Jody Scheckter won from pole position for Ferrari in a race of attrition that marked James Hunt's final Formula One start.
Key Facts
- Race winner
- Jody Scheckter (Ferrari)
- Laps completed
- 76 laps
- Season round
- 7th round of 1979 F1 season
- Fastest lap
- Patrick Depailler (Ligier-Ford)
- James Hunt's final race
- Retired after 4 laps, transmission failure
- Grand Prix edition
- 37th Monaco Grand Prix
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The 1979 Formula One season's seventh round was scheduled at the Circuit de Monaco on 27 May 1979. Teams including Ferrari, Williams, Lotus, and Ligier fielded competitive entries, while former world champion James Hunt entered in a Wolf-Ford, qualifying tenth on the grid.
Jody Scheckter led from pole position across 76 laps to claim victory for Ferrari, with Clay Regazzoni second in a Williams-Ford and Carlos Reutemann third in a Lotus-Ford. The race saw significant attrition, including brake trouble for Jochen Mass and an engine failure for Depailler on the final lap, though Depailler still classified fifth.
Scheckter's victory strengthened his championship campaign, which he would ultimately win in 1979. The race is historically notable as the final Formula One appearance of 1976 World Champion James Hunt, who retired early with a transmission problem and subsequently withdrew from the sport.