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#323 1979 German Grand Prix

2021-12-07 00:00

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#1979, Fulvio Conti, Translated by Nicola Carriero,

#323 1979 German Grand Prix

If one did not go to the Eifel mountains on the way down to the Heidelberg/Mannheim plains, and do a lap of the Nürburgring it would be easy to forget

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Clay Regazzoni, the winner of the British Grand Prix, seems convinced to try his luck too in Hockenheim, in the German Grand Prix. On Wednesday, 25th July, 1979, the Swiss driver will already be on site. First, he will be present at a dinner between colleagues, then on Friday he will start the practice. But he still thinks of Silverstone. The driver from Ticino, almost in his forties, is living is second youth in this season. After leaving Ferrari, he has raced for two seasons with not so competitive cars and the time of the fall seemed to be come. This year, instead, being in a team that is one of the most efficient thanks to the Arab "petrol dollars", Clay rose the current with experience and skill until he reached the extraordinary success in Silverstone. The victory of the British Grand Prix placed back Regazzoni to the top of popularity, so much that the Williams driver was obliged to an actual tour de force in order to show up at the celebrations in his honour. Did you believe that you could still win in Formula 1 before Silverstone? 

 

"In order to go back winning, I only needed to use a competitive machine. Actually, I have never felt inferior to someone like Lauda, Andretti or Scheckter, because I've been racing with them for many years and I know that I can beat them. In physical terms, when we had the chance to challenge each other in non-racing competitions, I have always overtaken them. In Venice, for example in the recent Celebrity Tennis Tournament, I have been playing for hours, while Scheckter only after twenty minutes struggled to run".

 

Did you think that you were so popular? 

 

"It was a discovery that made me very happy. Not even after the Monza win I received so many compliments. The years in Ferrari clearly left a huge sign in the Italian fans but, even outside Italy, especially from people from other teams, I received huge congratulations".

 

What was your best recognition for this victory? 

 

"The joy of seeing people moved by my victory. I race for passion, and I'm happy when I see people having fun while watching a race. The thing that moved me the most, anyway, was the telegram from Enzo Ferrari. Only after Monza's victory, the Commendatore invited me to his country house in order to congratulate himself personally with me. For the other wins obtained with his cars, there weren't particular events. So, the emotion that his telegram caused me is understandable".

 

Some papers wrote that after the victory you ironically dedicated the victory to Ferrari. Is it true? 

 

"No, absolutely not. If I need to dedicate this victory to someone, I feel that it's right to do this to Frank Williams, who has been waiting this for ten years. In the last few laps, I drove with the maximum focus, not much for me, who I'm certainly not to be discovered, but in order not to deprive Frank of such an important joy".

 

Who will win the World Championship? 

 

"The fight should be a question inside Ferrari. The particular points system used this year doesn't allow teams like mine or Renault, which already have winning cars in the last few races, to fight for the title, because we didn't collect enough points in the first phase of the championship. Ligier, which dominated in the first few races, now is in crisis and so I think that the most likely cars to win the world championship are those from Maranello".

 

What has changed in the world of racing compared to when you started? 

 

"The cars, as is well known, leave little space to the driver's skill. Where the things changed radically, anyway, is in the way of being drivers, in the relationship between us. Once, when someone won, we all went complimenting him and celebrating together. In Silverstone, instead, I didn't even see my teammate, Alan Jones. When he retired, he didn't miss a beat and left the track. Men have changed. Friendship, the human relationships, disappeared".

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What is your secret to still being, right before turning forty, a Grand Prix driver? 

 

"I think that it depends from the spirit with which the problems of life are faced. Victory, but most defeat, never excited me or broke me down until a certain limit. I have been racing for years with uncompetitive cars, but I didn't abandon the races after few laps for this. The fact that the wheels were spinning was enough for me to try to finish the race. The secret is only mental. We need to know how to accept the good things in life and live in peace. Unfortunately, many today chase success and beat themselves up when they fail. For many people, today, being a Formula 1 driver is only a profitable job, done with no passion".

 

One who certainly does this job exclusively for passion is of course Vittorio Brambilla, who almost one year after the horrible incident in Monza, where Ronnie Peterson passed away, and where Brambilla was forced to be hospitalized after a serious shock and a head trauma, goes back racing. The Italian driver will join the German Grand Prix, tenth stage of the Formula 1 World Championship, behind the wheel of his Alfa Romeo, the car that he has been developing, testing and driving for a long time with long and exhausting training sessions on the Balocco track, near Novara. 

 

"I have racing in my blood. I couldn't quit, I would have died of heartbreak. I prefer to stay on track. I don't remember much from that day in Monza. It was all abrupt. I only know that I was lucky, that I didn't hurt much. My stay in clinic was more precautionary than necessary. I did all the tests, I'm OK. I'm ready to get back the life that I've always loved, the one that I know and that I really care of. I'm sure that I can still have my say, especially when the new Alfa will soon be here. In Hockenheim, anyway, I'm convinced that I can already have a good performance with the old model. It's track that I always liked".

 

Vittorio Brambilla, 42 years old in November, from Monza, does not even think about quitting. His wife tried multiple times to force him to retire. She also phoned Alfa Romeo's executives so that they would not allow him to drive anymore. But there was nothing to do. 

 

"I joined Formula 1 too late, only five years ago. I was already old but I still feel like a lion. And the unintentional confirmation that I can still be among the best was given to me by my friend Clay Regazzoni fifteen days ago in Silverstone. Give me a competitive car and I can still win this. Without taking too many risks, because cars count more than drivers".

 

A self-conscious Brambilla, then, who does not fear risks, the terrible shocks that the 500 HP single-seaters can cause to the drivers. In terms of humanity, enthusiasm and passion, his return can be considered the main topic of the German race. But it is clear that Vittorio could have also listened to the advice from his loved ones, who would have preferred to see him less happy but safe from surprises. He will join the fight, instead, in the always more uncertain challenge between Williams, Renault and Ferrari. Small digression: the long controversy about the safety of the Monza circuit has come to an end. After the recent changes made on the track, the Italian circuit in the last few days was visited by the FISA inspector, Robert Langford, who found it perfectly suitable for Formula 1. FISA asked for the enlargement of the pit lane and vertical signage on the main straight in order to avoid that the drivers come off the central line of the track, causing, while rejoining, dangerous manoeuvres like the one that provoked a lot of discussion. Langford could state that the work has been done and then renewed the suitability license of the circuit for three more years. Now, everyone is waiting for the return of Vittorio Brambilla on track. Anyway, a shocking plot twist on the eve of the start of the practice on the German Grand Prix planned on Sunday, 297h July, 1979, upsets the plans of the driver from Monza. In fact, the much-awaited return of Vittorio Brambilla on Alfa Romeo will not happen on the German track. On Thursday, 26th July, 1979, the president of the Milan-based company, Dr. Massacesi, decides to withdraw from the participation to the race. The reasons that led to this unexpected turnaround are to be searched in the impossibility of presenting a competitive car in the race. Therefore, they preferred to postpone the return to racing of the driver from Monza to the Italian Grand Prix on 9th September, when two new cars will be ready for Brambilla and Giacomelli, as it has already been decided for some time.

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This decision catches the men of the team by surprise, who were already in Hockenheim, especially Vittorio Brambilla, who had to transfer to Germany in order to take part on Friday to the qualification practice. The 40-year-old driver, who in the last few days and again on Wednesday evening released many important statements about his return to racing, is now left disbanded again and has to wait for over a month to resume his sports activity. It cannot be said at this point that the reasons of Alfa Romeo's withdrawal, which already raced with the old car in Zolder and Dijon with the young Bruno Giacomelli, are only technical, so the impossibility of having a technically valid car, or that in this way they avoided a practically uncertain and risky return of the driver to racing, who after the terrible incident in Monza of last year has been away for about ten and a half months. On Thursday evening in Hockenheim, not officially confirmed rumours go around, according to which the constructors' association and a commission of drivers requested the intervention of a medical crew that had to establish with neurological exams that Brambilla is perfectly OK and is able to rejoin Formula 1 races. Maybe they wanted to avoid that the champion, veteran of many races, encounters the risk of being considered not in the right condition to drive. It must not be forgotten that this circuit is one of the fastest and the race will be held in a suffocating hot day.

