Race results
Race startJanuary 21, 1979 at 00:00
| POS. | NO. | Driver | Team | TIME | Laps | Grid | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier | 1:36:03.21 | 53 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 2 | Carlos Reutemann | Team Lotus | +14.940 | 53 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 7 | John Watson | McLaren | +1:28.810 | 53 | 6 | 4 |
| 4 | 25 | Patrick Depailler | Ligier | +1:41.720 | 53 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | 1 | Mario Andretti | Team Lotus | +1 Lap | 52 | 7 | 2 |
| 6 | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | +1 Lap | 52 | 11 | 1 |
| 7 | 18 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow | +1 Lap | 52 | 16 | 0 |
| 8 | 30 | Jochen Mass | Arrows | +2 Laps | 51 | 14 | 0 |
| 9 | 27 | Alan Jones | Williams | +2 Laps | 51 | 15 | 0 |
| 10 | 28 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams | +2 Laps | 51 | 17 | 0 |
| 11 | 22 | Derek Daly | Ensign | +2 Laps | 51 | 24 | 0 |
| - | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | DNF (Engine) | 48 | 10 | 0 |
| - | 31 | Hector Rebaque | Team Lotus | DNF (Suspension) | 46 | 19 | 0 |
| - | 17 | Jan Lammers | Shadow | DNF (Transmission) | 42 | 21 | 0 |
| - | 20 | James Hunt | Wolf | DNF (Electrical) | 41 | 18 | 0 |
| - | 4 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell | DNF (Engine) | 15 | 4 | 0 |
| - | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | DNF (Engine) | 15 | 12 | 0 |
| - | 5 | Niki Lauda | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | DNF (Fuel system) | 8 | 23 | 0 |
| - | 16 | René Arnoux | Renault | DNF (Engine) | 6 | 25 | 0 |
| - | 11 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | DNF (Collision) | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| - | 3 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell | DNF (Collision) | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| - | 8 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren | DNF (Collision) | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| - | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | DNF (Collision) | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| - | 24 | Arturo Merzario | Merzario | DNF (Collision) | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| - | 29 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows | DNS (Accident) | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| - | 9 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS | DNS (Withdrew) | 0 | 0 | 0 |