1979 Italian Grand Prix

The 1979 Italian Grand Prix, otherwise known as the L Gran Premio d'Italia, was the thirteenth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on the 9 September 1979.'Italian GP, 1979', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr326.html, (Accessed 04/01/2019) The race would see Jody Scheckter claim his maiden World Championship crown as he swept to victory at the head of a one-two.
Qualifying would see the two s sweep to a front row lock-out, however, with their V6 turbocharged engines outclassing the rest of the field. Jean-Pierre Jabouille was the faster of the pair, beating René Arnoux by a tenth of a second, with Scheckter and Alan Jones sharing the second row.
At the start, however, it would be a different story, with Scheckter streaking between the two sluggish Renaults off the line to claim an early lead. Scheckter's teammate Gilles Villeneuve, meanwhile, would make an even better getaway from fifth and duly slotted into third behind Arnoux, while Jones dropped to the back of the field.
The top five of Scheckter, Arnoux, Villeneuve, Jacques Laffite and Jabouille soon pulled clear of the rest of the field, running nose-to-tail. Indeed, Arnoux proved to be the man to watch early on, with the V6t Renault cruising past Scheckter on the second lap to grab the lead, although the South African tried to hang on through the Rettifilo.
Elsewhere Nelson Piquet demolished his car at Curva Grande, bouncing off the side of Clay Regazzoni before bouncing along the barriers, while Jones was limping along with a misfire at the back of the field.'13. Italy 1979', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019) There would also be early retirements for Patrick Tambay, while Villeneuve found himself under attack from Laffite.
Unfortunately for Laffite, whose title hopes relied on Scheckter failing to win, Arnoux's race was over with a misfire come the end of lap thirteen, while Villeneuve continued to thwart his attacks. Indeed, their squabbling had allowed Scheckter to build a small lead out front, while Villeneuve redoubled his efforts to keep Laffite and Jabouille at bay.
It was to be status quo at the head of the field until the closing stages of the race, when the two Ferraris suddenly found themselves on their own, Laffite and Jabouille suffering late engine failures. That released Villeneuve, who was under no team orders to hold station behind Scheckter, to attack his teammate for the lead, with the two Ferraris still running nose-to-tail.
Ultimately, however, there would be no change in the lead at the end of the race, meaning it was Scheckter whom claimed victory and the World Championship crown. Villeneuve was right with him to secure the International Cup for Constructors title for the Scuderia in-front of the loyal tifosi, while Regazzoni completed a very popular podium in his .
==Background==
The final European race of the campaign saw the field unload their equipment into a re-vamped Autodromo Nazionale Monza pit lane, which had under gone some major renovation work amid rumours that the Imola circuit would take over the Italian Grand Prix.D.S.J., 'The Italian Grand Prix: Forza Ferrari', motorsportmagazine.com, (Motor Sport Magazine, 01/10/1979), https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1979/39/italian-grand-prix, (Accessed 07/01/2019) Indeed, while there were no new pit buildings the garages in the Monza pit lane had been completely redeveloped, with new openings at the back of the garages to allow easy access to the paddock. The pit wall had also been moved, increasing the width of the pit lane, the run-off are at Lesmo had been expanded with some tree removal, while the paddock had been expanded with an en-masse removal of unused buildings to leave a vast expanse of tarmac.
===Formulaic Formations===
In the weeks since the previous race at Zandvoort the FOCA/FISA dispute over the technical rulebook for had taken an unexpected turn. Indeed, Bernie Ecclestone, head of FOCA, and Jean-Marie Balestre, president of FISA, had held talks over the break, and duly come to an agreement regarding the rulebook for the impending season. In return for a revised scoring system for the 1980 Championship, which would see drivers retain five results from each half of the season, Mr. Ecclestone would join the FISA Technical Commission to help shape the technical rulebook for future seasons.
While this did not sort the rules for 1980 it did at-least ensure that there would be some stability, with the demands of both the FOCA and FISA supporting entries (a ban on turbocharging and ground-effect respectively), set to be resisted for at least another year.