 

A situation that will challenge the body of the drivers. A prudent move from Alfa Romeo, waiting for the development of the new model, completely with ground effect, which should hit the track in Balocco in two weeks. The only surprising thing is that this decision has been taken at the last moment, when the participation was already announced. Bruno Giacomelli, who is present in Hockenheim in order to join the race in the pro-car series scheduled on Saturday, does not release statements. The driver from Brescia only lets understands that he was not aware of what was happening and that these events are not his concern. In any case, it has to be noticed that many people in the Formula 1 circus think that Brambilla's missed return to racing can be good especially for the Italian driver. People ask if the severe trauma suffered by Vittorio when he was hit by a tyre to the head has been completely overcome. Another reason for controversy, which could explain Alfa's decision, can be searched in the tense situation between the Italian company and Brabham. Bernie Ecclestone, manager of the British team, which uses Italian engines, may be among the promoters of the initiative for making the Italian driver undergo the medical checks mentioned before. These exams, anyway, were not requested when Brambilla, one week ago, came to test the Alfa on this track and with satisfying results. The surprising withdrawal of Brambilla's Alfa and all the interpretations that are being given now, however, do not overshadow the importance of Sunday's race. All teams are preparing their cars for a race that is once again full of unknowns. After Williams's victory in Silverstone, many cars have been adapted and look more and more like Regazzoni and Jones's cars. Especially McLaren seems to have created a competitive model, which can bring new surprises. John Watson swears to be extremely competitive. 

 

"This time I hope to do better compared to the last two seasons, in which I never managed to shine, since I could already come into top three in England if I didn't have some trouble. Now, the car made available by Teddy Mayer is really top-notch and I believe that I could already enter the first starting positions after the first practice sessions".

 

As of Ferrari, there are not so many big new updates. The T4 had small changes and special attention has been paid to refuelling, which will be done under the supervision of a specialist technician. Besides Vittorio Brambilla, also Bruno Giacomelli will not join the German Grand Prix with his Candy-Tyrrell. The driver from Brescia, who is the candidate for the replacement of the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Jarier, hospitalized for hepatitis, was in talks with the British constructor to reach an agreement for the participation to the next Grand Prix, but at the last moment, according to Candy-Tyrrell, a veto from Alfa Romeo's executives prevented Giacomelli, who was already in London on Thursday evening, from joining some races with Tyrrell. Before the official practice of the German Grand Prix, the Candy Tyrrell team will decide if they will join the race with one or two cars. If one did not go to the Eifel mountains on the way down to the Heidelberg/Mannheim plains, and do a lap of the Nürburgring it would be easy to forget that the German Grand Prix used to be a great event. An event where racing drivers can prove themselves and make legends that will join those create since the start of the German Grand Prix, that will live forever in the annals of Grand Prix racing. They can also die on the Nürburgring, just like Jim Clark dies on the Hockenheimring.

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The German round in the Formula 1 World Championship series seems to settle in the dusty concrete stadium of the Hockenheimring and nobody seems to be particularly worry either way. You either like Germany or you don’t, and if you do you accept the vastness of the stadium and the paddock area as being convenient for working on racing cars and sending them off into the woods to see if they work. The area beyond the stadium seems a sort of no-man’s land, hidden visually and orally from those inside the amphitheater, and you get no excite anticipation of hearing the cars approach, and when they are in the stadium the corners do not provide much of interest. While they are gone from view, which is quite a long time by present day standards, with a lap time of 1'50"0 or more, there is nothing to encourage the imagination, so you simply wait with a vacant stare on your face until they return. The Mosley/Ecclestone arrangement with the AVD decides that 95.000 paying spectators that you can see and count, are better for their pockets than a mythical 250.000 that you may see, but certainly can’t count among the hills around the Nürburgring. So we all go to Hockenheimring to see the German Grand Prix and fortunately it’s nice and warm and everyone is friendly and pleasant so it’s better than no German Grand Prix at all. Following their victory in the British GP at Silverstone the Frank Williams team didn't sit down and wonder what had happened, like some teams have done when they win a race. They arrive at the Hockenheimring ready to go and ready to challenge anyone. There is a brand new car for Alan Jones (FW07/004), the usual one for Regazzoni (002) and Jones’ previous race car as the spare (003). The hard-worked original car (001) is leaving at home and given a well-earned rest. All three cars are looking their usual neat and trim selves, with no alterations to the design, or bodges to cover up original defects or design faults. It’s a great credit to Patrick Head, the designer, that the FW07 design is about right from the word go, just as his FW06 design is last year. In contrast the Team Lotus scene is very sad, with no sign of the Lotus 80, from which we have all expect so much nor the Mark 2 Lotus 80. Andretti and Reutemann each have a Lotus 79, albeit modify in many small ways to improve the rear suspension, and they have another Lotus 79 as spare.
 
This situation must surely be temporary, for Colin Chapman never gives in, and he has produced too many successful designs in the past to assume he cannot do it again. While Lotus are floundering, McLaren seem to be regaining their feet; the new M29 went well at Silverstone in the hands of John Watson, and another one is now ready for Tambay, with Watson’s old M28/3C as spare. The Ferrari team rings the changes once more on their set of T4 models, the drivers having the cars they had used in the French GP (Scheckter 040) and (Villeneuve 041) with Scheckter’s Silverstone car (039) as the spare, no major changes being made, merely some puzzle looks as to where their domination has gone. Equally puzzling are the Ligier team who are so dominant at the beginning of the year and are now floundering in a muddle trying to find out what has gone wrong, when in reality nothing has gone wrong. The other 1979 cars, like Ferrari, Renault and Williams, are better than the Ligier when they appear part way through the season. The French team seems to be worrying unduly and looking for tiny details, like modifying steering arms and different front suspension geometry, when in fact their cars aren’t going at all badly. If there is any trouble it’s probably psychological, for Laffite no longer has the needling impetus of Depailler behind or alongside him. Emerson Fittipaldi has his 1979 car out again, considerably redesigne from the monocoque outwards, the side pods and under-car airflow being much more on the Lotus/Ligier principles and shape. New front brake calipers by the Brazilian Varga firm are being used, with Lockheed rear brakes and the total redesign of the rear suspension layout to provide passage for the under-car air also incorporate new rear hubs with large diameter ball-races and the ultra-large hub nuts, rather like Ferrari, though the front ones remaine small; this layout requiring two sizes of pneumatic wheel-nut spanners. Not long ago the entry seems to be overwhelme with French drivers, but now they seem to be falling by the wayside through no fault of motor racing. First Depailler put himself out of action with a hand-gliding accident and now Jean-Pierre Jarier is on the sick list with a serious liver complaint. This means that Ken Tyrrell needs another driver for his 009 team, and he gives the chance to Englishman Geoffrey Lees. 
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Apparently Tyrrell has contemplate giving Lees a try at the end of last season, after watching him perform in an Ensign, but a shortage of cars prevent this happening, but now he is being thrown in at the deep end to support Didier Pironi in the blue Tyrrells. The darker blue cars of the Shadow team are their usual four for their two young rent-a-drivers and they each have an uprated car. That of de Angelis (DN9/3B-2) having been modified for Silverstone, and a similar layout being now add to Lammer’s car (DN9/2B). Mainly this involves an entirely new layout at the rear to bring it in line with Lotus 79 thinking, tucking the suspension units and exhaust system out of the way, to get the air out from under the car. The blue-black Wolf cars for Rosberg were the latest one, WR9, with the outboard rear brakes, and WR8. In the Brabham camp it’s a case of no change, Lauda and Piquet having their regular cars and a spare one to share, and a seemingly pious hope that the V12 Alfa Romeo engines will prove reliable. With Alfa Romeo withdrawing their own entry, to concentrate on preparation of new cars for the forthcoming races in Austria and Italy, Carlo Chiti and his engineers are paying more attention to the Brabham team. Renault are still quietly confident after their French GP victory, knowing full well why they only manage second place in the British GP. They arrive with their two cars for Jabouille (RS11) and Arnoux (RS12) and the spare (RS10) is following later. The remaining teams of ATS, Arrows, Ensign, Merzario and Rebaque are all in their normal condition, an equal and unchanging scene amidst the chorus. The stadium is very dry and dusty and the air was very warm, so that the concrete atmosphere became very warm. Any misdemeanors by drivers within the stadium shows up as an enormous dust cloud, and brightly coloured cars arrive at the pits looking gray if they are off the road, so that drivers can’t make any excuses. During the hour of testing on Friday morning there are quite a few excursions off into the dust, one of the first being Jabouille with the Renault. Andretti is having the angle of the steering wheel on his Lotus 79 reset and everyone is looking toward the Renault pit, for Jabouille has recorde an unofficial 1'50"0 before spinning off. Last year’s fastest practice lap is 1'51"9 by Andretti, this initial flurry by Renault is important, even if it does end up in the dust. Spinning off in the wiggly bit of the circuit within the stadium isn’t important in itself, it is the after-effects that are important.
 
