Difference between revisions of "1979 United States Grand Prix West"

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Latest revision as of 07:46, 15 June 2021

Flag of the United States svg.png 1979 United States Grand Prix West
Race 4 of 17 in the 1979 Alternate Formula One season
LongBeach.png
Date April 15, 1979
Official Name Lubri Lon United States Grand Prix West
Location Long Beach, California
Course Temporary street course
3.251 km (2.02 mi)
Distance 75 laps, 243.825 km (151.506 mi)
Weather Wet
Pole Position
Driver Flag of Australia svg.png Alan Jones Williams-Ford
Time 1:35.755
Fastest Lap
Driver Flag of the United States svg.png Mario Andretti Ferrari
Time 1:39.149
Podium
First Flag of the United States svg.png Mario Andretti Ferrari
Second Flag of Australia svg.png Alan Jones Williams-Ford
Third Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png James Hunt Brabham-Ford


The 1979 United States Grand Prix West was the fourth round of the 1979 Alternate Formula One season. Reigning champion Mario Andretti, driving for Ferrari, won the Grand Prix on home soil following a race which included several chaotic, heartbreaking and also controversial moments. Alan Jones's second place finish moved him to the top of the Drivers' Championship, while James Hunt scored his and Brabham's first podium of 1979.

Summary

Lotus's Thomas Nurmester came to Long Beach as the championship leader for the first time in his career after winning in the South African Grand Prix two weeks earlier. He led by one point over Williams driver Alan Jones, who won the other two rounds in Argentina and Brazil. Their respective teammates (Jody Scheckter for Lotus and Gilles Villeneuve for Williams - both 1978 Ferrari drivers) had disappointing starts in their new teams as Scheckter only finished once - fourth in Brazil - and Villeneuve was yet to finish at all.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying was only contested by four teams as Whittington Brothers Racing failed to secure an engine contract for the event. In the end, it was Interscope that failed to pre-qualify.

Alan Jones won pole position for the race after bumping Gilles Villeneuve from the top in the afternoon qualifying session. Behind the Williams pair, Tyrrell's Tom Pryce recorded the surprise result of the day as he lined up third after a remarkable lap in the morning session. Scheckter, aptly nicknamed "Mr. Long Beach", was looking for an unprecedented fourth consecutive win at the venue as he started alongside the Welshman. Championship leader Nurmester lined up on the third row alongside reigning champion Andretti in his Ferrari, while Didier Pironi produced a good lap to put his turbocharged Renault in seventh. Keke Rosberg in the other Ferrari could only muster 13th place in qualifying. Both Brabham cars were also struggling; the new chassis wasn't handling too well around the streets of Long Beach, with Nelson Piquet in 15th place and James Hunt in 17th. Both Ensign cars failed to qualify, with Ronnie Peterson missing out by 0.036 seconds.

Race

Classification

Pre-Qualifying

Individual Times

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 19 Flag of France svg.png Gabriel Château Arrows-Ford 1:37.924
2 18 Flag of France svg.png René Arnoux Arrows-Ford 1:38.139 +0.215
3 45 Flag of Italy svg.png Riccardo Patrese Hesketh-Ford 1:38.851 +0.927
4 17 Flag of Austria svg.png Harald Ertl ATS-Ford 1:38.887 +0.963
5 16 Flag of Germany svg.png Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 1:39.508 +1.584
6 46 Flag of Italy svg.png Bruno Giacomelli Hesketh-Ford 1:39.676 +1.752
7 38 Flag of Switzerland svg.png Marc Surer Interscope-Ford 1:40.351 +2.427
8 37 Flag of the United States svg.png Danny Ongais Interscope-Ford 1:41.054 +3.130
EX 53 Flag of the United States svg.png Don Whittington March no time
EX 54 Flag of the United States svg.png Bill Whittington March no time

(Those in bold pre-qualified)

Combined Times

Pos Entrant Constructor Time Gap
1 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Warsteiner Arrows North Star Racing Team Arrows-Ford 3:16.063
2 Flag of Germany svg.png ATS Kauhsen Racing Team ATS-Ford 3:18.395 +2.332
3 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Hesketh Racing Hesketh-Ford 3:18.527 +2.464
4 Flag of the United States svg.png Interscope Racing Interscope-Ford 3:21.405 +5.342
EX Flag of the United States svg.png Whittington Brothers Racing March no time

(Those in bold pre-qualified)

