Ferrari’s new 312T4 could scarcely have enjoyed a better debut. Gilles Villeneuve won the 1979 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami ahead of home favourite Jody Scheckter, turning a rain-interrupted Saturday race into a Ferrari one-two after Jean-Pierre Jabouille had given Renault its first pole position.
Race Guide
Season: 1979 F1 World Championship
Race date: 3 March 1979
Race start time: Start time unconfirmed local time (UTC+02:00)
Circuit: Kyalami
Laps: 78 laps
Circuit length: 4.104 km
1978 winner: Ronnie Peterson
| Result | Driver / Time | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Pole position | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault |
| Pole time | 1:11.80 | |
| Fastest lap | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari |
| Fastest-lap time | 1:14.412 on lap 23 | |
| First | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari |
| Second | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari |
| Third | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell |
Weekend Schedule
| Date | Session | Local Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 March 1979 | Thursday morning timed practice | Start time unconfirmed |
| 1 March 1979 | Thursday afternoon timed practice | Start time unconfirmed |
| 2 March 1979 | Friday untimed practice | Start time unconfirmed |
| 2 March 1979 | Friday final qualifying | Start time unconfirmed |
| 3 March 1979 | Warm-up | Morning; start unconfirmed |
| 3 March 1979 | Race | Start time unconfirmed |
All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.
Championship background
Jacques Laffite arrived at round 3 leading the 1979 F1 World Championship on 18 points, with Carlos Reutemann on 10. Ligier – Ford headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 27 points.
Race entries
Ferrari introduced its new 312T4 for both Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve, while Ligier arrived seeking a third consecutive victory. The familiar driver line-ups remained in place. Practice moved to Thursday and Friday ahead of the Saturday race, replacing Kyalami’s previous arrangement of a free day before race day.
Thursday morning timed practice
Cool, overcast conditions suited Renault perfectly. Jean-Pierre Jabouille used the turbo engine’s strength at altitude to set a time nobody would beat, with Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve close behind in the new Ferraris. Niki Lauda’s fourth-fastest effort also suggested progress for Brabham’s Alfa Romeo V12, before sunshine raised the temperature and made further improvement harder.
Thursday afternoon timed practice
Renault chose to sit out the afternoon, confident that the warmer conditions would protect its earlier work. Gilles Villeneuve led the session, but could not approach Jabouille’s morning benchmark. The contrast sharpened the weekend’s technical lesson: the new ground-effect cars still needed engine performance to exploit Kyalami’s long, fast sections.
Friday untimed practice
René Arnoux suffered an engine failure, a reminder that Renault’s speed still came with reliability concerns. Elsewhere, teams experimented with reduced wing settings in search of straight-line speed. Emerson Fittipaldi’s progress with the new F6 was interrupted by another engine failure, sending him back towards the older car.
Friday final qualifying
Patrick Depailler was quickest in the final timed session, but Thursday’s cool-weather laps continued to determine the leading grid positions. Jean-Pierre Jabouille retained pole ahead of Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve and Niki Lauda. The turbo Renault had reached an important milestone.
Didier Pironi’s session ended in a huge accident when a rear wheel detached at high speed. He escaped with bruising, but Tyrrell had to prepare another car for the race. Emerson Fittipaldi went faster in his older machine than in the new design, leaving his team with further development questions.