The dust clouds will easily clog up the throttle slides, and sideways travel over kerbs can ruin the side-skirts. Villeneuve comes in with grass adhering to his front suspension, which is bent, and Scheckter’s skirts are bent. Rosberg spins WR9 off the road, and de Angelis is in the pits watching his mechanics fit a new clutch to his Shadow. Piquet is stops by a broken manifold pipe on his Brabham-Alfa Romeo, which seems to be a regular happening and Jones and Laffite are trying their spare cars, the Williams driver because of gearbox trouble on FW07/004 and the Ligier driver to compare the handling of his two cars. Although the morning session is only for one hour an incredible amount seems to happen and the mechanics all have more than enough work to do in the lunch-break. It’s getting very warm in the afternoon, when official timed practice takes place between 12:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Laffite is back in the Ligier JS11/04, but Jones is still in the spare Williams; Rosberg is still in the spare Wolf, but Villeneuve and Jabouille are in their correct cars. Almost before the rest has got warms up it’s announce that Jabouille has put in a lap at 1'48"48, which sends everyone spinning, for most of the top runners are just beginning to set their sights on a lap of 1'50"0. It becomes a case of who is going to be second fastest, and at this point it’s Alan Jones in the spare Williams at 1'50"86. The gearbox troubles on the new Williams are putting right so Jones comes in to transfer to it, only to find no oil pressure registering on the gauge when the engine starts. Assuming that the new car is all ready to go, the mechanics have start rectifying some trouble on the skirts on the spare car, so suddenly Jones finds himself without a car. While one group of Williams mechanics slave away to finish off the spare car, another group are vainly searching for the cause of the lack of oil pressure. Meanwhile Jones has to stand by and watch the other team's approach his best lap time and then surpass it. While he stands there his position as second fastest to the Renault dwindles to fourth fastest, then fifth and sixth. Pironi, Lauda, Arnoux, and Laffite all improve on the Australian’s time, but none are within sight of Jabouille’s time, and to beat 1'50"0 is going to be heroic stuff, even though it will be 1 ½ seconds slower than the Renault! Lauda’s progress is halt by more Alfa Romeo exhaust-pipe trouble, and his team-mate is in real trouble when his Alfa Romeo engine blows up in a big way. As the spare Brabham is adjust for Lauda’s leg-length there is a bit of panic behind the pits to reset everything to fit Piquet, but time runs out before it can be done. 
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As Regazzoni is about to join those happy drivers who have got themselves ahead of Alan Jones, the rug Williams team leader is strapping himself back into the spare car. In no time at all he’s into the low 1'50"0 laps and then does a 1'49"94, which not only retrieve his second fastest overall, but put him into a very elite class with Jabouille, but still 1½ seconds down on the Renault and at a lap speed approaching 140 m.p.h. that is a long way behind. Mechanical trouble is affecting all manner of people, Rebaque stopping after only seven laps when his gearbox fails, and Merzario never does get out to practice. The Renault team are so placid about their superiority that it’s difficult to tell whether it’s a lucky fluke or it’s genuine, and many teams feel that it’s totally unreal, and that the Williams team is the one to judge the situation by. The great moment of the turbo engines continues in Formula 1, on a very fast circuit, and Jean-Pierre Jabouille, with the Renault that dominated in Dijon and was protagonist in Silverstone, booked another victory by leading the first day of practice of the German Grand Prix, which tomorrow will be the tenth stage of the World Championship. The French driver obtained the new lap record with the time of 1'48"48, 3.42 seconds faster than the previous record held by Mario Andretti. Behind the yellow and hissing Renault came Jones's Williams, confirming what they showed in England, but 1.46 seconds slower. But if Jabouille's and Jones's performances could be predicted and unsurprising, the first day provided a new indication for the fight for the world championship title. While Ferrari is still in a negative phase (tenth fastest time for Scheckter, twelfth for Villeneuve, about 2.5 behind the fastest), Jacques Laffite is instead back under the headlights, with his Ligier that surprised everyone at the beginning of the season. The "voiture bleue" was the third fastest, and maybe on Saturday it could still improve, attempting to reach the front row next to the Renault on the starting grid. Laffite's comeback, who now may challenge Scheckter and Villeneuve in the tough fight for the world championship title (for the formula of the championship, Jabouille and Jones cannot aspire to fight for first place), is not a miracle. The French driver says:

 

"My car is competitive again. There are no secrets. Our performance decreased because the team was tired, too tense and nervous. We made a few mistakes in the setup. Now the issues have been solved, the driving has become precise and the outcome is perfect. I'm convinced that I can go faster than 1'49"0 because in the first day of practice I had to run four corners on third gear while holding the gear shift still, because it tended to jump".

 

Laffite has no doubts about a possible race result: 

 

"In the first turn of qualifying I didn't exploit the car to the fullest because I had issues on the gearbox. The third gear wasn't stuck and I had to keep the gear shift still in four corners. On Saturday I believe that I will improve a lot. With Jabouille and Renault, however, there won't be anything to do in the race, unless my rival stops, I'll race against Scheckter and Villeneuve, hoping to be ahead of them. The battle for the world championship title is open again, even if I believe that we have to wait until the end of the season, in the two American races, to decide the winner".

 

Laffite is happy again. Almost all the team works for him, nobody pays attention to Jacky Ickx. While, as already said, Renault did not have issues with racing at an average speed of 225.565 kph thanks to the overpower of its turbo-compressed engine, showing a clear superiority at the corners exit, in acceleration and on the long straights of the Hockenheim bowl, the negative phase of Ferrari still goes on. The T4, winner of four races, does not manage to express itself at the level of the best cars in these very fast circuits. Given that it is not a tyre issue (Renault uses the same Michelin), it may be suspected that this car, not completely the type of wing car, cannot compete in terms of speed and grip with the completely ground effect cars. Lacks in aero and maybe in the chassis make it slower on the lap. The drivers, in particular, complain about the lack of grip and thrust to the ground. This does not mean that Ferrari is not able to defend itself, at least partially. Engineer Mauro Forghieri says:

 

"On Saturday we will try to improve somewhat. In any case, the race will be different from practice. We shouldn't forget that everyone thought that we were done for in Silverstone, saying that we couldn't fight for the first places. Actually, it was different in race. I hope that the same thing happens in Hockenheim. If it's going to be hot like in the last few days, a lot of engines will break, many will retire and we will try to take advantage of this situation. This is the last hope left for us, because, about our 74, we can't understand what doesn't work in the very fast circuits. It's not the tyres, which do very well on the Renault, it shouldn't be aero. Probably it's about the chassis or suspensions. But it's not a trouble that can be solved much easily. We're working hard, day and night, in order to have some improvements, but the results will come only as time will pass. Let's not forget that Renault, in order to set up its turbo engine, has been working for four years, two of which on race tracks, with many disappointments. Miracles can't be expected from us. At the moment, Jody and Gilles will do miracles in order to stay close to Laffite in the standings".

