1979 British Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 9 of 15 in the 1979 Formula One season | |||
 |
|||
| Date | 14 July 1979 | ||
| Official name | XXXII Marlboro British Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.719 km (2.932 mi) | ||
| Distance | 68 laps, 320.871 km (199.380 mi) | ||
| Weather | Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Williams-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:11.88 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Clay Regazzoni
|
Williams-Ford | |
| Time | 1:14.40 on lap 39 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Williams-Ford | ||
| Second | Renault | ||
| Third | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
The 1979 British Grand Prix (formally the XXXII Marlboro British Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 14 July 1979. It was the ninth race of the 1979 Formula One season.
Qualifying saw Alan Jones take his and the Williams team's first pole position by 0.6 seconds from Jean-Pierre Jabouille in the Renault. Nelson Piquet took third in the Brabham with the second Williams of Clay Regazzoni alongside him on the second row, while René Arnoux in the second Renault and Niki Lauda in the second Brabham made up the third row. Completing the top ten were John Watson in the McLaren, the Lotuses of Carlos Reutemann and Mario Andretti, and Jacques Laffite in the Ligier. The Ferraris disappointed, with championship leader Jody Scheckter only managing 11th and Gilles Villeneuve 13th.
At the start of the race, Regazzoni charged into the lead, but was repassed by team-mate Jones and Jabouille before the end of the first lap. Andretti and the Ferraris also made fast starts, running close to Piquet, Lauda and Arnoux. At the end of lap 2, Piquet made a mistake at Woodcote and spun off, before Andretti dropped out with a broken wheel bearing on lap 4. Then Lauda encountered brake problems which eventually led to his retirement on lap 13, leaving Arnoux fourth with Scheckter fifth and Villeneuve dutifully following the South African.
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