1979 rFactor Alternate Formula One season

The 1979 Formula One season was the 30th in the history of the history of the championship. The season was marked by significant changes in the rules brought about by new FIA President Jean-Luc Knighte, especially in the area of safety, as well as the introduction of a number of new circuits to the calender.

Mid-Season Changes
1 Wilson Fittipaldi replaced Emerson Fittipaldi for the Brazilian Grand Prix, which would be his last competitive outing. Emerson was back in the seat for the next race at South Africa.

small>2 Riccardo Patrese broke his left arm during the Brazilian Grand Prix after crashing heavily. Alfa Romeo test driver Andrea de Cesaris filled in from South African until Riccado's return.

small>3 James Hunt was banned for 3 races after causing an avoidable collision resulting in injury at the United States West Grand Prix. Wolf test driver Bruno Giacomelli replaced Hunt until his return.

small>4 Emilio de Villota replaced Gianfranco Brancatelli at RAM as a one-off for the Spanish Grand Prix

5 Elio de Angelis was sacked after 5 races after a string of DNQs in a chassis capable of qualifying. One-time race winner and Merzario test driver Vittorio Brambilla replaced de Angelis.

6 Geoff Lees was forced to miss the Monaco GP after a severe case of food poisoning. He was replaced by the team's test driver Thomas Nurmester.

7 Derek Daly replaced an under-performing Mario Andretti for the French Grand Prix. The FIA deemed that he should not race with the champions #1, so raced with the number #0 instead.

8 Stefan Bellof was given a trial period by Shadow after Rosberg failed to live up to expectations or his team mate.

9 Robert Kagan replaced Beppe Gabbiani for Britain to please sponsors. Gabbiani quit the team after it was announced Kagan would race in Germany

10 Marc Surer and John Watson were involved in a horrifying crash at the German Grand Prix. Surer suffered back, chest and leg injuries and will sit out the rest of the season, while Watson escaped with minor injuries. Surer was replaced with Padraig O'Connell

11 Beppe Gabbiani replaced Guidetti at Merzario from the German Grand Prix onwards.

12 After retiring from the German Grand Prix with brake failure, James Hunt decalred the current crop of cars 'deathtraps' and promptly retired from motor racing.

13 Vitorio Brambilla will step aside for de Angelis from the Austrian Grand Prix onwards.

14 John Watson suffered a sprained ankle in the German GP crash, and was forced to miss the next race. Keke Rosberg replaced him.

15 Hector Rebaque announced he would sit out the remaining 4 European rounds after poor results leading up to the German Grand Prix. Instead, Piercarlo Ghinzani would race the second Rebaque. Hector Rebaque later announced that Ghinzani would complete all of he remaining rounds.

16 Harlad Ertl replaced Hans-Joachim Stuck for the Austrian Grand Prix only

17 Similarly, Michael Bleekemolen replaced Hans-Joachim Stuck for the Dutch Grand Prix only. Good performances for ATS however saw him land the drive for the rest of the season

18 Mario Andretti was fired after the European Grand Prix. The American had put in a string of lacklustre performances, and had collided with Hiroshi Takagi for the 3rd time in 4 races. He was replaced by Derek Daly for the rest of the season.

19 Geoff Lees was sacked by Tyrrell after the US GP and replaced by team test driver Didier Pironi.

Driver's Championship
Bold indicates pole position Italics indicate fastest lap † indicates that the driver did not finish the race, but completed more than 90% of the race distance ‡ indicates that half points were awarded as less than 75% of the scheduled race distance was completed