===Enhanced Entries===
Into the entry list and the biggest change to the field came in the form of , who finally made their return having missed every race since the French Grand Prix. Indeed, they had finally decided that their new F1 car, the 179, was finally ready for its debut, which was sporting an older, but proven, engine, revised bodywork and what the team believed to be a very effective ground-effect producing floor. That was handed to their lead driver Bruno Giacomelli, while the "old" test-car, the 177, was handed to F1 returnee Vittorio Brambilla, who had not raced in F1 since being involved in the firey demise of Ronnie Peterson at the Italian Grand Prix in .
Elsewhere Mr. Ecclestone had some more success on another 1980 battle front, although at the cost of a new $2million contract for lead driver Niki Lauda. Indeed, while the Austrian ace had been courting various teams in the paddock having fallen out of love with , a lack of other options, as well as the huge financial contract, persuaded him to stay with the squad for another season, partnering Nelson Piquet. Furthermore the team were already running their newest car, the engined BT49, intending to complete the season with the new car, although they retained their usual trio of Alfa engined BT48s in Italy. There was also no news of their ploy to employ Jackie Stewart for the new season, although the veteran Scot had reportedly been offered a $1million contract to join them.
Over at , meanwhile, it was thought that the release of the injured Patrick Depailler from hospital a week before the Italian Grand Prix would be a source of joy, so it came as a shock when it was announced that the Frenchman had been dropped. Indeed, Depailler had spoken with the eponymous Ligier boss Guy Ligier about staying with the team for 1980, believing he would retain his "joint number one" status with Jacques Laffite in the team, as had been the case before his leg breaking hanggliding accident. Laffite, however, had already demanded that he be declared as the out-right number one in the team, having comprehensively beaten Jacky Ickx since Depailler's enforced break ahead of the trip to France back in June.
A standoff duly developed in the team, with Depailler and Laffite both pushing Ligier for a quick decision, Ickx having no interest in continuing his F1 career beyond the end of the season. It therefore came as a shock when Ligier announced that Didier Pironi would be joining the team as second driver to Laffite, leaving Depailler without a drive for 1980 having demanded too much for a driver recovering from a major injury. Regardless it would be Laffite and Ickx who raced for Ligier in Italy, using their usual compliment of JS11s.D.S.J., 'Notes on the cars at Monza', motorsportmagazine.com, (Motor Sport Magazine, 01/10/1979), https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1979/44/notes-cars-monza, (Accessed 07/01/2019)
Pironi, meanwhile, would still compete with in Italy, partnering Jean-Pierre Jarier in their familiar pair of 009s, with Jarier set to stay with Ken Tyrrell for 1980. , meanwhile, were unchanged ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, with Alan Jones and Clay Regazzoni set to race as usual, although there were rumours that the latter was to be replaced in the team for the new season. The Swiss ace's former employers , were likewise unchanged ahead of their home race, as they brought four 312T4s for Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve as they attempted to secure both Championships on home soil.
Elsewhere arrived as unpopular pre-race favourites with their compliment of V6 turbocharged RS10s, with Jean-Pierre Jabouille and René Arnoux both to be retained by Gérard Larrousse's squad for 1980. , meanwhile, had sent three of their modified Lotus 79s out to Monza in a vain attempt to compete, with Mario Andretti getting priority on the spare while Carlos Reutemann was left to spend his free time courting other potential employers. were likewise unchanged amid rumours they were to lose one of John Watson or Patrick Tambay for 1980, although boss Teddy Mayer was forced to announce the end of a plan to secure BMW developed turbocharged engines for the 31st F1 season.
There were to be no changes for either in Italy or for the 1980 season, with Riccardo Patrese and Jochen Mass committing to a team whose A2 cars were unchanged in Monza. Rivals were in a less than secure state coming towards the end of the season, with Elio de Angelis and Jan Lammers not having the finances to keep the team running. were in a similar position, Walter Wolf having lost interest in F1 now that his car had become noncompetitive, although Keke Rosberg would persevere with the WR8 in Italy.
 arrived with three cars for their lone ace Emerson Fittipaldi, with a brand new F6A shipped to Europe for the veteran Brazilian. The team in contrast, would not run their newest car, with Arturo Merzario stuck with two older Merzario A2s, while were under a mini revolution internally after Vic Elford became the team manager, although Hans-Joachim Stuck was fairly satisfied heading to Italy. , meanwhile, decided to give-up on Patrick Gaillard, with Mo Nunn instead obtaining the services of recently crowned European Formula Two Champion Marc Surer for the weekend.
