During the early 1970s the Belgian grand prix organisers accepted that the current Formula 1 cars were becoming too fast for the famous Spa circuit in its current form and driver safety was now a matter of growing concern. The race was initially transferred to Nivelles before moving to Zolder in 1975. Although this road-race circuit lacked the unique challenge that Spa offered, it often produced an exciting race such as the 1979 grand prix.
1979 Belgian GP start Ligier Depailler
It was the sixth race in the world championship with two drivers tied for the lead; Gilles Villeneuve in a Ferrari and Patrick Depailler in a Ligier with the second Ligier of Jacques Laffite just two points behind. Practice was held over two days with the first day virtually washed out by constant rain. The following day saw the track drying out and the Ligier of Jacques Lafitte was fastest while Depailler circulated six second a lap faster than the previous day and, as the photograph above shows, practice resulted in an all-Ligier front row. At the start, Depailler got away first while Lafitte slipped back to fourth. The Williams of Alan Jones hounded the leader with Nelson Piquet’s Brabham in close attendance. Further back, Jody Scheckter was making a determined attempt to get to the front in order to establish himself as the number one driver at Ferrari, ahead of Villeneuve although ex-Ferrari driver Clay Regazzoni, now driving for Williams, had similar ambitions; he forced his way past Villeneuve and was soon behind Scheckter and eager to pass. When the Ferrari blocked his overtaking attempt, Regazzoni braked hard causing Villeneuve’s Ferrari to collide with the back of his Williams and flying high over up over the rear of the car. The Ferrari returned to the pits for repairs and the spectators were then treated to the sight of both Ferraris being driven to their limits as Scheckter went after the three leading cars while Villeneuve was, as always, driving his Ferrari much faster than it wanted to go. At the front, Lafitte recovered to move into second place behind his team-mate but both Ligiers were suffering from serious tyre degredation causing Depailler to understeer off the track while, by half way, Scheckter caught and passed Lafitte. But charging back from last place, Villeneuve was now closing in on the leaders at an unbelievable rate, hounding Lafitte on lap 70 before his Ferrari suddenly stopped; it had been driven so fast that it had used all its fuel. Scheckter secured the victory he wanted while Lafitte nursed the Ligier home in second place after a memorable and exciting grand prix.