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 28 Flag of Australia svg.png Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:36.417 1:35.755
2 27 Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Villeneuve Williams-Ford 1:36.089 1:36.246 +0.334
3 3 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Tom Pryce Tyrrell-Ford 1:36.200 1:36.297 +0.445
4 5 Flag of South Africa 1928-1994 svg.png Jody Scheckter Lotus-Ford 1:36.882 1:36.545 +0.790
5 6 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Thomas Nurmester Lotus-Ford 1:36.581 1:36.833 +0.826
6 1 Flag of the United States svg.png Mario Andretti Ferrari 1:36.632 1:36.621 +0.866
7 15 Flag of France svg.png Didier Pironi Renault 1:36.761 1:37.291 +1.006
8 9 Flag of France svg.png Guillaume Gauthier March-Ford 1:37.799 1:36.831 +1.076
9 11 Flag of Belgium svg.png Jacky Ickx McLaren-Ford 1:37.968 1:36.843 +1.088
10 30 Flag of Brazil svg.png Emerson Fittipaldi Alfa Romeo 1:37.207 1:38.332 +1.452
11 14 Flag of France svg.png Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:37.343 1:37.208 +1.453
12 19 Flag of France svg.png Gabriel Château Arrows-Ford 1:39.058 1:37.262 +1.453
13 2 Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg Ferrari 1:38.304 1:37.297 +1.542
14 25 Flag of France svg.png Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:37.338 1:38.292 +1.583
15 8 Flag of Brazil svg.png Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:37.634 1:38.295 +1.879
16 4 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Robert Kagan Tyrrell-Ford 1:37.680 1:38.216 +1.925
17 7 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png James Hunt Brabham-Ford 1:37.795 1:37.759 +2.004
18 45 Flag of Italy svg.png Riccardo Patrese Hesketh-Ford 1:37.970 1:38.764 +2.215
19 18 Flag of France svg.png René Arnoux Arrows-Ford 1:38.090 1:38.175 +2.335
20 31 Flag of Italy svg.png Elio de Angelis Alfa Romeo 1:38.880 1:38.091 +2.336
21 10 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Harvey Jones March-Ford 1:38.299 1:38.466 +2.544
22 17 Flag of Austria svg.png Harald Ertl ATS-Ford 1:38.598 1:38.802 +2.843
23 16 Flag of Germany svg.png Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 1:40.675 1:38.683 +2.928
24 12 Flag of Japan svg.png Masahiro Hasemi McLaren-Ford 1:38.972 1:38.720 +2.965
25 26 Flag of Argentina svg.png Ricardo Zunino Ligier-Matra 1:39.459 1:38.923 +3.168
26 46 Flag of Italy svg.png Bruno Giacomelli Hesketh-Ford 1:39.477 1:39.679 +3.722
27 21 Flag of Sweden svg.png Ronnie Peterson Ensign-Ford 1:39.513 1:40.058 +3.758
28 22 Flag of the Netherlands svg.png Jan Lammers Ensign-Ford 1:40.467 1:40.981 +4.712

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 1 Flag of the United States svg.png Mario Andretti Ferrari 75 2:09:09.903 6 9
2 28 Flag of Australia svg.png Alan Jones Williams-Ford 75 +0.769 1 6
3 7 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png James Hunt Brabham-Ford 75 +1:02.342 17 4
4 11 Flag of Belgium svg.png Jacky Ickx McLaren-Ford 75 +1:02.854 9 3
5 16 Flag of Germany svg.png Jochen Mass ATS-Ford 74 +1 Lap 23 2
6 14 Flag of France svg.png Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 74 +1 Lap 11 1
7 19 Flag of France svg.png Gabriel Château Arrows-Ford 74 +1 Lap 12
8 12 Flag of Japan svg.png Masahiro Hasemi McLaren-Ford 74 +1 Lap 24
9 10 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Harvey Jones March-Ford 74 +1 Lap 21
10 26 Flag of Argentina svg.png Ricardo Zunino Ligier-Matra 74 +1 Lap 25
11 45 Flag of Italy svg.png Riccardo Patrese Hesketh-Ford 74 +1 Lap 18
12 17 Flag of Austria svg.png Harald Ertl ATS-Ford 74 +1 Lap 22
13 15 Flag of France svg.png Didier Pironi Renault 69 Engine 7
14 5 Flag of South Africa 1928-1994 svg.png Jody Scheckter Lotus-Ford 67 Gearbox 4
Ret 27 Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Villeneuve Williams-Ford 56 Gearbox 2
Ret 3 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Tom Pryce Tyrrell-Ford 48 Gearbox 3
Ret 4 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Robert Kagan Tyrrell-Ford 47 Engine 16
Ret 18 Flag of France svg.png René Arnoux Arrows-Ford 38 Wheel 19
Ret 30 Flag of Brazil svg.png Emerson Fittipaldi Alfa Romeo 32 Oil Leak 10
Ret 9 Flag of France svg.png Guillaume Gauthier March-Ford 28 Gearbox 8
Ret 46 Flag of Italy svg.png Bruno Giacomelli Hesketh-Ford 21 Gearbox 26
Ret 8 Flag of Brazil svg.png Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 15 Collision 15
Ret 2 Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg Ferrari 15 Suspension 13
Ret 25 Flag of France svg.png Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 11 Spun Off 14
Ret 31 Flag of Italy svg.png Elio de Angelis Alfa Romeo 8 Engine 20
Ret 6 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Thomas Nurmester Lotus-Ford 6 Collision 5
DNQ 21 Flag of Sweden svg.png Ronnie Peterson Ensign-Ford
DNQ 22 Flag of the Netherlands svg.png Jan Lammers Ensign-Ford
DNPQ 38 Flag of Switzerland svg.png Marc Surer Interscope-Ford
DNPQ 37 Flag of the United States svg.png Danny Ongais Interscope-Ford
EX 53 Flag of the United States svg.png Don Whittington March
EX 54 Flag of the United States svg.png Bill Whittington March