Autódromo José Carlos Pace · 4 February 1979
Jacques Laffite won the 1979 Brazilian Grand Prix for Ligier from 1st on the grid, 5.28s ahead of Patrick Depailler. Jochen Mass gained the most places, from 19th on the grid to 7th.
| Pos | Team | Points Breakdown | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ligier Laffite 9 + Depailler 6 | Laffite 9 + Depailler 6 | 15 | |
| 2 | Team Lotus Reutemann 4 + Andretti 0 | Reutemann 4 + Andretti 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | Tyrrell Pironi 3 + Jarier 0 | Pironi 3 + Jarier 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Ferrari Villeneuve 2 + Scheckter 1 | Villeneuve 2 + Scheckter 1 | 3 | |
| 5 | Arrows Mass 0 + Patrese 0 | Mass 0 + Patrese 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | McLaren Watson 0 + Tambay 0 | Watson 0 + Tambay 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Renault Jabouille 0 + Arnoux 0 | Jabouille 0 + Arnoux 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Fittipaldi Fittipaldi 0 | Fittipaldi 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Shadow de Angelis 0 + Lammers 0 | de Angelis 0 + Lammers 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Ensign Daly 0 | Daly 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Williams Regazzoni 0 + Jones 0 | Regazzoni 0 + Jones 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | ATS Stuck 0 | Stuck 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Wolf Hunt 0 | Hunt 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Brabham-Alfa Romeo Lauda 0 + Piquet 0 | Lauda 0 + Piquet 0 | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Race time / Gap | Laps | Stops | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacques Laffite Ligier | Ligier | 1:40:09.640 | 40 | — | 9 | |
| 2 | Patrick Depailler Ligier | Ligier | +5.280s | 40 | — | 6 | |
| 3 | Carlos Reutemann Team Lotus | Team Lotus | +44.140s | 40 | — | 4 | |
| 4 | Didier Pironi Tyrrell | Tyrrell | +1:25.880 | 40 | — | 3 | |
| 5 | Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari | Ferrari | +1 Lap | 39 | — | 2 | |
| 6 | Jody Scheckter Ferrari | Ferrari | +1 Lap | 39 | — | 1 | |
| 7 | Jochen Mass Arrows | Arrows | +1 Lap | 39 | — | — | |
| 8 | John Watson McLaren | McLaren | +1 Lap | 39 | — | — | |
| 9 | Riccardo Patrese Arrows | Arrows | +1 Lap | 39 | — | — | |
| 10 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault | Renault | +1 Lap | 39 | — | — | |
| 11 | Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | +1 Lap | 39 | — | — | |
| 12 | Elio de Angelis Shadow | Shadow | +1 Lap | 39 | — | — | |
| 13 | Derek Daly Ensign | Ensign | +1 Lap | 39 | — | — | |
| 14 | Jan Lammers Shadow | Shadow | +1 Lap | 39 | — | — | |
| 15 | Clay Regazzoni Williams | Williams | +2 Laps | 38 | — | — | |
| DNF | Alan Jones Williams | Williams | DNF Fuel system | 33 | — | — | |
| DNF | Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS | ATS | DNF Steering | 31 | — | — | |
| DNF | René Arnoux Renault | Renault | DNF Spun off | 28 | — | — | |
| DNF | James Hunt Wolf | Wolf | DNF Steering | 7 | — | — | |
| DNF | Patrick Tambay McLaren | McLaren | DNF Collision | 7 | — | — | |
| DNF | Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | DNF Gearbox | 5 | — | — | |
| DNF | Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | DNF Accident | 5 | — | — | |
| DNF | Mario Andretti Team Lotus | Team Lotus | DNF Fuel leak | 2 | — | — | |
| DNF | Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell | Tyrrell | DNF Electrical | 0 | — | — |