1979 United States Grand Prix West
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 | Template:FRA Gabriel Château | Arrows-Ford | 1:37.924 | — |
| 2 | 18 | Template:FRA René Arnoux | Arrows-Ford | 1:38.139 | +0.215 |
| 3 | 45 |  Riccardo Patrese
|
Hesketh-Ford | 1:38.851 | +0.927 |
| 4 | 17 | Template:AUT Harald Ertl | ATS-Ford | 1:38.887 | +0.963 |
| 5 | 16 |  Jochen Mass
|
ATS-Ford | 1:39.508 | +1.584 |
| 6 | 46 | Bruno Giacomelli
|
Hesketh-Ford | 1:39.676 | +1.752 |
| 7 | 38 | Template:SUI Marc Surer | Interscope-Ford | 1:40.351 | +2.427 |
| 8 | 37 | Template:USA Danny Ongais | Interscope-Ford | 1:41.054 | +3.130 |
| EX | 53 | Template:USA Don Whittington | March | no time | — |
| EX | 54 | Template:USA Bill Whittington | March | no time | — |
(Those in bold pre-qualified)
Combined Times
| Pos | Entrant | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Template:GBR Warsteiner Arrows North Star Racing Team | Arrows-Ford | 3:16.063 | — |
| 2 | ATS Kauhsen Racing Team
|
ATS-Ford | 3:18.395 | +2.332 |
| 3 | Template:GBR Hesketh Racing | Hesketh-Ford | 3:18.527 | +2.464 |
| 4 | Template:USA Interscope Racing | Interscope-Ford | 3:21.405 | +5.342 |
| EX | Template:USA Whittington Brothers Racing | March | no time | — |
(Those in bold pre-qualified)
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 | Template:AUS Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | 1:36.417 | 1:35.755 | — |
| 2 | 27 |  Gilles Villeneuve
|
Williams-Ford | 1:36.089 | 1:36.246 | +0.334 |
| 3 | 3 | Template:GBR Tom Pryce | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:36.200 | 1:36.297 | +0.445 |
| 4 | 5 |  Jody Scheckter
|
Lotus-Ford | 1:36.882 | 1:36.545 | +0.790 |
| 5 | 6 | Template:GBR Thomas Nurmester | Lotus-Ford | 1:36.581 | 1:36.833 | +0.826 |
| 6 | 1 | Template:USA Mario Andretti | Ferrari | 1:36.632 | 1:36.621 | +0.866 |
| 7 | 15 | Template:FRA Didier Pironi | Renault | 1:36.761 | 1:37.291 | +1.006 |
| 8 | 9 | Template:FRA Guillaume Gauthier | March-Ford | 1:37.799 | 1:36.831 | +1.076 |
| 9 | 11 | Template:BEL Jacky Ickx | McLaren-Ford | 1:37.968 | 1:36.843 | +1.088 |
| 10 | 30 |  Emerson Fittipaldi
|
Alfa Romeo | 1:37.207 | 1:38.332 | +1.452 |
| 11 | 14 | Template:FRA Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | 1:37.343 | 1:37.208 | +1.453 |
| 12 | 19 | Template:FRA Gabriel Château | Arrows-Ford | 1:39.058 | 1:37.262 | +1.453 |
| 13 | 2 |  Keke Rosberg
|
Ferrari | 1:38.304 | 1:37.297 | +1.542 |
| 14 | 25 | Template:FRA Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Matra | 1:37.338 | 1:38.292 | +1.583 |
| 15 | 8 | Nelson Piquet
|
Brabham-Ford | 1:37.634 | 1:38.295 | +1.879 |
| 16 | 4 | Template:GBR Robert Kagan | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:37.680 | 1:38.216 | +1.925 |
| 17 | 7 | Template:GBR James Hunt | Brabham-Ford | 1:37.795 | 1:37.759 | +2.004 |
| 18 | 45 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Hesketh-Ford | 1:37.970 | 1:38.764 | +2.215 |
| 19 | 18 | Template:FRA René Arnoux | Arrows-Ford | 1:38.090 | 1:38.175 | +2.335 |
| 20 | 31 | Elio de Angelis
|
Alfa Romeo | 1:38.880 | 1:38.091 | +2.336 |
| 21 | 10 | Template:GBR Harvey Jones | March-Ford | 1:38.299 | 1:38.466 | +2.544 |
| 22 | 17 | Template:AUT Harald Ertl | ATS-Ford | 1:38.598 | 1:38.802 | +2.843 |
| 23 | 16 | Jochen Mass
|
ATS-Ford | 1:40.675 | 1:38.683 | +2.928 |
| 24 | 12 |  Masahiro Hasemi
|
McLaren-Ford | 1:38.972 | 1:38.720 | +2.965 |
| 25 | 26 |  Ricardo Zunino
|
Ligier-Matra | 1:39.459 | 1:38.923 | +3.168 |
| 26 | 46 | Bruno Giacomelli
|
Hesketh-Ford | 1:39.477 | 1:39.679 | +3.722 |
| 27 | 21 |  Ronnie Peterson
|
Ensign-Ford | 1:39.513 | 1:40.058 | +3.758 |
| 28 | 22 |  Jan Lammers
|
Ensign-Ford | 1:40.467 | 1:40.981 | +4.712 |