So assured was Team Lotus of the Type 79's dominance that it used to print 'win' stickers for the car ahead of races so they could be applied in front of the rival Ferrari team. The car was able to lap two seconds faster than the previous year's Type 78 and represented the ultimate incarnation of the ground effect era grand prix racers.
APR 04th 2016
Video: 'Black Beauty' The Lotus 79 That Dominated F1
One-two victories were unusual back then, but not for the 79. Its spring-loaded side skirts and small rear wing made it very quick indeed both on the straights and around corners, and its rivals didn't have much of an answer for it. Clive Chapman talks us through the car in the video above.
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