The final car on the entry list would be the first ever car purpose built for , albeit one heavily based on the Lotus 79, and constructed by ex-F1 racers . Indeed, Héctor Rebaque's father had bankrolled Penske to re-engineer the aerodynamic aspects of the team's Lotus 79, resulting in a car with revised monocoque, skirt-slides and sidepod shape, although it was identical to the ex-factory 79 that the Mexican had been using throughout the season. Regardless, Rebaque's new creation was dubbed the HR100, and would become the first "Mexican built" F1 car to compete at a Grand Prix.
===Championship Chances===
The mixed results of the Dutch Grand Prix meant that there had been no real change at the top of the Championship standings, with Scheckter having managed to extend his lead to eight points over Laffite. However, due to the rather odd scoring system chosen by FISA, which saw half of a driver's finishes dropped from their scorecard, the South African ace could secure the crown in Monza. Indeed, victory for Scheckter, combined with Laffite failing to stand on the podium, would be enough for the South African to secure the crown two races early, although Laffite was likely to run out of available points regardless. Scheckter's teammate Villeneuve was also still in the hunt, although the Canadian would need the South African to retire in all three remaining races while he claimed victory
It was a far more simple picture in the International Cup for Constructors battle, with Ferrari able to claim the crown if Scheckter and Villeneuve both finished on the podium in front of the tifosi. Indeed, with a nineteen point lead over Ligier-Ford Cosworth, and 22 over Williams-Ford Cosworth, it was a matter of when rather than if for Ferrari, with Canada likely to be the deciding round. That left Ligier and Williams in a fight for second, while out-going Champions Team Lotus-Ford Cosworth were set to end the campaign in fourth.
===Entry List===
The full entry list for the is outlined below:
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor 	Chassis 	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
1 	Mario Andretti 	Martini Racing Team Lotus 	 	79 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
2 	Carlos Reutemann 	Martini Racing Team Lotus 	 	79 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
3 	Didier Pironi 	Candy Tyrrell Team 	 	009 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
4 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	Candy Tyrrell Team 	 	009 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
5 	Niki Lauda 	Parmalat Racing Team 	 	BT48 	 	1260 3.0 V12 	
6 	Nelson Piquet 	Parmalat Racing Team 	 	BT48 	 	1260 3.0 V12 	
7 	John Watson 	Marlboro Team McLaren 	 	M29 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
8 	Patrick Tambay 	Marlboro Team McLaren 	 	M29 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
9 	Hans-Joachim Stuck 	ATS Wheels 	 	D3 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
11 	Jody Scheckter 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312T4 	 	015 3.0 F12 	
12 	Gilles Villeneuve 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312T4 	 	015 3.0 F12 	
14 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	Fittipaldi Automotive 	 	F6A 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
15 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille 	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RS10 	 	EF1 1.5 V6t 	
16 	René Arnoux 	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RS10 	 	EF1 1.5 V6t 	
17 	Jan Lammers 	Samson Shadow Racing Team 	 	DN9 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
18 	Elio de Angelis 	Interscope Shadow Racing Team 	 	DN9 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
20 	Keke Rosberg 	Olympus Cameras Wolf Racing 	 	WR8 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
22 	Marc Surer 	Team Ensign 	 	N179 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
24 	Arturo Merzario 	Team Merzario 	 	A4 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
25 	Jacky Ickx 	Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS11 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
26 	Jacques Laffite 	Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS11 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
27 	Alan Jones 	Albilad-Saudia Racing Team 	 	FW07 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
28 	Clay Regazzoni 	Albilad-Saudia Racing Team 	 	FW07 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
29 	Riccardo Patrese 	Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team 	 	A2 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
30 	Jochen Mass 	Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team 	 	A2 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
31 	Héctor Rebaque 	Team Rebaque 	 	HR100 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
35 	Bruno Giacomelli 	Autodelta 	 	179 	 	1260 3.0 V12 	
36 	Vittorio Brambilla 	Autodelta 	 	177 	 	115-12 3.0 F12 	