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In this first day of practice, Villeneuve could not express himself at his best, since, after going off the track after three laps, he caused the failure of both the front suspensions, and in qualifying the Canadian used a car that was repaired in a rush. Scheckter, instead, while trying to improve, lightly bumped into Reutemann, but there was no serious damage, only a dented front wing. It was a positive day for the Italian drivers as well. Given Alfa's absence with Brambilla, the Italian colours are defended by Patrese and De Angelis, which are placed in the last positions instead, both with cars that have big setup problems. Merzario did not even run in the official practice, since he had broken a suspension in the free practice. He will try to qualify in the last session of practice. Alfa Romeo's president, Ettore Massacesi, about the decision not to join the Hockenheim Grand Prix, states that it has been already taken ten days before in agreement with engineer Chili: 

 

"Vittorio Brambilla was allowed to join the free practice in Hockenheim so that he could acclimatise with a track that is different from Balocco, where he has been fully active for a few months".

 

Massacesi specifies that the absence from Hockenheim is exclusively due to the need to concentrate all energies on the Autodelta in the completion of the new car. Once reached a sufficient level of competitiveness, according to Massacesi, Alfa Romeo will join in full autonomy the last races of the 1979 season and the 1980 World Championship. In the first day of practice, the unknown 28-year-old British driver Geoff Lees made his surprise debut, who took the place of Jarier, sick with viral hepatitis, on the Candy Tyrrell. Lees did not even have his Formula 1 license, he raced in Formula 2 and Can-Am, but he had it done in a hurry. This shows that when you like it, the rules can be interpreted anyway you want it. While the fight for the world championship title gets heated again and very fiercely, the driver transfer market opens as well. Transfer news and rumours go around in the circus. One of the most requested drivers seems to be Riccardo Patrese, into whom Brabham, Lotus and maybe another couple of teams are interested. Patrese is considered a very talented driver and it is fair that he is so requested. The driver from Padova will evaluate all the offers, also considering the salaries. As of Lauda, by now it seems certain that he will join McLaren. The operation is promoted by Marlboro, which is ready to hire the always popular former World Champion with a staggering amount of money, close to one million dollars. About the others, it is said that Reutemann will go away from Lotus and there are some young drivers who are talked about. Shouldn't Williams confirm Regazzoni - the talks are ongoing - they will bet on the young Italo-American Eddie Cheever. While the drivers are involved in the talks, there is also much technical research. Many teams are trying to dispose of turbo engines because they think that the current aspirated engines will no longer be competitive in the next season. It appears that Cosworth are setting up a turbo-compressed six-cylinder engine that will be handed to the most valuable teams. As of Ferrari, as already said, the turbo engine is being developed and tested in Maranello.

 
The Saturday morning test-hour saw Ickx in the spare Ligier, as its front suspension is altered to suit the latest large-diameter Goodyear tyres, whereas his own car is alter. The spare car feels so much better that it’s agreed that he should use it for the race, unless some unforeseen disaster befell Laffite’s car. The new Wolf WR9 is being tiresome, with minor bothrs, so Rosberg is set to race WR8. The mysterious loss of oil pressure on the Williams that Jones was to use had cured itself, being something obscure like a sticking pressure-relief valve, so all is well. Piquet’s Brabham is functioning once again, with a new engine, and it had aluminum reflectors rivete onto the leading lower edge of the side pods, all in the search for improve aerodynamics. The ATS is giving Stuck a lot of trouble as it dived off one way on acceleration and the other way under braking, suggesting something wrong in the limited-slip differential. A broken drive shaft encourages the team to take the gearbox off and replace the whole assembly. Patrick Gaillard comes into the pits in a gray Ensign that has start out red, the thick layer of dust everywhere being self-explanatory. Speed along the straight parts of the circuit seems to be all important and various experiments are being done to try and gain a few more r.p.m. in top gear, such as removing nosefins (Williams and Fittipaldi) and adjusting the rear aerofoil to minimal down-force. Nothing very conclusive is discover. The Ferrari team are very unhappy as they seem to lack a bit of everything, even sheer speed, which have them all baffle. The sleek little Williams FW07 and the powerful and equally slick Renault twin-turbo cars are untrouble by a lack of anything, though Arnoux’s car disturb the peaceful scene by breaking it’s valve gear so that instead of preparing the car for the afternoon timed session a leisurely engine change is begins. As the spare Renault is adjusted to the land Jabouille’s measurements there isn’t possibility of the stocky little Arnoux driving it, so he has to sit-out the Saturday afternoon session.
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It is getting very hot and the pit area with its concrete base and surrounds by the concrete stands is behaving a bit like an oven. Alan Jones is feeling very happy with the new Williams, it feels right from the moment he got into it, and Regazzoni is equally happy with his car. The Ensign isn’t ready when the time practice session begins, still having the dust out of it and the skirts repairs. Rosberg is in the Wolf WR8. Ickx is happy with the spare Ligier and everything starts off well, with the really fast runners aiming to break into the sub- 1'50"0, and others just hoping to get somewhere near 1'50"0. There is little point Jabouille going out as he has done all the testing he wants to do in the morning, and until someone got within half-a-second of his Friday time there is nothing to worry about. With Arnoux’s car in pieces the team just stood around in the shade of the pits while their timekeepers kept the watches on the opposition. It’s a very cool piece of gamesmanship - there is even a suggestion that the English press may like to take a cup of tea with Jabouille and interview him while official practice is in progress. When this session is just about half-way through there is a scurry in the Lotus pit to prepare the spare car, as news have come through that Reutemann has crash violently at the far end of the circuit. The car is badly damage but the driver is OK. Seeing the wreckage across the track most of the drivers pull into the pits; it’s a convenient excuse for stopping banging their heads against a wall, for a few of them are within seconds of Jabouille’s Friday lap time. After 20 minutes of clearing up, practice restarts and almost immediately the spare Brabham is getting ready for Piquet, as his own car has die with an electrical failure. Alan Jones is on the front row with Jabouille in the time-line-up, and Laffite is getting close with a lap in 1'49"43. In a very leisurely fashion Jabouille prepares himself and then goes out to practice, the flat exhaust note of the turbo-charged V6 Renault engine giving no feeling of urgency, but stop-watches tell everything. As if to issue a warning the Renault put in some low 1'50"0 laps, and then a 1'49"75; not as quick as Jones has gone but well in the select group. Jones has the fastest time with 1'48"75, which put him on the front row of the grid, but still a quarter of a second off Jabouille’s best time of Friday. Piquet is out in the spare Brabham and beginning to get well wind up, while Lauda is sitting waiting for the end of the practice and the coolest possible conditions for one final fling. Scheckter has done all he knows and manages 1'50"0 and Villeneuve changes to the spare Ferrari when he has engine trouble, but for once can’t match his team-leader’s time.
 
