1979 Italian Grand Prix
Monza hosted the thirteenth round of the championship. Both championship titles had already been decided but battle for the other medals was very much on
Carlos Reutemann's four wins in a row meant he had nothing at stake any more this season as even further wins wouldn't count to his points tally. No other driver was yet in a position to drop points.
Pre-qualifying
Pre-qualifying was one of the most bizarre of the season. Shadow's
Patrick Gaillard was clearly the fastest driver on track but his teammate was struggling badly. Thanks to Gaillard pace,
Rahal was able to take part in the qualifying for his first Italian GP.
Second fastest was
Regazzoni but he too suffered from a uncompetitive teammate.
Ertl's time of 1.36,4 was not enough to help his team advance from pre-qualifying in the team's home grand prix.
Qualifying
Gilles Villeneuve was fastest already in the first qualifying session and improved his time even more in the second session. Williams's were second and third ahead of the Ferraris.
Didier Pironi was in good shape in sixth.
Arnoux in seventh was almost a second slower than his teammate. Companying him in the fourth row was a true surprise name -
Bobby Rahal! The American youngster had been miserable in pre-qualifying but improved massively taking 8th position ahead of his French teammate.
Schekter in 11th was in a McLaren sandwich and behind them, as far back as in seventh row, was the faster Lotus driver
Eddie Cheever.
Tambay,
Mass and
Patrese were between him and teammate
Daly. In the back of the grid were both Copersucar Fittipaldis, Ensign and Arrowses.
Héctor Rebaque and
Jan Lammers were once again outqualified.
Race
Polesitter Villeneuve got stuck on line as both Williams's breezed past him. It was especially
de Angelis who got a fantastic start. The Italian lead already in the first corner and by the end of first lap had built a lead of almost five seconds over his teammate! Ferraris were the next two and in fifth another great starter
Jody Scheckter who had made up six places in the start. Villeneuve, Gaillard, Arnoux, Pironi and Rahal completed the top-10. Word out for
Renzo Zorzi too who made 11 places in the first lap to rise into 14th place.
Scheckter's great start didn't translate to great race pace. By lap 3 Villeneuve and both Shadows had gone past him as the South African was struggling to get out of corners. Williams in the lead were extending their lead over the chasing pack.
Apart from slipstreaming in the mid-pack there weren't many battles going on. Tightest duo in top-10 was certainly
Jones-Gaillard in 5th and 6th. While Shadow was having a race of the season, Lotus' day was much more difficult. Daly had crashed with
Fitipaldi on lap 12 and Cheever was cruising in 19th place among Ensigns and Rebaques.
Gaillard's good day came to an end on lap 17 when his Engine blew up. At this moment the order of top-10 was: de Angelis, Piquet, Reutemann, Villeneuve, Jones, Scheckter (last in the points), Arnoux, Ickx, Rahal, Rosberg.
Race went on and apart from Reutemann's gearbox problems there were no major incidents among the leaders. Gaps got gradually larger but after last stops the battle for 4th intensified nicely. Jones and Scheckter were battling for fourth but Rahal's later pit stop meant he had a lot fresher tyres and was able to catch and overtake the duo quite easily, earning the American the first points of his career. The three points also rise Shadow to 12th in the constructor's standings which means no pre-qualifying for next season and more ever-so-important prize money.
Although there was much rejoicing in the Shadow garage, the most happy team of the day was without doubt Williams. Elio de Angelis' faultless drive in his home grand prix earned the Italian rookei the first win of his career. It was also the first victory and the first 1-2 finish for Williams as Nelson Piquet joined his teammate in an emotional podium ceremony. Gilles Villeneuve pushed hard all day long but wasn't able to match the pace of Williams.
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