watson
McLaren M29-Ford
1:33.362
36 Vittorio Brambilla
Alfa Romeo N179
1:33.378
5 Riccardo Zunino
Brabham BT49-Ford
1:33.511
8 Patrick Tambay
McLaren M29-Ford
1:33.603
17 Jan Lammers
Shadow DN9-Ford
1:34.102
31 Héctor Rebaque
Rebaque HR100-Ford
1:34.129
18 Elio de Angelis
Shadow DN9-Ford
1:34.256
33 Derek Daly
Tyrrell 009-Ford
1:34.301
Notes:
  • 1st friday and 1st saturday practice sessions were not officially timed.
  • 1st friday and 1st saturday practice times not available.
  • Weather: Sunny, Mild, Dry.
    •
    Race Review:

    The weeks between the Italian GP and the race in Canada were filled with the non-championship Dino Ferrari Grand Prix at Imola which was won by Niki Lauda. And it was the Austrian in the news in Canada, Lauda announcing in the middle of practice that he no longer wanted to be a Formula 1 driver, after completing a few laps in the all-new Brabham-Cosworth BT49. Brabham boss Bernie Ecclestone decided to put Argentina's Ricardo Zunino in the car.

    The other changes to the field were a third Tyrrell for Derek Daly and a second Fittipaldi for Alex Ribeiro. The Alfa Romeo team appeared with two 179 chassis for Bruno Giacomelli and Vittorio Brambilla but the organizers refused to let them practice if they did not pre-qualify and the team refused to pre-qualify.

    After qualifying Alan Jones (Williams) was on pole position with local hero Gilles Villeneuve second in his Ferrari then came Clay Regazzoni (Williams) and Nelson Piquet in one of the new Brabham-Cosworths. Fifth on the grid was Jacques Laffite (Ligier) with Didier Pironi (Tyrrell), Jean-Pierre Jabouille (Renault), René Arnoux (Renault), the new World Champion Jody Scheckter (Ferrari) and Mario Andretti (Lotus) completing the top 10. Zunino qualified 19th and Héctor Rebaque put his own HR100 chassis 22nd.

    There were political battles over whether or not Alfa Romeo would be allowed to run and eventually a compromise was reached with Brambilla allowed to run but Giacomelli being refused an entry.

    In the race Villeneuve took the lead at the start with Jones and Regazzoni chasing him. Piquet ran fourth but then moved ahead of Regazzoni to take third. Jones shadowed Villeneuve for the early part of the race and eventually slipped ahead at the hairpin, the two cars banging wheels. Jones was then able to stay ahead but Villeneuve was only a second behind him at the finish. Piquet ran third until the closing laps when he dropped behind Regazzoni again and retired soon afterwards with a gearbox problem. Scheckter finished fourth with Pironi fifth and John Watson (McLaren) sixth.