This is the DVD review of the 1979 Grand Prix Season - Maranello Mastery - which saw Jody Scheckter crowned as the 1979 F1 Drivers Champion.
1979 saw Carlos Reutemann move to partner Mario Andretti at Lotus as Jody Scheckter took his seat at Ferrari. Wolf filled the gap left by Scheckter with James Hunt, and McLaren gave John Watson a drive in place of Hunt.
The type 79 ‘wing car’ had offered Lotus a great advantage in aerodynamic grip during the previous season. But for this year, many of the teams had incorporated the technology into their designs. Over the first two races Ligier appeared to have made up the most ground with Jacques Laffite taking the victories. In round 3, Ferrari laid down the team’s intentions, giving the new 312T4 model its successful debut.
As the season progressed Williams’ reliability improved and Alan Jones demonstrated the team’s pace, winning four out of the last six races. For Williams and Jones it was too little too late. The consistent performances from the Ferrari team had paid off, and despite only having three victories throughout the season, Scheckter took the title.
1979 also saw Formula One say its goodbyes to two of the decade’s greatest characters: James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Hunt quit racing after the Monaco Grand Prix claiming to be fed up with Formula One, and Lauda retired at the penultimate Grand Prix in Montreal.
Brunswick Films were one of the few producers filming Formula One in the days before global TV coverage, multi-camera angles and official season review DVDs and videos. The previously unseen footage from their famous archive has been utilised to create a review packed with on-the-limit driving (including an in-car lap of Brands Hatch), great close-ups of the major personalities and intriguing paddock-side discussions that give the sense of a story unfolding as the season progresses – the story of ‘car wars’ and the battle between set-up, streamlining and engine power. It's very much a film of its time.