Source:'Netherlands 1979: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/pays-bas/engages.aspx, (Accessed 03/01/2019)	Source:'Netherlands 1979: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/pays-bas/engages.aspx, (Accessed 03/01/2019)	Source:'Netherlands 1979: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/pays-bas/engages.aspx, (Accessed 03/01/2019)	Source:'Netherlands 1979: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/pays-bas/engages.aspx, (Accessed 03/01/2019)	Source:'Netherlands 1979: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/pays-bas/engages.aspx, (Accessed 03/01/2019)	Source:'Netherlands 1979: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/pays-bas/engages.aspx, (Accessed 03/01/2019)	Source:'Netherlands 1979: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/pays-bas/engages.aspx, (Accessed 03/01/2019)	Source:'Netherlands 1979: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/pays-bas/engages.aspx, (Accessed 03/01/2019)
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
Practice/qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix of would follow the familiar pattern of four sessions split evenly across Friday and Saturday prior to the race. The afternoon sessions of each day were reserved for qualifying, generating a combined total of three hours of running to set the grid, leaving teams free to experiment with race practice during the mornings. As for a target time the top teams would be aiming to best the circuit record, a 1:37.520 set by Mario Andretti in the 1978-spec Lotus 79.
===Friday Qualifying===
First out for the morning practice session would be Vittorio Brambilla in the , with the sight of the popular Italian resulting in a huge cheer from the crowds. After that the real business of practice began, with the majority of drivers having a brake issue during the session, all down to the extreme change in temperatures that were caused by Monza's long straights and heavy braking zones. That prompted a lot of experimentation with brake ducts and duct tape during the session, with attention also paid to engine cooling.
Into the first qualifying session and it was clear that, once again, it would be the two turbocharged s that would be the team to beat, with Jean-Pierre Jabouille and René Arnoux enjoying their significant power advantage from the early stages. Indeed, Arnoux would get below Andretti's old record early on in his second run of the afternoon, although Jabouille would have to first hop in the spare car to join him. Soon the duo were consistently lapping in the 1:35.000s, before Arnoux surged ahead to record a stunning effort of 1:34.704.
Because of his use of the spare Jabouille would end the day almost a second off his teammate, allowing several others to get between them. The closest man to Arnoux proved to be the man in form Alan Jones, fighting for glory with having been knocked out of the title hunt at Zandvoort, with Gilles Villeneuve in the first of the s just 0.007s behind him in third. Jones' teammate Clay Regazzoni was next, the first of those in the 1:35.000s, with Champion-elect Jody Scheckter also sneaking ahead of the #15 Renault.
It was not all plain sailing for Renault's rivals, however, for Jones' session would be brought to a premature end when he was clouted into the gravel by Patrick Tambay. He walked back to the pits to sit out the rest of the session, teammate Regazzoni having adopted the spare after an engine issue in the morning, while Tambay carried on without issue in his . Elsewhere Marc Surer was out of action for early on when his engine expired, Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite were suffering from severe porpoising in their and respectively, while Héctor Rebaque failed to get out at all in his new car.
===Saturday Qualifying===
Much like Friday morning's practice session, Saturday's opening hour of action would be used to test spare cars, as well as ensure that overnight repairs and modifications had resolved various issues. Regazzoni, for example, would switch back to his freshly engined Williams, allowing Jones to take over the spare as his race car had its fuel bladder replaced, that having been an unseen victim of his swipe from Tambay on Friday. Laffite, Scheckter and Jabouille, meanwhile, would spend most of the session swapping between their race and spare cars, while their teammates doggedly stuck with the cars they were dealt on Friday.
With that the field were ready to complete the final qualifying session, although it was to be another afternoon dominated by one of the two black-yellow Renaults. This time it was Jabouille who stole the show, the Frenchman using the spare RS10 to record a 1:34.580 to steal pole away from teammate Arnoux, whose session was ended prematurely with an engine issue. Indeed, Jabouille's time was set during his first flying lap, and hence it was likely that he could have gone faster, had he not damaged his car by flying off the track at the Rettifilo Chicane.
