1979 South African Grand Prix
# 1979 South African Grand Prix

The 1979 South African Grand Prix (formally the XXV Simba Grand Prix of South Africa) was a Formula One motor race held on 3 March 1979 at Kyalami. The race, contested over 78 laps, was the third race of the 1979 Formula One season and was won by Gilles Villeneuve, driving a Ferrari. Teammate and local driver Jody Scheckter finished second, while Jean-Pierre Jarier finished third in a Tyrrell-Ford.

## Qualifying

### Qualifying classification

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time | Grid |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | 1:11,80 | 1 |
| 2 | 11 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | 1:12.04 | 2 |
| 3 | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 1:12.07 | 3 |
| 4 | 5 | Niki Lauda | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 1:12.12 | 4 |
| 5 | 25 | Patrick Depailler | Ligier-Ford | 1:12.15 | 5 |
| 6 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford | 1:12.26 | 6 |
| 7 | 3 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:12,33 | 7 |
| 8 | 1 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | 1:12,36 | 8 |
| 9 | 4 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:12,55 | 9 |
| 10 | 16 | René Arnoux | Renault | 1:12,69 | 10 |
| 11 | 2 | Carlos Reutemann | Lotus-Ford | 1:12,75 | 11 |
| 12 | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 1:13,07 | 12 |
| 13 | 20 | James Hunt | Wolf-Ford | 1:14,21 | 13 |
| 14 | 7 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford | 1:14,44 | 14 |
| 15 | 17 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow-Ford | 1:14,44 | 15 |
| 16 | 29 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford | 1:14,54 | 16 |
| 17 | 8 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford | 1:14,58 | 17 |
| 18 | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | 1:14,61 | 18 |
| 19 | 27 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | 1:14,64 | 19 |
| 20 | 30 | Jochen Mass | Arrows-Ford | 1:15,00 | 20 |
| 21 | 18 | Jan Lammers | Shadow-Ford | 1:15,35 | 21 |
| 22 | 28 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams-Ford | 1:15,68 | 22 |
| 23 | 31 | Héctor Rebaque | Lotus-Ford | 1:16,15 | 23 |
| 24 | 9 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS-Ford | 1:16.31 | 24 |
| DNQ | 22 | Derek Daly | Ensign-Ford | 1:16.64 | — |
| DNQ | 24 | Arturo Merzario | Merzario-Ford | 1:18.14 | — |

## Race

### Classification

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | M | 78 | 1:41:49.96 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | 11 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | M | 78 | + 3.42 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 4 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 78 | + 22.11 | 9 | 4 |
| 4 | 1 | Mario Andretti | Lotus-Ford | G | 78 | + 27.88 | 8 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 | Carlos Reutemann | Lotus-Ford | G | 78 | + 1:06.97 | 11 | 2 |
| 6 | 5 | Niki Lauda | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | G | 77 | + 1 Lap | 4 | 1 |
| 7 | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | G | 77 | + 1 Lap | 12 | |
| 8 | 20 | James Hunt | Wolf-Ford | G | 77 | + 1 Lap | 13 | |
| 9 | 28 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams-Ford | G | 76 | + 2 Laps | 22 | |
| 10 | 8 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren-Ford | G | 75 | + 3 Laps | 17 | |
| 11 | 29 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford | G | 75 | + 3 Laps | 16 | |
| 12 | 30 | Jochen Mass | Arrows-Ford | G | 74 | + 4 Laps | 20 | |
| 13 | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi-Ford | G | 74 | + 4 Laps | 18 | |
| Ret | 31 | Héctor Rebaque | Lotus-Ford | G | 71 | Engine | 23 | |
| Ret | 16 | René Arnoux | Renault | M | 67 | Tyre | 10 | |
| Ret | 27 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | G | 63 | Suspension | 19 | |
| Ret | 7 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford | G | 61 | Ignition | 14 | |
| Ret | 9 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS-Ford | G | 57 | Accident | 24 | |
| Ret | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | M | 47 | Engine | 1 | |
| Ret | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Ford | G | 45 | Accident | 6 | |
| Ret | 3 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell-Ford | G | 25 | Throttle | 7 | |
| Ret | 18 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow-Ford | G | 16 | Accident | 15 | |
| Ret | 25 | Patrick Depailler | Ligier-Ford | G | 4 | Accident | 5 | |
| Ret | 17 | Jan Lammers | Shadow-Ford | G | 2 | Accident | 21 | |
| DNQ | 22 | Derek Daly | Ensign-Ford | G | | | | |
| DNQ | 24 | Arturo Merzario | Merzario-Ford | G | | | | |
| Source: |||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Jacques Laffite | 18 |
| 2 | Carlos Reutemann | 12 |
| 3 | Gilles Villeneuve | 11 |
| 4 | Patrick Depailler | 9 |
| 5 | Jody Scheckter | 7 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Ligier-Ford | 27 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 18 |
| 3 | Lotus-Ford | 17 |
| 4 | Tyrrell-Ford | 7 |
| 5 | McLaren-Ford | 4 |
| Source: |||

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
