1979 South African Grand Prix

1979 South African Grand Prix
Race 3 of 15 in the 1979 Formula One season
Race details
Date	3 March 1979
Official name	XXV Simba Grand Prix of South Africa
Location	Kyalami Transvaal Province, South Africa
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.104 km (2.550 mi)
Distance	78 laps, 320.112 km (198.908 mi)
Weather	Wet
Pole position
Driver	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault
Time	1:11.80
Fastest lap
Driver	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari
Time	1:14.412 on lap 23
Podium
First	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari
Second	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari
Third	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford
show Lap leaders

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.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Grid
1	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	1:11,80	1
2	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	1:12.04	2
3	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1:12.07	3
4	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	1:12.12	4
5	Patrick Depailler	Ligier-Ford	1:12.15	5
6	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford	1:12.26	6
7	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell-Ford	1:12,33	7
8	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	1:12,36	8
9	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford	1:12,55	9
10	René Arnoux	Renault	1:12,69	10
11	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus-Ford	1:12,75	11
12	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	1:13,07	12
13	James Hunt	Wolf-Ford	1:14,21	13
14	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	1:14,44	14
15	Elio de Angelis	Shadow-Ford	1:14,44	15
16	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	1:14,54	16
17	Patrick Tambay	McLaren-Ford	1:14,58	17
18	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	1:14,61	18
19	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	1:14,64	19
20	Jochen Mass	Arrows-Ford	1:15,00	20
21	Jan Lammers	Shadow-Ford	1:15,35	21
22	Clay Regazzoni	Williams-Ford	1:15,68	22
23	Héctor Rebaque	Lotus-Ford	1:16,15	23
24	Hans-Joachim Stuck	ATS-Ford	1:16.31	24
DNQ	Derek Daly	Ensign-Ford	1:16.64	—
DNQ	Arturo Merzario	Merzario-Ford	1:18.14	—

Race[]

Classification[]

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

Championship standings after the race[]

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jacques Laffite 18 2 Carlos Reutemann 12 3 Gilles Villeneuve 11 4 Patrick Depailler 9 5 Jody Scheckter 7 Source: [2]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ligier-Ford 27 2 Ferrari 18 3 Lotus-Ford 17 4 Tyrrell-Ford 7 5 McLaren-Ford 4 Source: [2]

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

References[]