In the Tyrrell camp the new boy Lees is doing alright, having records 1'54"12 on the first afternoon, and improve on that to 1'51"5 in the final session. Pironi is very close to 1'50"0, and for a brief time took Lees’ car as the spare Tyrrell isn’t ready. In the closing minutes of practice Piquet is under 1'50"0, which gives him fifth place overall, but he hasn’t finish and a rapid tyre change and a final effort give him 1'49"5 which places him in fourth place and on the second row of the grid, alongside Laffite. Lauda’s last-minute rush prevails him nothing and he has to be content with a place in the fourth row of the grid, behind Scheckter and Regazzoni. It all ends at quite a fast tempo, not so much to qualify for the grid, or get on to the front row, but more to save face for the Renault time of Friday is embarrassingly fast. With only one practice session to his credit Rene Arnoux is in the fifth row of the grid, which gives some indication of the potential of the turbo-charge Renault. While Bmw races, Touring Car races and Formula One teams are all hard at work in the paddock preparing cars for the big Sunday event. Fresh engines are install, gearboxes check, brakes service, tyres mount, wiring look at, aerodynamic aids scrutinize, suspension systems check, fuel tanks drain, fuel systems clean out, nothing can be overlook, even though the race is only going to last less than 1½ hours. Overnight, rain helps to lay the dust a bit, but makes it rather uncomfortable for those who are out and about, working or camping. A car that is ready to race on its own, Jean-Pierre Jabouille's Renault, and a great fight behind. This is the main theme of the German Grand Prix, tenth stage of the Formula 1 World Championship, held in the circuit-stadium in front of a crowd that will be much larger than 130.000 people, according to the less optimistic predictions. The supremacy shown by the French single-seater is so much that the Parisian driver, who looks a lot like the American comedian Danny Kaye, when he was younger, did not even join the last qualifying session, and he just watched what the rivals were doing. He was sure that his lap in 1'48"48 obtained on Friday would not have been beat. Jabouille hit the track only ten minutes before the end of the timed practice, when the sturdy and tenacious Australian Alan Jones with his Williams managed to set the lap in 1'48"75, obtaining the second fastest time, which will allow him to start on front row next to Jabouille. In order to reach this limit, though, Jones had to risk a lot, with special qualifying tyres that last only one lap and then become useless.
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The Australian, anyway, was not the only one to improve his performance. Even keeping respectable and considerable gaps from Jabouille, almost all the candidates to be the protagonists of the race improved. Laffite confirmed the third fastest time, with 1'49"43, which was set on Friday when he had to run with a transmission issue. Nelson Piquet made a huge step forward too, once again faster than Lauda, and remarkable progress was made by Ferrari, which reached a good fifth place with Scheckter and the ninth place with Villeneuve. In order to obtain these improvements, Maranello's cars underwent an incredible series of tests by technicians and drivers, moving wings, changing setups and dozens of sets of tyres. Engineer Mauro Forghieri says at the end of the practice:

 

"We obtained the best compromise for this kind of circuit, sacrificing a bit the cornering in order to have a higher speed on straights and in the fastest part of the track".

 

Jody Scheckter appears pretty happy with the work done, despite being much exhausted. 

 

"I came second four times in Hockenheim. I hope that I'll do a good race today as well. My biggest concern is the tyres. I hope that I can choose a type that has a constant behaviour for all 45 laps. If the choice is right, any result can come out, even if it will be very hard to catch Jabouille, Jones and Laffite".

 

Villeneuve, on the other hand, shows that he suffers in this kind of circuit, which is not congenial to him. For a driver like him, which always drives to the limit, the high speed can cause some dangers. Carlos Reutemann knows something about it, since in the third practice session he went off track right before the Ostkurve while driving at 260 kph. The Argentinian driver explains what happened, white a pale face, after doing a medical check in infirmary after the shocking crash in which he was involved:

 

"I heard a hit and then I no longer understood anything. I don't know what happened".

 

The car stopped against the barriers half destroyed, with one less wheel and a side reduced in crumbles. Luckily, the driver had no damage. There were no other incidents but issues did not miss. Andretti had mechanical problems. Villeneuve had to change the car because at a certain point the engine was not revving. Arnoux completed few laps due to the breaking of the support of the engine valves of his Renault. It has to be predicted that, if the heat will continue to affect the course of the race weekend, with an atmosphere temperature of 30° C, few drivers will finish the race unscathed. Those that manage to finish will have a chance to get points. Among these there are also Patrese and De Angelis, who slightly improved but always start among the last places. With a car like the one driven by the man from Padova, which looks like a missile but bends in the corners, not a lot can be asked. In any case, Patrese's skills are acknowledged. Not randomly, at the end of practice, Bernie Ecclestone calls the Italian driver for an interview about his eventual move to Brabham next year. The English manager, who did not lose his smile, since he, as organizer of the German Grand Prix, can reportedly gain about 2 billion lire, was forced to act fast, since it appears that Lauda will leave him. Still at the end of practice, indeed, the Austrian driver stands for an hour in McLaren's van, where it is practically certain that he signed a contract for 1980, with Marlboro as sponsor. By 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning all is warm and dry again, ready for the half-hour warm-up session, and all 24 starters are ready, the two unfortunate non-starters being Gaillard with the Ensign and Arturo Merzario with his own car. Reutemann is feeling far from well, the after-effects of his high speed crash affecting his reflexes and judgment, and though the spare Lotus 79 is race-prepare he is unsure about starting the race. The Wolf team has decide to race WR8, as the new car has suffering small bothers, and Ickx is please to race the spare Ligier. Apart from a little trouble with the gearbox on Lauda’s Brabham, all seem to be well and the interval before the start is due at two p.m. is fill in with Renault R5 racing and an impressive aerobatic display by the famous Red Arrows.

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Shortly after 1.30 p.m. the cars leave the pits one by one to drive round the circuit and assemble on the starting grid. By 1:45 p.m. they are all neatly line up in pairs, with Alan Jones on the front row alongside Jabouille, the Australian determined to get to the first corner first, but wondering how long it will be before the yellow and black Renault powers past his Williams. Behind them are Laffite (Ligier) and Piquet (Brabham), the Frenchman also having his sights on being first into the first corner, but the young Brazilian is ready to drive to team orders, which dictate that he takes things easy for the opening stages, even if lots of competitors go by him, and to speed up when things have settle down. In the third row Scheckter is at least satisfy at being ahead of his young team-mate, and alongside is the swarthy Regazzoni seeing no reason why he shouldn’t win another race, then come Lauda and Pironi, Villeneuve and Arnoux, grinning at each other and recalling the Dijon race, and wondering what the nagging old women will say if they have another dice together. Andretti and Watson follow, and then the rest, Reutemann prepares to start the race and see how things are sent. The new boy Geoff Lees is in quite a respectable position, in row eight alongside Tambay in his new M29 McLaren, having survive being thrown in at the deep end. At 1:55 p.m. the field is flagged away to do a parade lap, with Jabouille setting the pace, and they all arrive safely back in the Stadium to line up before the red light. Everyone is in position when the red light goes out and the green comes on, and it’s one of the better starts as all 24 cars power off the line in an impressive blast of sound and cloud of smoke from spinning wheels. As expected, Jones is into the right hand bend first, and gives it all he has got up towards the first chicane. The Renault doesn’t power past, as expected, but sat in third place behind Lafitte until they reach the return leg when it goes by the Ligier. As they stream back into the Stadium the order is Jones (Williams), Jabouille (Renault), Lafitte (Ligier), Scheckter (Ferrari), Regazzoni (Williams), Piquet (Brabham), Lauda (Brabham), Pironi (Tyrrell), Andretti (Lotus), Villeneuve (Ferrari), Arnoux (Renault), Tambay (McLaren), Ickx (Ligier), Watson (McLaren), Reutemann (Lotus), Mass (Arrows), Lees (Tyrrell), Lammers (Shadow), Patrese (Arrows), Rosberg (Wolf), de Angelis (Shadow), Rebaque (Lotus) and Fittipaldi. Twenty-three cars, there is one missing! It’s Hans Stuck and the ATS, for as he breaks for the chicane on the return leg of the circuit the suspension collapses. Next time round Piquet leaves Lauda going ahead, as arrange, and Arnoux and Tambay pass Villeneuve, as isn’t arrange.