Fortunately for them there would be no-one who could realistically challenge their times, although Scheckter did come close with a 1:34.830 to be best of the rest for Ferrari. Jones was next as the best of the engined drivers, shaving a few hundredths off his Friday best, while Villeneuve claimed fifth in the second Ferrari. Elsewhere the two s qualified comfortably, felt they had made progress despite the fact that they were well down the field, while Nelson Piquet edged out Niki Lauda in their battle.
Elsewhere there was a very interesting battle at , with their two drivers fighting hard to claim the 24th and final grid slot. For the organisers, and Shadow, it was in their interests for Elio de Angelis to qualify rather than Jan Lammers, although the Dutchman was the faster of the two. Furthermore, de Angelis would have a miserable afternoon, suffering a hub failure on his race car, an engine issue on the spare, before persuading Shadow to let him borrow Lammers' car, only to record a time slower than his teammate.
However, after the session it was miraculously found by the officials that there had been an error with Lammmers' time, which was duly re-recorded as a 1:39.313, putting him behind de Angelis on the timesheet. A furious Lammers left the circuit immediately after being told of the change, for it left him on the sidelines while believing he had rightly qualified for the race. Instead, he would sit it out alongside Surer, who was still getting used to a Formula One car, Arturo Merzario, who had a myriad of problems with his car, and Rebaque who could only manage one clean lap with his new creation.
Elsewhere, John Watson would take over teammate Tambay's McLaren when his engine failed mid-session, meaning Tambay had to use a spare car that had to be quickly re-assembled in the paddock during the session. The Frenchman would still manage to qualify in the old M28C, courtesy of his effort in his own M29.
===Qualifying Results===
The full qualifying results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Time 	Time 	Gap
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Q1 	Q2 	Gap
1 	15 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille 	 	1:35.665T 	1:34.580T 	—
2 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	1:34.704 	1:37.086 	+0.124s
3 	11 	Jody Scheckter 	 	1:35.501T 	1:34.830 	+0.250s
4 	27 	Alan Jones 	 	1:34.982 	1:34.914T 	+0.334s
5 	12 	Gilles Villeneuve 	 	1:34.989T 	1:35.365T 	+0.409s
6 	28 	Clay Regazzoni 	 	1:35.339T 	1:35.333 	+0.753s
7 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	1:36.846T 	1:35.443T 	+0.863s
8 	6 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:36.389T 	1:35.587T 	+1.007s
9 	5 	Niki Lauda 	 	1:36.219 	1:37.001T 	+1.639s
10 	1 	Mario Andretti 	 	1:36.708 	1:36.655 	+2.075s
11 	25 	Jacky Ickx 	 	1:38.915 	1:37.114 	+2.534s
12 	3 	Didier Pironi 	 	1:37.510 	1:37.181 	+2.601s
13 	2 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	1:38.195 	1:37.202 	+2.622s
14 	8 	Patrick Tambay 	 	1:37.381 	1:37.231 	+2.651s
15 	9 	Hans-Joachim Stuck 	 	1:39.465 	1:37.297 	+2.717s
16 	4 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	 	1:37.786 	1:37.581 	+3.001s
17 	29 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:38.120 	1:37.674 	+3.094s
18 	35 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	1:38.564 	1:38.053 	+3.473s
19 	7 	John Watson 	 	1:38.770 	1:38.093 	+3.513s
20 	14 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	 	1:39.491 	1:38.136 	+3.556s
21 	30 	Jochen Mass 	 	1:40.772 	1:38.163 	+3.583s
22 	36 	Vittorio Brambilla 	 	1:39.359 	1:38.601 	+4.021s
23 	20 	Keke Rosberg 	 	1:40.161T 	1:38.854 	+4.274s
24 	18 	Elio de Angelis 	 	1:41.104 	1:39.149T 	+4.569s
DNQ 	17 	Jan Lammers 	 	1:41.183 	1:39.313 	+4.733s
DNQ 	22 	Marc Surer 	 	1:49.434 	1:40.821 	+6.241s
DNQ 	24 	Arturo Merzario 	 	1:43.530 	1:42.002 	+7.422s
DNQ 	31 	Héctor Rebaque 	 	— 	1:42.769 	+8.189s
Source:'Italy 1979: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)
*T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
*Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
===Grid===
==Race==
It was a warm, dry morning that would greet the field for the Italian Grand Prix on race day, with a very vocal crowd pouring into the Autodromo Nazionale Monza as the F1 field completed their morning warm-up. There would, however, be no issues to report from the session, meaning there were no concerns for any of the 24 starters ahead of the race. Indeed, in-spite of some late decisions to switch to a spare car, and a reduction in race distance to 50 laps, all of the qualifiers would be on-time to take the start, with the starter's lights flashing to green at 3:30pm on the dot.
