1979 Alternate Formula One season
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| 1979 Formula One season | |
|---|---|
| |
| Mario Andretti entered the season as a two-time World Champion, but driving for Ferrari instead of Lotus. | |
| Season | |
| Races | 17 |
| Start date | TBA |
| Start Event |  TBA
|
| End date | TBA |
| End Event | TBA
|
| Awards | |
| Driver's Champion | TBD
|
| Constructor's Champion | TBD
|
| Entrant's Champion | TBD
|
| Seasons | |
| Previous season | Next season |
| 1978 | 1980 |
| Regional Series | |
| Tier 1 | 1979 British Formula One |
The 1979 Formula One season was the 30th season of Formula One. Mario Andretti and Lotus entered the season as reigning champions; however, they would not enter the season together, as Andretti unexpectedly moved to Ferrari and swapped seats with his rival Jody Scheckter after one of the most chaotic off-seasons in Grand Prix history.
Teams and drivers
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Driver Changes
Pre-season
- Bobby Rahal and Tom Sneva both elected to leave Formula One and return to IndyCar for the 1979 season.
- Other notable absentees from the grid at the beginning of 1979 were Patrick Depailler, John Watson and Patrick Tambay, none of whom were able to retain their seats at Williams, Brabham and Ligier respectively.
- Only a single team elected to retain an unchanged lineup: Alfa Romeo continued with their 1978 pairing of Emerson Fittipaldi and Elio de Angelis.
- Reigning champion Mario Andretti and runner-up Jody Scheckter would swap teams in the offseason; Scheckter would move to Lotus alongside their existing number 2 driver Thomas Nurmester, while Andretti would have a teammate just as new to the Scuderia- former Arrows driver Keke Rosberg, winner of the 1978 Tony Brise Memorial Trophy.
- Gilles Villeneuve, out of a seat at Ferrari, moved to Williams in the off-season, replacing Depailler and partnering returning lead driver Alan Jones.
- René Arnoux took Rosberg's seat at Arrows.
- James Hunt would stay at Brabham for a fourth season, but with his sixth teammate since joining the team; Nelson Piquet would step up to a frontrunning seat after a fractured 1978 spent at Arrows, Hesketh and March.
- Clay Regazzoni was let go at McLaren after one season and replaced by Belgian veteran Jacky Ickx, whom McLaren had coaxed out of retirement. Masahiro Hasemi was retained by the for 1979 after replacing René Arnoux for the final three races of 1978.
- Didier Pironi was lured away from Tyrrell by Renault to replace the departing Tom Sneva.
- Tom Pryce, having already done three races for Tyrrell in 1978 on loan from March to replace the injured Robert Kagan, signed full-time with Tyrrell for 1979 to replace Pironi. Pryce's seat at March would hence be taken by Harvey Jones, entering his first full season of Formula One after several bit parts in the previous three seasons.
- Rookie Dutchman Jan Lammers was signed by Ensign to replace Bobby Rahal after his return to North America.
- Dywa driver Renzo Zorzi swapped seats with Merzario driver Beppe Gabbiani.
- Leonhard von Gottorp departed Formula One for ventures new. His seat at Boro was taken by Dutchman Michael Bleekemolen, whose sole F1 outing prior was a failure to pre-qualify at the French Grand Prix for B&S Fabrications in 1977.
- The rejuvenated Hesketh outfit would return for 1979 with an all-new lineup of Italians Riccardo Patrese and Bruno Giacomelli.
- Patrese's vacated seat at Scuderia Everest was taken by American driver Eddie Cheever.
- The revolving door that had characterised the #26 Ligier over the previous few seasons was now in the hands of well-funded Argentine driver Ricardo Zunino.
- Interscope's second car, which had been driven by Mike Mosley and Brett Lunger in 1978, was now driven by Swiss rookie Marc Surer.
- David Kennedy replaced Timo Fuchs in the second Madom car.
Calendar
Championship Grands Prix
Non-Championship Events
| Race | Track | Date | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winning driver | Winning constructor | Winning entrant | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Template:GBR XXXI BRDC International Trophy | Silverstone | 20 May | Report | |||||
| 2 | Template:GBR Race of Champions | Brands Hatch | 3 June | Report | |||||
| 3 | Template:GBR Tony Brise Memorial Trophy | Silverstone | 14 July | Report | |||||
| 4 |  Gunnar Nilsson Memorial Trophy
|
Anderstorp | 22 July | Report |
Standings
Drivers' Championship
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Only a driver's best 12 finishes counted towards the championship