ディディエ・ピローニ
In the Friday qualifying session, Ligier driver Jacques Laffite was fastest with a time of 1:12.647, which was over a second and a half quicker than the pole position time set the previous year. Didier Pironi, Laffite's team-mate at Ligier, finished second with Williams drivers Carlos Reutemann and Alan Jones taking third and fourth places in the session.