 

The French-Canadian is finding his Ferrari engine a bit flat, as if the timing or mixture isn’t quite right. As Reutemann comes into the second chicane Jochen Mass crowded him, and the Lotus shot off the track and demolish the right-front corner against the guard rail. Two laps gone and two cars retire. The first visible gap to open up is between Regazzoni and Lauda; once again the Austrian is unable to keep up with the leading bunch and lead the rest. Villeneuve is back ahead of Tambay, and at the back of the field Fittipaldi has got ahead of Rebaque. By lap four a clear pattern is evolving, with Jones and Jabouille pulling away, the Renault driver seemingly biding his time behind the Williams. Then Laffite, Scheckter and Regazzoni are in close convoy, with the Swiss eyeing the two cars in front of him with a serious look. The rest are trailing along, with Fittipaldi lasting only one more lap before electrical trouble intervenes. On lap six Jabouille begins to move close to the leading Williams, and at the same time the number two Williams is leaning on the Ferrari of Scheckter. They are both much closer to their quarries on the next lap, and as Alan Jones appears in the stadium to complete lap eight the Renault is uncomfortably close is as near as it got, for as he breaks for the left-hand hairpin inside the stadium Jabouille over-did his braking, locks the wheels, slid onto the loose stuff and spins off in a cloud of dust, just as a great cheer goes up from the crowd for Regazzoni is ahead of Scheckter as they take the right-hander into the stadium. It’s a momentous lap eight. With eight laps gone and four retirements it begins to look as though we will run out of cars before the 45 laps are up, and when Arnoux disappears two laps later prospects look grim. The right rear tyre has burst at full speed on the Renault, and it has taken a lot of the bodywork paneling away, but Arnoux is able to control the car and skate to a standstill. He has just got past Lauda, as has Villeneuve so now the Brabham-Alfa driver is trying his best to hang-on to the number two Ferrari. Scheckter has make no attempt to stay with Regazzoni when he goes by, and the Swiss is now sniffing at the heels of Laffite’s Ligier. Meanwhile Alan Jones is out on his own, lapping fast and consistently without taking risks or straining the machinery. On lap 13 Regazzoni is by the Ligier and into second place to the accompaniment of another enormous roar from the crowd, for he seems as popular with the German spectators as he is with the English ones. Passing Laffite hasn’t been easy, and the Frenchman isn’t about to give in. He clings on to the tail of the Williams in a spirit fashion, obviously driving his heart out and refusing to give in.

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For six laps he stays there, but then has to give the Williams best, realizing that he is driving over the limit to keep with Regazzoni and the can’t go on forever, so he eases slightly into a secure third place, but it is a fine example of a tenacious driver at work. For the second Grand Prix in succession the Williams team are running 1-2 and in complete command of the situation, the neat green-and-white cars looking really nice and no doubt giving the Saudi Arabians who back the team with finance, an enormous amount of satisfaction. On lap 17 Andretti disappears quietly, the rear brakes of his Lotus 79 having transfers heat to the inboard universal of the drive-shafts, and one of them broke-up when the grease escapes due to the heat. At 20 laps, with Laffite now settling in third place, Scheckter an uninspire fourth, Villeneuve a long way back in fifth place, with Lauda still behind him in sixth place, the race as such seems to be over. Piquet has fail to make any improvement to his position as the race settle down, and in fact, has pass by Ickx, who is really enjoying his Ligier and trying his brilliant best. The Belgian is very happy and is closing on Lauda and Villeneuve, but just when he has catch them up his right-rear tyre explodes at full speed on one of the straights. The effect is as if a bomb has gone off under that corner of the car, for the whole hub assembly is rip off the suspension members, taking the drive-shaft with it, and lots of the bodywork. Ickx is able to control the car and slither to a stop without hitting anything, but he is very lucky. This is on lap 25 and a lap before Rebaque has retire, so that a third of the field has gone with the race only just over half way. As Jones starts his 28th lap his works Cosworth engine falters a little on acceleration, and next time round it’s still doing it. There is a burbling misfire of fuel-injection trouble or fuel-delivery to the injection system. Although it hardly affects his lap times, it’s very disconcerting and is causing him anguish, remembering how he had lost the British Grand Prix through engine failure. Frank Williams and his pit staff are equally worry, and though Regazzoni is in second place and sounding as strong as ever, it’s no consolation. As this misfire in the Williams has start Lauda’s Alfa Romeo engine gives up completely and he coasts into the Stadium and parks the Brabham up the escape road. This gives Piquet a clear road in front, so he promptly pil on steam and catches up with Villeneuve, who is far from happy with an engine that is still flat and an unbalance feel to the car due to the rear aerofoil beginning to collapse.

 

Just as Piquet passes the Ferrari, on lap 33, an exhaust manifold-pipe breaks on the Alfa Romeo engine and makes it sound rough, but it’s still going alright. In quick succession after Lauda’s retirement Rosberg stops with no oil pressure in the Wolf, Tambay coasts into the pits with engine trouble and Patrese suffers a tyre blow-out on the right-rear, it not being so spectacular as the other two blow-outs, for the walls remaine intact, though the whole tread comes off. Before starting lap 38 Villeneuve s in the pits as the rear aerofoil has collapsed on the left side and a complete new unit is fitt, this stop dropping him back to ninth place behind Lees, who is running neatly and consistently. By now there are only six cars on the same lap, the Williams of Jones and Regazzoni, the Ligier of Laffite, the Ferrari of Scheckter, the Brabham of Piquet, and a long way back the McLaren of Watson, then comes Mass leading Lees and Villeneuve, with Lammers, Pironi (after a pit stop) and de Angelis being the only others still running. Even before the misfire has starts on the leading Williams the team members on the pit wall can see that something is happening to the right rear tyre, for it’s taking on a darker color than the left one, which usually means a loss of pressure. Running with only 12-15 p.s.i., the loss of even 1lb. can be critical, and their fears are right for a leak to develop and the pressure is dropping and causing the tyre to overheat. It isn’t long before Alan Jones senses an imbalance between right and left corners and on the straights he is looking into his rear-view mirror and seeing the changing shape and color. There are still more than 10 laps to go by the time he faces up to the realization that he has got a slow puncture, and he doesn’t have enough lead over Regazzoni and Laffite to allow for a pit stop. Changing his driving tactics to ease the load on the right-rear tyre, his lap times only drop by a second and a half. He can hold the same speed on the straights and round right-hand bends, but has to pussy-foot round left-handers, and he isn’t help any by the constant misfiring on pick-up. He will appear into the Stadium at his normal speed, but then almost coast round the left-hand hairpin and be slow out of the right-hander into the pit straight, as the misfire plague the pick-up. He can hold the same speed on the straights and round right-hand bends, but has to pussy-foot round left-handers, and he isn’t help any by the constant misfiring on pick-up. He will appear into the Stadium at his normal speed, but then almost coast round the left-hand hairpin and be slow out of the right-hander into the pit straight, as the misfire plague the pick-up.

