1979 Season

Driver changes

Ronnie Peterson’s death at the 1978 Italian Grand Prix set off a chain of moves among the leading teams. Reigning champion Team Lotus signed Carlos Reutemann from Ferrari to replace him. Ferrari in turn took on Jody Scheckter, who had been at Wolf. Wolf hired James Hunt, who had been at McLaren. Hunt’s McLaren seat was originally promised to Peterson; after his death, McLaren signed fellow British contender John Watson. Watson’s Brabham seat went to Nelson Piquet, who had driven for Brabham at the final race of 1978.

Jean-Pierre Jarier moved to Tyrrell from Lotus, while Patrick Depailler left Tyrrell to join Ligier. Clay Regazzoni moved from Shadow to Williams. René Arnoux joins Renault for his second season. Both Williams and Renault expand to two-car operations for the first time.

Shadow, left with two open seats, signed Jan Lammers and Elio de Angelis, both making their Formula One debuts. Arrows replaced Rolf Stommelen with Jochen Mass. Hans-Joachim Stuck moved to ATS. Theodore and Surtees have disappeared from the grid.

Team changes

John Player Special withdrew from Formula One; Team Lotus enters 1979 with a new sponsorship package from Martini, Tissot and Essex Petroleum. Ligier acquired Matra’s assets for their first ground-effect season but lost Matra factory engine support before the season began, securing Ford-Cosworth power instead. Brabham pair Niki Lauda with Nelson Piquet in the Alfa Romeo V12-powered BT48. McLaren produced the new M28 for Watson and Patrick Tambay.

Calendar

Fifteen rounds are scheduled between 21 January and 7 October. The Swedish Grand Prix has been cancelled — enthusiasm for Formula One in Sweden faded following the deaths of Swedish drivers Ronnie Peterson and Gunnar Nilsson, and the race will never return to the calendar.

The Spanish Grand Prix is moved up six weeks, now running before the Belgian and Monaco Grands Prix. Belgium and Monaco also swap order compared to 1978. The French Grand Prix moves from Circuit Paul Ricard to Dijon-Prenois, and the British Grand Prix moves from Brands Hatch to Silverstone, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangements between each pair of circuits. The Canadian Grand Prix and the United States Grand Prix swap calendar positions, placing Watkins Glen as the season finale.

Regulation changes

The cockpit opening is enlarged. Teams are required to run two rear-view mirrors for the first time.

Pre-season testing

The ground-effect dominance of the Lotus 79 has sent every team to build new ground-effect cars for 1979. Team Lotus introduces the new Lotus 80, designed to extend their advantage. Williams complete the new FW07 while Renault finish the RS10; both teams will start the opening rounds with older machinery while those cars are finalised. Héctor Rebaque has bought a 1978 Lotus and is preparing his own self-designed car for later in the season. Kauhsen and Alfa Romeo are both preparing their own constructor entries.