===Report===
Given the horrific start to the 1978 Italian Grand Prix there was little surprise that the top four drivers me with one-another to discuss the start. Ultimately the two s, which traditionally bogged down at the start due to turbo-lag, agreed that they would not weave around on the run to the Rettifilo if they did have issues on the grid. That would leave Alan Jones and Jody Scheckter with a clear run to the chicane, while Gilles Villeneuve was told not to pass his title challenging teammate.
That discussion proved to be a wise one for Scheckter, who duly streaked into the lead when the lights switched to green, with teammate Villeneuve shadowing him all the way. René Arnoux went with them, blasting ahead of teammate Jean-Pierre Jabouille, while Jones, the instigator of the discussions, made an awful getaway. Indeed, the #27 found itself in the middle of a swarm heading into the Curva Grande on the opening lap, although Jones managed to survive unharmed.
An intense opening tour would see Arnoux draft past Villeneuve on the run out of Lesmo, before briefly entertaining a move on Scheckter into the Parabolica. Ultimately, however, the Frenchman would wait until the field streamed out of the infamous right-hander before bidding for the lead, drafting past the just after they crossed the start/finish line to complete the opening tour. A huge cheer from the tifosi that had erupted when Scheckter slithered out of Parabolica in the lead was immediately silenced, with a Renault now leading the two scarlet cars, Jacques Laffite and Jabouille.
The early stages would see Arnoux inch away at the head of the field, while Scheckter and Villeneuve tried to shake Laffite from their tail. Jones, meanwhile, was picking off several of the drivers that had jumped him at the start, although he soon decided that something more sinister was at play in his engine, and duly pitted at the end of lap five. Unfortunately for him a misfire had developed on his engine just before the start and was now strangling power from the engine, with his mechanics quickly tracing its cause to a faulty battery.
Jones would rejoin a lap later, and was immediately on the pace of the lead group, still being comfortably led by Arnoux. Behind the Frenchman still sat the two Ferraris of Scheckter and Villeneuve, with Laffite and Jabouille still chasing hard. Next up was Clay Regazzoni, having survived a clout from Nelson Piquet early on, with the Brazilian's instead being fired off into the barriers at Curva Grande. Indeed, Piquet was miraculously unharmed in the accident, which saw the Brabham rip itself in two at high speed, with the V12 and gearbox completely severed from the cockpit and front half of the car.
Niki Lauda, meanwhile, would become a source of entertainment once things settled out front, deciding it was time to finally remind everyone why he was the highest paid driver in the field. A series of excellently timed dives in the Rettifilo would see the Austrian take John Watson, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Didier Pironi and Mario Andretti on successive laps, moving him from eleventh to seventh. Yet, he was no closer to the tail of Regazzoni in sixth, who was himself struggling to catch Jabouille in spite of the fact that the #15 Renault had lost contact with the lead quartet.
Things would go from bad to worse for Renault on lap 13, with Arnoux's engine suddenly cutting out on the run to the Parabolica. Quick thinking from the Frenchman saw him jink his car out of the way of Scheckter and co., before the engine suddenly fired up again as Laffite streaked past. He duly finished the lap in fourth with a seemingly healthy V6t engine, but when the engine cut again on the run to Parabolica he knew his race was effectively over.
Indeed, Arnoux would coast into the pits at the end of the lap, and duly stepped out of his cockpit with the ignition system being pulled apart by his mechanics. That left Scheckter in command of the race with teammate Villeneuve acting as a rear gunner, although Laffite was not managing to challenge the two Ferraris. Jabouille, meanwhile, was still slipping away in fourth ahead of Regazzoni, while Lauda had a gaggle of cars behind him as he tried to catch the #28 Williams.
