Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez · 21 January 1979
Jacques Laffite won the 1979 Argentine Grand Prix for Ligier from 1st on the grid, 14.94s ahead of Carlos Reutemann. Derek Daly gained the most places, from 24th on the grid to 11th.
| Pos | Team | Points Breakdown | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ligier Laffite 9 + Depailler 3 | Laffite 9 + Depailler 3 | 12 | |
| 2 | Team Lotus Reutemann 6 + Andretti 2 + Rebaque 0 | Reutemann 6 + Andretti 2 + Rebaque 0 | 8 | |
| 3 | McLaren Watson 4 + Tambay 0 | Watson 4 + Tambay 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Fittipaldi Fittipaldi 1 | Fittipaldi 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Shadow de Angelis 0 + Lammers 0 | de Angelis 0 + Lammers 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | Arrows Mass 0 + Patrese 0 | Mass 0 + Patrese 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Williams Jones 0 + Regazzoni 0 | Jones 0 + Regazzoni 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Ensign Daly 0 | Daly 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Ferrari Villeneuve 0 + Scheckter 0 | Villeneuve 0 + Scheckter 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Wolf Hunt 0 | Hunt 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Tyrrell Jarier 0 + Pironi 0 | Jarier 0 + Pironi 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Renault Jabouille 0 + Arnoux 0 | Jabouille 0 + Arnoux 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Brabham-Alfa Romeo Lauda 0 + Piquet 0 | Lauda 0 + Piquet 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Merzario Merzario 0 | Merzario 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | ATS Stuck 0 | Stuck 0 | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Race time / Gap | Laps | Stops | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacques Laffite Ligier | Ligier | 1:36:03.210 | 53 | — | 9 | |
| 2 | Carlos Reutemann Team Lotus | Team Lotus | +14.940s | 53 | — | 6 | |
| 3 | John Watson McLaren | McLaren | +1:28.810 | 53 | — | 4 | |
| 4 | Patrick Depailler Ligier | Ligier | +1:41.720 | 53 | — | 3 | |
| 5 | Mario Andretti Team Lotus | Team Lotus | +1 Lap | 52 | — | 2 | |
| 6 | Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | +1 Lap | 52 | — | 1 | |
| 7 | Elio de Angelis Shadow | Shadow | +1 Lap | 52 | — | — | |
| 8 | Jochen Mass Arrows | Arrows | +2 Laps | 51 | — | — | |
| 9 | Alan Jones Williams | Williams | +2 Laps | 51 | — | — | |
| 10 | Clay Regazzoni Williams | Williams | +2 Laps | 51 | — | — | |
| 11 | Derek Daly Ensign | Ensign | +2 Laps | 51 | — | — | |
| DNF | Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari | Ferrari | DNF Engine | 48 | — | — | |
| DNF | Hector Rebaque Team Lotus | Team Lotus | DNF Suspension | 46 | — | — | |
| DNF | Jan Lammers Shadow | Shadow | DNF Transmission | 42 | — | — | |
| DNF | James Hunt Wolf | Wolf | DNF Electrical | 41 | — | — | |
| DNF | Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell | Tyrrell | DNF Engine | 15 | — | — | |
| DNF | Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault | Renault | DNF Engine | 15 | — | — | |
| DNF | Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | DNF Fuel system | 8 | — | — | |
| DNF | René Arnoux Renault | Renault | DNF Engine | 6 | — | — | |
| DNF | Jody Scheckter Ferrari | Ferrari | DNF Collision | 0 | — | — | |
| DNF | Didier Pironi Tyrrell | Tyrrell | DNF Collision | 0 | — | — | |
| DNF | Patrick Tambay McLaren | McLaren | DNF Collision | 0 | — | — | |
| DNF | Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | DNF Collision | 0 | — | — | |
| DNF | Arturo Merzario Merzario | Merzario | DNF Collision | 0 | — | — | |
| DNS | Riccardo Patrese Arrows | Arrows | DNS Accident | 0 | — | — | |
| DNS | Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS | ATS | DNS Withdrew | 0 | — | — |