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Championship Watch

1979 Standings

Jody Scheckter won the 1979 Drivers' Championship for Ferrari. Final 1979 standings — every driver and constructor ranked by points and wins.

Driver Leader
Jody Scheckter
51 pts · Ferrari
Title Gap
4 pts
Jody Scheckter over Gilles Villeneuve
Constructors
Ferrari
113 pts · gap 38
Most Wins
4
Alan Jones
Control Tower
Drivers Championship
Season
1979 Season Report

Jody Scheckter won the 1979 Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship driving for Ferrari, finishing on 51 points, 4 clear of Gilles Villeneuve. Scheckter won 3 races that season.

Ferrari took the Constructors' Championship with 113 points, 38 ahead of Williams.

7 different drivers won a Grand Prix, and 21 drivers scored championship points.

Championships in this era were decided on a "best results" basis — drivers counted only their highest-scoring finishes towards the title, so season totals can differ from the sum of every race result. Dropped scores were abolished from 1991.

Standings compiled from the Ergast/Jolpica Formula 1 results archive. Spotted an error? Tell us.

Live Table

1979 Driver Order

Pos
Driver
Form
Points
Wins
P1
Jody Scheckter
Ferrari
Championship Pace100%
Championship Leader
51
Points
3
Wins
P2
Gilles Villeneuve
Ferrari
Championship Pace92%
4 pts off the lead.
47
Points
3
Wins
P3
Alan Jones
Williams
Championship Pace78%
11 pts off the lead.
40
Points
4
Wins
P4
Jacques Laffite
Ligier
Championship Pace71%
15 pts off the lead.
36
Points
2
Wins
P5
Clay Regazzoni
Williams
Championship Pace57%
22 pts off the lead.
29
Points
1
Wins
P6
Patrick Depailler
Ligier
Championship Pace39%
31 pts off the lead.
20
Points
1
Wins
P7
Carlos Reutemann
Team Lotus
Championship Pace39%
31 pts off the lead.
20
Points
0
Wins
P8
René Arnoux
Renault
Championship Pace33%
34 pts off the lead.
17
Points
0
Wins
P9
John Watson
McLaren
Championship Pace29%
36 pts off the lead.
15
Points
0
Wins
P10
Didier Pironi
Tyrrell
Championship Pace27%
37 pts off the lead.
14
Points
0
Wins
P11
Jean-Pierre Jarier
Tyrrell
Championship Pace27%
37 pts off the lead.
14
Points
0
Wins
P12
Mario Andretti
Team Lotus
Championship Pace27%
37 pts off the lead.
14
Points
0
Wins
P13
Jean-Pierre Jabouille
Renault
Championship Pace18%
42 pts off the lead.
9
Points
1
Wins
P14
Niki Lauda
Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Championship Pace8%
47 pts off the lead.
4
Points
0
Wins
P15
Elio de Angelis
Shadow
Championship Pace6%
48 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P16
Nelson Piquet
Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Championship Pace6%
48 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P17
Jacky Ickx
Ligier
Championship Pace6%
48 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P18
Jochen Mass
Arrows
Championship Pace6%
48 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P19
Hans-Joachim Stuck
ATS
Championship Pace4%
49 pts off the lead.
2
Points
0
Wins
P20
Riccardo Patrese
Arrows
Championship Pace4%
49 pts off the lead.
2
Points
0
Wins
P21
Emerson Fittipaldi
Fittipaldi
Championship Pace2%
50 pts off the lead.
1
Points
0
Wins
P22
Hector Rebaque
Team Lotus
Championship Pace0%
51 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P23
Patrick Tambay
McLaren
Championship Pace0%
51 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P24
Ricardo Zunino
Brabham-Ford
Championship Pace0%
51 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P25
Geoff Lees
Tyrrell
Championship Pace0%
51 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P26
Derek Daly
Ensign
Championship Pace0%
51 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P27
James Hunt
Wolf
Championship Pace0%
51 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P28
Jan Lammers
Shadow
Championship Pace0%
51 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P29
Keke Rosberg
Wolf
Championship Pace0%
51 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P30
Vittorio Brambilla
Alfa Romeo
Championship Pace0%
51 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
About the 1979 championships · How F1 points work

Jody Scheckter leads the 1979 Drivers Championship with 51 points, holding a 4-point advantage over Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari). A gap of fewer than 25 points — one race win — means the title race remains mathematically open every single weekend.

In the 1979 Constructors Championship, Ferrari leads with 113 points — a 38-point margin over Williams. The Constructors title is decided by the combined points haul of a team's two drivers from every race, making car reliability, pit stop execution, and strategic pairing as important as raw pace.

The current FIA points system awards points to the top ten finishers in every Grand Prix: 25–18–15–12–10–8–6–4–2–1. An additional point goes to the driver who sets the fastest lap of the race, provided they finish inside the top ten. Sprint events — held on Saturday at select rounds — offer a separate points structure: 8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 for the top eight finishers, counting toward both championships independently of the main race result.

A driver must hold an FIA Super Licence and score at least one championship point to register on the standings. DNFs score zero, but a classified finish — completing at least 90% of the race distance — earns the driver’s finishing position even without a points reward.