Elsewhere Watson's race was over moments after he had passed Jarier, the racer having slid off into the gravel all on his own. Emerson Fittipaldi, meanwhile, was making up for his poor start by making a series of excellent moves at the back of the field, while Hans-Joachim Stuck limped along with a cracked exhaust on the . At the very back of the field, meanwhile, Jones was lapping a second faster than anyone else, setting new lap records every time he passed the timing line.
As the race wore on towards half-distance it was affirmed that Jabouille was fighting a losing battle with his Renault, for he duly slipped behind Regazzoni on lap 24, a move greeted with a huge cheer for "Regga". Bruno Giacomelli, meanwhile, could smell a points finish in the new , and duly scythed his way past Jarier and Pironi to go hunting the similarly engined Brabham of Lauda. Unfortunately for the Italian racer his charge would be ended by a suspension destroying bounce across the gravel at Ascari, with teammate Vittorio Brambilla well down the order.
Out front, meanwhile, the two Ferraris would have to wait until the closing stages of the race to finally shake Laffite, whose pace would steadily decline after half-distance as his brakes began to fade. To alleviate this the Frenchman used his cockpit adjuster to re-balance the brakes, putting more pressure onto the fronts, although a design flaw with the resulted in this adjustment also causing the clutch to operate under heavy braking. The result would be a series of sudden lunges in engine revs as the Frenchman braked, which duly trashed his Ford Cosworth engine with nine laps to go.
The two Ferraris were now on their own at the head of the field, although Scheckter was beginning to struggle with a braking issue of his own. Villeneuve, in contrast, was in a very strong position in the sister car, his brakes feeling fine, although he was under orders not to attack his teammate and duly decided to obey them. Worryingly this left them running at the pace of Fittipaldi in the middle of the pack, just as Regazzoni began to match Jones' lap record pace.
Indeed, Regazzoni would go on to set his own lap record of 1:35.60 with five laps to go, and would close to within two seconds of the scarlet cars at the start of the penultimate tour. Seeing this, Villeneuve finally began to harass Scheckter, only to see the Williams suddenly drop back on the run out of Lesmo. Ultimately Regazzoni's late push had been cut short by a lack of fuel, with a series of coughs dropping the Swiss ace away from the Ferraris just when he looked set to challenge them.
With that the race for both the race win and the Championship was over, with a 100,000 strong crowd roaring Scheckter and Villeneuve home, the South African claiming the title while Villeneuve ensured that the Scuderia won the International Cup for Manufacturers. Regazzoni spluttered across the line five seconds back in third, another popular result, while a late failure for Jabouille had gifted fourth to Lauda. Andretti was next ahead of Jarier, while Jones' day would be summed up in the moments after the race, with the Australian ace stopping to pick-up teammate Regazzoni, only to have his own Williams splutter to a stop a few yards on.
Regardless, the results of the the Italian Grand Prix had decided the Championship for a second successive season, with Scheckter and Ferrari heading to the American continent with their crowns in hand.