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He is holding the lead alright, but it isn't an easy task, and while there is little chance of Lafitte catching him, there is every possibility of Regazzoni catching up - and going by. While everyone waits tensely during the final laps, no-one is more tense than Jones for if the tyre got too hot it will blow-out and snatch victory from him. So great is the tension of following the leading Williams that the disappearance of Piquet goes almost unnotice on lap 43. A certain fifth place goes out the window with a big bang in the Alfa Romeo engine and most of the valve-gear seems to be in the air intakes. The two Williams are in sight of each other as they start the last lap, but there is a great sigh of relief as number 27 re-appear to complete lap 45 and cross the line ahead of number 28. It’s a magnificent Williams one-two, thoroughly deserve by both drivers and the satisfaction for Frank Williams and designer Patrick Head is enormous, as it’s for all the mechanics who have worked so hard on the cars. For Alan Jones it’s a long-overdue victory for he is so near and yet so far during his two years with the Williams team. As the two green-and-white cars do their slowing down lap nose to tail there are some tears of emotion in many eyes and enormous happiness for the Williams team. With the veto of the Arab sponsors, Jones and Regazzoni could not spray the fans with champagne. Only Laffite left some drop of the precious wine on the spectators, just drinking a cup. Jones is obviously very happy, also because in the last few laps he feared that he could not make it.

 

"The engine was not revving very well, and I also had issues with a tyre that was deflating. Luckily everything went well, maybe it's the best day of my life. I had already won a race, but this is different because I know that with the new Williams this success will not be an isolated case".

 

Clay Regazzoni is happy too, who behaved as an authentic gentleman driver. He could have maybe attacked his teammate in order to win in the last few laps, but he respected the team orders that forced him to stay in second place. Now Clay is fourth in the World Championship standings, and he could even aim to the title. But Frank Williams, the English constructor, does not even want to hear about such an event.

 

"This win for me was like winning the title. We live in the moment; we will think to the world championship next year. Meanwhile, we will try to improve our cars and adapt to the situation. If we find more money, it is not excluded that progress can be made with a turbo-compressed engine".

 

Jody Scheckter's fourth place makes Ferrari happy. Nobody makes jumps of joy but the worst was expected, and the result is received with much serenity. Engineer Mauro Forghieri says:

 

"We limited the damage in the best way, Scheckter did a great race minding to stay close to Laffite, but he was never able to attack him. The choice of the tyres turned out to be right. Bummer for Villeneuve, who, except Dijon, has always been unlucky for four races. He could be higher in the driver's standings". 

 

The South African driver only says that he saved the car after half the race.

 

"I fear some disaster, so I didn’t do crazy things. In any case, it was impossible to reach Laffite. I thought it would be worse, and all in all I'm happy. The fight is always open, we'll see in the next few races".

 

Riccardo Patrese is once again the centre of a controversy. In this occasion, Reutemann accuses him to have caused the incident that made him go off track.

 

"We were almost side by side, with Patrese on the outside slightly ahead, and we showed up before the chicane. I left him some space in order to avoid a collision, but Riccardo tightened the corner and hit me with violence on the front left wheel. The hit was very hard and I ended up at 200 kph against a barrier. I was saved by a miracle. I will present an official complaint against the Italian driver, who showed to be incorrect towards me".

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Patrese defends himself with much serenity.

 

"I have no fault for what happened, because I didn't even notice that I had hit Reutemann. I was ahead of him and I did a very regular racing line. Look at the rims of my cat and you'll see that they didn't even touch".

 

Actually, Reutemann risked to even miss the start of the race. After Saturday's crash, when he went off track at 260 kph and hit the barriers, Carlos underwent a medical check by the Formula 1 physician. The Brazilian doctor Rafael Robles recommended him that he did not start because he found him in a slight state of confusion and had a suspected labyrinthitis. Probably Reutemann was affected by this situation and did not behave like he managed to do in other occasions. A new obnoxious controversy against Patrese, right in the time in which the driver from Padova was about to be completely acquitted of the charges for the Monza incident. The third place makes Jacques Laffite happy only partially, since he hoped for something more.

 

"Honestly, I hoped to come at least second. But I had to give up to Williams, which was faster in corners. On straights I could keep up the pace, but I lost ground in all the slower points. However, I gained a point on Scheckter and the fight seems to be open to me. I am convinced in any case that the fight for the world championship title will end only in the last few races in America".

 

In the unluckiest day for Renault, candidate for the victory but out with both cars after only ten laps, Williams made their triumphal parade in the German Grand Prix. A splendid success for the second time of his career for the Australian Alan Jones, who won the Austrian Grand Prix in 1977 on Shadow, and second place for Regazzoni, confirming the magic moment started fifteen days before in Silverstone. A one-two of the English-Arab team that adds to the two from Ferrari and one from Ligier. The win certainly made the young constructor Frank Williams emotional and made the two good drivers happy. These two, anyway, were the only one having their heart stopped until the end, because the spectators clearly were not entertained by the monotony of the race. Apart from Regazzoni's overtaking of Laffite on the first lap and a whole series of minor accidents and mechanical troubles that gradually eliminated many of the likely protagonists, the 100,000 or so spectators who flocked to the Hockenheim circuit to replenish Bernie Ecclestone's already considerable finances must have just been bored. If it was not for the nice sunny day in the open air and for the thrills caused by the exceptional skills of the British acrobatic air force patrol of Red Arrows, many will have regretted not to stay home, considering how much the trip could cost and the fuel that is running out in Germany too. The nice duels like Villeneuve vs Arnoux in Dijon were forgotten, in favour of the performances of the cars that determined the final result. A result that, substantially, does not disadvantage Ferrari, which stays firmly ahead of the standings with Scheckter, even if Villeneuve was overtaken by Jacques Laffite. Corresponding exactly to the statements made the day before in the practice, Ligier punctually came back under the headlights with a third place that makes the French driver fight again for the world championship title. But Scheckter, in his turn, answered by fighting with his teeth and, with a car that showed to be less competitive, conquered a fourth place that allows him to concede only one point to the rival, keeping seven points of advantage ahead of the world championship standings.

 

If Ferrari, as it appears clearly from the statements of the men from Maranello, limited the damage, Renault experienced a complete failure, which can legitimately aspire to success and stood by and watched instead. A very quick start by Jones, on a track that was almost on fire due to the great heat, probably cost the exit from scenes to Jabouille, who was on pole position. The Parisian was then forced to chase Williams, waiting for a couple of laps. On lap 8, though, the blonde Jabouille thought that he could overtake Jones in the breaking zone of the Sachs-Kurve with a clearly faster car, but the realized that he went too far. Then he hit the brakes very hard, believing that he could solve the situation in a better moment. Instead, the rear wheels of his Renault blocked themselves and the car spun. As the main rival was eliminated so easily, Alan Jones, 32-year-old Australian living in London, who also owns a house in Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife Beverly and his 10-month-ols son Christian, made his triumphal race, shaking a little only fifteen laps before the end, when, maybe due to a hit, a tyre started to lose pressure and he had to slow down a bit. By the way, also the engine of his Williams was not revving perfectly. The only one who could challenge Alan, however, could be his teammate Regazzoni, who had the precise team order not to overtake Jones, first drive of the team, and he obeyed. Clay Regazzoni conquered the second place after a not very good start. Overtaken by Scheckter at the start and in fifth place at the end of the starting lap, the Swiss driver put himself behind the leader Jones on lap 17, overtaking very well Laffite, who made a double mistake at the first chicane of the longest straight. The race settled down after lap 17 in the first four places, which did not change anymore until the end, with Jones, Regazzoni, Laffite and Scheckter in this order. Laffite understood that it was not worth the effort to attack the Swiss driver because he risked too much, and the South African driver did all the possible to avoid to lose ground and stay stuck to his rival in the championship title fight.

