# 1979 French Grand Prix

The 1979 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 1 July 1979 at Dijon-Prenois near Dijon, France.
It marked not just the first victory of a forced-induction car in Formula One since the Alfa Romeo 159's victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in 1951, but also the first victory of a turbocharged car in Formula One, with Renault overcoming the reliability problems that had initially plagued their car. For Jean-Pierre Jabouille it was a victory on home soil, driving a French car (Renault), on French tyres (Michelin), powered by a French engine (Renault), burning French fuel (Elf). Jabouille was the first Frenchman to win the French Grand Prix since Jean-Pierre Wimille in 1948.
The race featured one of the fiercest battles ever for second place, between Ferrari driver Gilles Villeneuve and Renault driver René Arnoux, who on several occasions during the final laps touched wheels and swapped positions. The fight is often cited as one of the most memorable pieces of racing in Formula One. Villeneuve, who passed the finish line less than a quarter of a second ahead of Arnoux, later described the occasion as "my best memory of Grand Prix racing".

## Qualifying
### Qualifying classification

| Pos. | Driver | Constructor | Time | No |
| 1 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | 1:07,19 | 1 |
| 2 | René Arnoux | Renault | 1:07,45 | 2 |
| 3 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 1:07,65 | 3 |
| 4 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 1:08,13 | 4 |
| 5 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | 1:08,15 | 5 |
| 6 | Niki Lauda | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 1:08,20 | 6 |
| 7 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | 1:08,23 | 7 |
| 8 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford | 1:08,55 | 8 |
| 9 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams-Ford | 1:08,65 | 9 |
| 10 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:08,80 | 10 |
| 11 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:08,95 | 11 |
| 12 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | 1:09,35 | 12 |
| 13 | Carlos Reutemann | Lotus-Ford | 1:09,36 | 13 |
| 14 | Jacky Ickx | Ligier-Ford | 1:09,68 | 14 |
| 15 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford | 1:09,97 | 15 |
| 16 | Keke Rosberg | Wolf-Ford | 1:10,15 | 16 |
| 17 | Bruno Giacomelli | Alfa Romeo | 1:10,59 | 17 |
| 18 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | 1:10,61 | 18 |
| 19 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford | 1:10,70 | 19 |
| 20 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford | 1:10,92 | 20 |
| 21 | Jan Lammers | Shadow-Ford | 1:11,14 | 21 |
| 22 | Jochen Mass | Arrows-Ford | 1:11,40 | 22 |
| 23 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS-Ford | 1:11,75 | DNS |
| 24 | Héctor Rebaque | Lotus-Ford | 1:11,97 | 23 |
| 25 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow-Ford | 1:12,23 | 24 |
| DNQ | Patrick Gaillard | Ensign-Ford | 1:13,00 | — |
| DNQ | Arturo Merzario | Merzario-Ford | 1:14,95 | — |

## Race
### Classification

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | M | 80 | 1:35:20.42 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | M | 80 | + 14.59 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 16 | René Arnoux | Renault | M | 80 | + 14.83 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | 27 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | G | 80 | + 36.61 | 7 | 3 |
| 5 | 4 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 80 | + 1:04.51 | 10 | 2 |
| 6 | 28 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams-Ford | G | 80 | + 1:05.51 | 9 | 1 |
| 7 | 11 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | M | 79 | + 1 Lap | 5 | |
| 8 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford | G | 79 | + 1 Lap | 8 | |
| 9 | 20 | Keke Rosberg | Wolf-Ford | G | 79 | + 1 Lap | 16 | |
| 10 | 8 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford | G | 78 | + 2 Laps | 20 | |
| 11 | 7 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford | G | 78 | + 2 Laps | 15 | |
| 12 | 31 | Héctor Rebaque | Lotus-Ford | G | 78 | + 2 Laps | 23 | |
| 13 | 2 | Carlos Reutemann | Lotus-Ford | G | 77 | + 3 Laps | 13 | |
| 14 | 29 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford | G | 77 | + 3 Laps | 19 | |
| 15 | 30 | Jochen Mass | Arrows-Ford | G | 75 | + 5 Laps | 22 | |
| 16 | 18 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow-Ford | G | 75 | + 5 Laps | 24 | |
| 17 | 35 | Bruno Giacomelli | Alfa Romeo | G | 75 | + 5 Laps | 17 | |
| 18 | 17 | Jan Lammers | Shadow-Ford | G | 73 | + 7 Laps | 21 | |
| Ret | 3 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 71 | Suspension | 11 | |
| Ret | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | G | 53 | Engine | 18 | |
| Ret | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | G | 52 | Accident | 4 | |
| Ret | 1 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | G | 51 | Brakes | 12 | |
| Ret | 25 | Jacky Ickx | Ligier-Ford | G | 45 | Engine | 14 | |
| Ret | 5 | Niki Lauda | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | G | 23 | Spun Off | 6 | |
| DNS | 9 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS-Ford | G | | Tyre Dispute | | |
| DNQ | 22 | Patrick Gaillard | Ensign-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNQ | 24 | Arturo Merzario | Merzario-Ford | G | | | | |
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