===Results===
The full results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Laps 	Time/Retired 	Grid 	Points
1 	11 	Jody Scheckter 	 	50 	1:22:00.22 	3 	9
2 	12T 	Gilles Villeneuve 	 	50 	+0.46s 	5 	6
3 	28 	Clay Regazzoni 	 	50 	+4.78s 	6 	4
4 	5 	Niki Lauda 	 	50 	+54.40s 	9 	3
5 	1 	Mario Andretti 	 	50 	+59.70s 	10 	2
6 	4 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	 	50 	+1:01.55 	16 	1
7 	2 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	50 	+1:24.14 	13 	
8 	14 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	 	49 	+1 Lap 	20 	
9 	27 	Alan Jones 	 	49 	+1 Lap 	4 	
10 	3 	Didier Pironi 	 	49 	+1 Lap 	12 	
11 	9 	Hans-Joachim Stuck 	 	49 	+1 Lap 	15 	
12 	36 	Vittorio Brambilla 	 	49 	+1 Lap 	22 	
13 	29 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	47 	+3 Laps 	17 	
14* 	15 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille 	 	45 	Engine 	1 	
Ret 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	41 	Engine 	7 	
Ret 	20 	Keke Rosberg 	 	41 	Engine 	23 	
Ret 	25 	Jacky Ickx 	 	40 	Engine 	11 	
Ret 	18 	Elio de Angelis 	 	33 	Clutch 	24 	
Ret 	35 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	28 	Spin 	18 	
Ret 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	13 	Engine 	2 	
Ret 	7 	John Watson 	 	13 	Accident 	19 	
Ret 	8 	Patrick Tambay 	 	3 	Engine 	14 	
Ret 	30 	Jochen Mass 	 	3 	Suspension 	21 	
Ret 	6 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1 	Collision 	8 	
DNQ 	17 	Jan Lammers 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	22 	Marc Surer 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	24 	Arturo Merzario 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	31 	Héctor Rebaque 	 	 	 	 	
Source:'Italy 1979: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)	Source:'Italy 1979: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1979/italie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 04/01/2019)
*T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
** Jabouille was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.
==Milestones==
* Jody Scheckter declared as the FIA Formula One World Championship Champion.
* secured the 1979 FIA Formula One International Cup for Constructors.
* 50th Italian Grand Prix to be staged.
** Of these 29 had been staged under F1 rules.
* Maiden entry for Marc Surer.'1979 Italian GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2015), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1979&gp=Italian%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 05/01/2019)
* entered their first race as a constructor.
* Final race start for Niki Lauda until the 1982 South African Grand Prix.
* Tenth and final victory for Scheckter.
** It was also the South African racer's 33rd and last visit to the podium.
* Ferrari claimed their 78th victory as a constructor and engine manufacturer.
* Clay Regazzoni secured the tenth podium finish for as a constructor.
** It was also Regazzoni's fifteenth and final fastest lap.
*21 of the 24 starters would finish their careers with at least one race victory in F1, a record for a F1 grid.
** Jean-Pierre Jarier, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Bruno Giacomelli would all finish on the podium.
==Standings==
Victory, combined with the rather bizarre scoring system meant that Jody Scheckter was declared as World Champion with two races to spare, despite only being thirteen points clear of Gilles Villeneuve. The reason for that was because the dropped score rule meant that Villeneuve could not record more than twelve points, with the same issue preventing Jacques Laffite and Alan Jones. They would instead spend the rest of the season fighting for second, with Clay Regazzoni also still in that fight.
Unlike their driver Scheckter, were declared as International Cup for Constructors Champions in less acrimonious circumstances, for they ended the weekend with a 33 point lead, with just 32 available for their rivals. Indeed, had finally climbed into second as they slipped out of the title fight, and were now left to hold onto said position for the rest of the season. The British squad ended the weekend a point clear of , with a huge gap back to out-going Champions in fourth.
 
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	Jody Scheckter 	51 (57) 	
2 	Gilles Villeneuve 	38 	2
3 	Jacques Laffite 	36 	1
4 	Alan Jones 	34 	1
5 	Clay Regazzoni 	27 (28) 	
6 	Patrick Depailler 	20 (22) 	
7 	Carlos Reutemann 	20 (25) 	
8 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	14 	
9 	Mario Andretti 	14 	1
10 	John Watson 	13 	1
11 	René Arnoux 	11 	
12 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille 	9 	
13 	Didier Pironi 	8 	
14 	Niki Lauda 	4 	5
15 	Nelson Piquet 	3 	1
16 	Jacky Ickx 	3 	1
17 	Jochen Mass 	3 	1
18 	Riccardo Patrese 	2 	2
19 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	1 	1
International Cup for Constructors	International Cup for Constructors	International Cup for Constructors	International Cup for Constructors
Pos. 	Team 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	 	95 	
2 	 	62 	1
3 	 	61 	1
4 	 	39 	
5 	 	22 	
6 	 	20 	
7 	 	13 	
8 	 	7 	1
9 	 	5 	1
10 	 	1 	
Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.
==References==
Images and Videos:
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References:
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1979 Grands Prix
Category:Italian Grand Prix
Category:Formula One races in Italy