# 1979 Canadian Grand Prix

The 1979 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 September 1979 at the Circuit Île Notre-Dame, Montreal.
During practice Niki Lauda announced his retirement from Formula One. The Brabham team, who had replaced their Alfa Romeo-engined BT48 with the Cosworth DFV-engined BT49, recruited Argentine newcomer Ricardo Zunino as Lauda's replacement.
The organizers would not let the Alfa Romeo factory team compete unless they pre-qualified. They refused to do so but a compromise was reached where one of their drivers would be allowed to take part in practice. The other, Bruno Giacomelli, was not allowed to enter the race.
The race turned into a close duel between Alan Jones and Gilles Villeneuve that continued the entire race.
As of 2024, Regazzoni's podium remains the last for a Swiss driver in Formula One.

## Qualifying
### Qualifying classification

| Pos. | Driver | Constructor | Time | No |
| 1 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | 1:29.892 | 1 |
| 2 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 1:30.554 | 2 |
| 3 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams-Ford | 1:30.768 | 3 |
| 4 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Ford | 1:30.775 | 4 |
| 5 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford | 1:30.820 | 5 |
| 6 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:31.941 | 6 |
| 7 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | 1:32.103 | 7 |
| 8 | René Arnoux | Renault | 1:32.116 | 8 |
| 9 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | 1:32.280 | 9 |
| 10 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | 1:32.651 | 10 |
| 11 | Carlos Reutemann | Lotus-Ford | 1:32.682 | 11 |
| 12 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS-Ford | 1:32.858 | 12 |
| 13 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:33.065 | 13 |
| 14 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford | 1:33.090 | 14 |
| 15 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | 1:33.297 | 15 |
| 16 | Jacky Ickx | Ligier-Ford | 1:33.355 | 16 |
| 17 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford | 1:33.362 | 17 |
| 18 | Vittorio Brambilla | Alfa Romeo | 1:33.378 | 18 |
| 19 | Ricardo Zunino | Brabham-Ford | 1:33.511 | 19 |
| 20 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford | 1:33.603 | 20 |
| 21 | Jan Lammers | Shadow-Ford | 1:34.102 | 21 |
| 22 | Héctor Rebaque | Rebaque-Ford | 1:34.129 | 22 |
| 23 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow-Ford | 1:34.256 | 23 |
| 24 | Derek Daly | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:34.301 | 24 |
| DNQ | Jochen Mass | Arrows-Ford | 1:34.365 | — |
| DNQ | Marc Surer | Ensign-Ford | 1:34.747 | — |
| DNQ | Keke Rosberg | Wolf-Ford | 1:35.061 | — |
| DNQ | Alex Ribeiro | Fittipaldi-Ford | 1:36.901 | — |
| DNQ | Arturo Merzario | Merzario-Ford | 1:37.590 | — |

## Race
### Classification

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 27 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | G | 72 | 1:52:06.892 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | M | 72 | + 1.080 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 28 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams-Ford | G | 72 | + 1:13.656 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 11 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | M | 71 | + 1 Lap | 9 | 3 |
| 5 | 3 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 71 | + 1 Lap | 6 | 2 |
| 6 | 7 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford | G | 70 | + 2 Laps | 17 | 1 |
| 7 | 5 | Ricardo Zunino | Brabham-Ford | G | 68 | + 4 Laps | 19 | |
| 8 | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | G | 67 | + 5 Laps | 15 | |
| 9 | 17 | Jan Lammers | Shadow-Ford | G | 67 | + 5 Laps | 21 | |
| 10 | 1 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | G | 66 | Out of Fuel | 10 | |
| Ret | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Ford | G | 61 | Gearbox | 4 | |
| Ret | 36 | Vittorio Brambilla | Alfa Romeo | G | 52 | Fuel System | 18 | |
| Ret | 25 | Jacky Ickx | Ligier-Ford | G | 47 | Gearbox | 16 | |
| Ret | 4 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 33 | Engine | 13 | |
| Ret | 33 | Derek Daly | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 28 | Engine | 24 | |
| Ret | 31 | Héctor Rebaque | Rebaque-Ford | G | 26 | Chassis | 22 | |
| Ret | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | M | 24 | Brakes | 7 | |
| Ret | 18 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow-Ford | G | 24 | Ignition | 23 | |
| Ret | 2 | Carlos Reutemann | Lotus-Ford | G | 23 | Suspension | 11 | |
| Ret | 29 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford | G | 20 | Spun Off | 14 | |
| Ret | 8 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford | G | 19 | Engine | 20 | |
| Ret | 16 | René Arnoux | Renault | M | 14 | Accident | 8 | |
| Ret | 9 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS-Ford | G | 14 | Accident | 12 | |
| Ret | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford | G | 10 | Engine | 5 | |
| DNQ | 30 | Jochen Mass | Arrows-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNQ | 22 | Marc Surer | Ensign-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNQ | 20 | Keke Rosberg | Wolf-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNQ | 19 | Alex Ribeiro | Fittipaldi-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNQ | 24 | Arturo Merzario | Merzario-Ford | G | | | | |
| WD | 5 | Niki Lauda | Brabham-Ford | G | | Retired in Practice | | |
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