1979 French Grand Prix

The complete 1979 French Grand Prix with German commentary.

There was a long 5-week break between the Monaco Grand Prix and the French Grand Prix, and teams used this time
for testing and development. The long break was due to the fact that the Swedish Grand Prix was cancelled due to
lack of funds after popular Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson died in a tragic accident at Monza. Also, just after the
Monaco race, James Hunt announced he was quitting F1 (he was replaced by Keke Rosberg). Patrick Depailler
suffered a tragic injury, breaking both his legs in a hang-gliding accident, and was replaced by Jacky Ickx.

Renault’s turbo program would benefit from the long break after Monaco, and when they arrived for the French GP,
their drivers, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Rene Arnoux, qualified 1-2 respectively. Not far behind were the Ferrari
drivers of Gilles Villeneuve and Jody Scheckter, while the Brabham Team, consisting of Nelson Piquet and Niki Lauda,
also qualified well.

At the start, Gilles Villeneuve took the lead from Jean-Pierre Jabouille, while Rene Arnoux had a terrible start and
dropped to ninth. The Renault turbos were exceptionally strong, and Arnoux soon climbed back up to third place by lap
15. Meanwhile, Villeneuve began to struggle with handling issues, and on lap 47, gave up the lead to Jean-Pierre
Jabouille. On lap 78, in one of the most epic F1 battles of all time, Arnoux passed Villeneuve, and on the next lap,
Arnoux’s engine began to fail. The two battled ferociously on the last lap, and on the last corner, Villeneuve made the
pass to take 2nd place, crossing the line just two-tenths ahead of Arnoux.

The partisan French crowd went crazy as popular French driver Jean-Pierre Jabouille takes the victory, and Canadian
hero Gilles Villeneuve edged out French driver Rene Arnoux at the line. On top of that, this was the first F1 victory
for French automaker Renault.

This race has German commentary, and even if you do not speak German,
the race is exciting to watch, especially the closing laps!