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The most interesting highlights came from the back, then. The first driver to come out of the track was Stuck, who did not even complete a lap, betrayed by the eagerness that made him jump onto the clay with his car, out of use after less of one kilometre. On lap 2 it was Reutemann's turn to retire, and for the second time in two days the South American driver had a bad time. As already said, Carlos vehemently accused Riccardo Patrese of this accident, saying the Italian driver hit him at the entry of a chicane, when he himself left him space. Patrese defended himself by saying that he has not noticed anything. The fact is that Reutemann ended at 200 kph against a barrier. Right after the Argentinian, Fittipaldi retired, betrayed by his engine, and then Jabouille. Few minutes later it was the turn of the bother Renault driver, René Arnoux, who went off track after the blow up of a tyre. A real shame for the French team. Even Andretti went off track due to a broken axle, followed by Ickx, when he was in seventh place, out for a puncture. Then came a massacre of engines, indirectly caused by Gilles Villeneuve. The Canadian, started from twelfth place, put on a show by reaching fifth place on lap 9. Unfortunately for him, while he was still attacking, his rear wing opened up, which started to swell up like a balloon and to bend. So, Lauda managed to overtake Villeneuve on lap 27, but the effort must have been costly for the Alfa engine, because the oil pressure immediately fell and Niki had to stop.
 
Same goes to Piquet, who was unlucky to be forced to retire two laps before the finish, when he was fifth, starting from twelfth. Villeneuve, meanwhile, did not realize the trouble that hit him, and the pit had to tell him to stop in order to change the wing. The pit stop costed the Canadian the point for sixth place, and he ended eighth, which was useless for him. Crash with Reutemann aside, Patrese was doing a great race, since he climbed from fourth last to eighth place, when he had to give up because of a puncture. De Angelis has never been into the race, with a car that was too slow and that forced him to make miracles that are not always possible. Sometimes the sports executives are unlucky. It happened to FISA members, who, in order to avoid the monotony of a continuous dominance, as happened last season with Lotus, invented a new set of rules for the Formula 1 World Championship. Instead of summing up all the points obtained during the season, they thought to divide the championship into two periods, each with eight races. And, for each of these two periods, it was decided that only the four best results are valid. The intention flopped though, because the situation has changed. No drivers managed to win more than twice and, on the contrary, the ten races held so far had many different winners, in alternate periods. So, the new set of rules started to receive criticism. It has to be said, honestly, that Ferrari never liked this system, even though now they took advantage from it. Not even Frank Williams likes it, who harshly attacks the formula of the championship. 

 

"We need to change the rules, because if Alan Jones, for example, won the last five Grands Prix left, he could not win the title. He would have collected six wins but only four of them would count. The mistake is in the fact that the season is divided into two phases. In the first one, my driver only collected 4 points and now is out of the fight for the title".

 

The future World Champion is to be found only among those who in the first phase collected the most points, that is Scheckter, Laffite and Villeneuve. The battle will be decided between these three drivers and it is unfair especially for those who can dominate the second part of the season. Substantially, the two Ferrari drivers and the one from Ligier can claim the title with some place in the points. The injustice is in the fact that a win obtained in the first part of the season is more valuable than one obtained in the second one. The criticism is fair after all, even though Frank Williams could have expressed his opinion before and not only now that he is directly involved. In any case, the rules may be wrong, but it cannot be said that it does not award the most regular driver in the arc of the entire season, rather than be in favour of a driver that makes his success only in the end. It is true, however, that the fight seems to be limited to few drivers, who could and knew how to be prepared right since the Argentine Grand Prix in January. Theoretically, all the drivers who obtained points in the first period could, with four wins in the five last races, win the title overtaking the current leader Jody Scheckter, in case he scored zero points. Actually, the fight is only between the drivers who managed to get substantial results in the first phase, that is Scheckter, Laffite, Villeneuve, Depailler, Reutemann and Andretti. Depailler has to be excluded, since he is automatically out due to the hang-glider accident, except for a miracle recovery, and also the two Lotus drivers are out since they do not have a competitive car, since Colin Chapman had to put away his revolutionary but disappointing Lotus 80. Only the Maranello and Ligier drivers are left. Jacques Laffite, after finishing third, said that he was pretty disappointed, since he hoped that he could do better, but he also affirmed that in the next race in Zeltweg he would be able to win. If it were so, Scheckter, who has seven points of advantage, would see his margin narrowed down and he could even be overtaken. 

 

"The World Championship will be assigned in the two races in America".

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Says Laffite, while Scheckter exclaims:

 

"Don't talk to me about world title".

 

And Villeneuve replies:

 

"I was very unlucky in the last few races. I don't know if I can fight for the title".

 

The reality is that the candidates to be the successors of Mario Andretti have to turn into accountants. Be that as it may that Williams and Renault can fight each other in the last few races, the places in the points will count above all. Marco Piccinini, Ferrari sports director:

 

"Three out of five races left should be theoretically in favour of our cars. We will have issues in Zeltweg and Monza but in Zandvoort, Montréal and Watkins Glen we have a very positive tradition. As always, we will fight until the end in order to bring one of our drivers to the world championship title".

 

The new Williams 07, presented in April in Long Beach, reached its full maturity in the German Grand Prix. Getting a first and a second place in the same race is not random. Among the twenty-three brands that so far win at least a race in the Formula 1 championships, many were real one-hit wonders, appeared and disappeared in short time, for various reasons. This might not seem to be the case of Williams, which, after getting really close to success in Monaco, subsequently won in Silverstone with Regazzoni and scored a one-two, and in Hockenheim with Alan Jones from his Swiss teammate. A dominance shown by the single-seaters made by Frank Williams that seems to be destined to last in the next few races, even if they have to consider the potential progress of Renault, Ferrari, Ligier or other teams. Now, as it happened very frequently in recent times after Lotus, Ferrari and Ligier's crushing victories, many will ask what Williams did better or more than the rivals. There were discussions on aero secrets, lightness, a special heat exchanger that allowed to eliminate the heavy oil radiators. But this is not so easy to explain. The same technicians of the other teams do not know the exact reasons of the dominance of Jones and Regazzoni's cars. One can go by intuition or provide interpretations of an almost philosophical nature, on the design of the single-seater in question. Engineer Mauro Forghieri, Ferrari's technical manager, is one of the most expert people that can answer the questions that everyone is making. But the answer is almost obvious. 

 

"If we need to give a definition to Williams, as we did in the past for Ligier, we must say that Williams represents at the moment the best compromise between the various factors that make a car successful. Aero, setup, ground effect, brakes, lightness, chassis, suspensions, were elaborated and studied so that the team can obtain the best possible results on every type of circuit. Substantially, Williams is not the fastest car overall in Formula 1. On some straights, our T4, the Renault or the Brabham can also be quicker. It's in the complete lap of a circuit that Williams shows his dominance. With the indications of the drivers, the technicians of the British team therefore manage to improve their average performances, that is a high grip. The full exploit of the capacity of the tyres and of the engine, which always has to be at maximum revs, the perfect grip to the asphalt, on straights, slow and fast corners. This is the only valid explanation, while Renault has another one, which adopts a more powerful turbo engine, allowing to adopt optimal solutions".

 

This should be a particularly happy moment for Clay Regazzoni, but reality is different. While the 39-year-old Swiss driver is tasting again the joy of success and of a very high popularity, which grows from race to race, someone is plotting behind his back. Frank Williams, in fact, has not renewed his contract for next year yet. To those asking why he already confirmed Jones but not Regazzoni, the English constructor answers vaguely that he still has to think about it. The truth is that Williams, even if they have faith in Regazzoni, hope to build a world title team. And in a line-up that aims to such a high goal, it would be better to have only one driver to focus the efforts on. So, Frank Williams might have in mind to put next to Jones a young driver that really accepts to be a second drive, without obstructing the plans made for Alan Jones. It seems that the English constructor, by the way, is in talks with Eddie Cheever. If Regazzoni should not stay in Williams, he might have his career ended due to the impossibility to find another competitive team. 

 

"I'd rather quit racing than starting again an ordeal like in Shadow last year".

 

The only chance left for him is to be saved by the Arab sheiks. The Saudi princes who finance Williams have indeed a great sympathy for Regazzoni.


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