Qualifying Classification
The best eligible timed-practice lap determined the grid. Jabouille’s pole was secured on Thursday morning; Friday morning was untimed practice.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | 1:11.80 |
| 2 | 11 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | 1:12.04 |
| 3 | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 1:12.07 |
| 4 | 5 | Niki Lauda | Brabham | 1:12.12 |
| 5 | 25 | Patrick Depailler | Ligier | 1:12.15 |
| 6 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier | 1:12.26 |
| 7 | 3 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell | 1:12.33 |
| 8 | 1 | Mario Andretti | Lotus | 1:12.36 |
| 9 | 4 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell | 1:12.55 |
| 10 | 16 | René Arnoux | Renault | 1:12.69 |
| 11 | 2 | Carlos Reutemann | Lotus | 1:12.75 |
| 12 | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham | 1:13.07 |
| 13 | 20 | James Hunt | Wolf | 1:14.21 |
| 14 | 7 | John Watson | McLaren | 1:14.44 |
| 15 | 18 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow | 1:14.44 |
| 16 | 29 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows | 1:14.54 |
| 17 | 8 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren | 1:14.58 |
| 18 | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | 1:14.61 |
| 19 | 27 | Alan Jones | Williams | 1:14.64 |
| 20 | 30 | Jochen Mass | Arrows | 1:15.00 |
| 21 | 17 | Jan Lammers | Shadow | 1:15.35 |
| 22 | 28 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams | 1:15.68 |
| 23 | 31 | Héctor Rebaque | Lotus | 1:16.15 |
| 24 | 9 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS | 1:16.31 |
| DNQ | 22 | Derek Daly | Ensign | 1:16.64 |
| DNQ | 24 | Arturo Merzario | Merzario | 1:18.14 |
Saturday warm-up
The Saturday warm-up took place on a dry circuit after overnight rain. The atmosphere remained unsettled, leaving tyre choice a live concern even as the field completed its final checks. Ferrari’s two new cars lined up immediately behind the pole-sitting Renault for the scheduled 14:15 start.
What happened in the 1979 South African Grand Prix?
Jody Scheckter initially got ahead, but Jean-Pierre Jabouille fought back into the lead as rain began to fall. The Ferraris then moved past the Renault before the race was stopped. It resumed for the remaining 76 laps in the order taken after two laps, with Gilles Villeneuve choosing wet-weather tyres and Scheckter gambling on slicks.
Villeneuve exploited his early grip advantage, then changed to slicks as the surface dried. Scheckter inherited the lead but eventually needed fresh tyres himself, handing the initiative back to his team-mate. Villeneuve managed the closing stages cleanly and kept Scheckter behind to win by just under four seconds.
Jean-Pierre Jarier completed the podium for Tyrrell, ahead of Mario Andretti and the Brabhams of Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet. Renault could not convert pole into points, while both Ligiers went out. Ferrari had answered the French team’s opening victories with a remarkably successful first outing for the 312T4.
After the race, Jacques Laffite headed the drivers’ standings with 18 points, followed by Carlos Reutemann on 12. Ligier – Ford led the constructors’ table on 27, with Ferrari on 18.
1979 South African Grand Prix race results
The 1979 South African Grand Prix was held on 3 March 1979.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time / Retired | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 78 | 1:41:49.96 | 9 |
| 2 | 11 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | 78 | + 3.42 | 6 |
| 3 | 4 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell | 78 | + 22.11 | 4 |
| 4 | 1 | Mario Andretti | Lotus | 78 | + 27.88 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 | Carlos Reutemann | Lotus | 78 | + 1:06.97 | 2 |
| 6 | 5 | Niki Lauda | Brabham | 77 | + 1 Lap | 1 |
| 7 | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham | 77 | + 1 Lap | 0 |
| 8 | 20 | James Hunt | Wolf | 77 | + 1 Lap | 0 |
| 9 | 28 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams | 76 | + 2 Laps | 0 |
| 10 | 8 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren | 75 | + 3 Laps | 0 |
| 11 | 29 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows | 75 | + 3 Laps | 0 |
| 12 | 30 | Jochen Mass | Arrows | 74 | + 4 Laps | 0 |
| 13 | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | 74 | + 4 Laps | 0 |
| Ret | 31 | Héctor Rebaque | Lotus | 71 | Engine | 0 |
| Ret | 16 | René Arnoux | Renault | 67 | Tyre | 0 |
| Ret | 27 | Alan Jones | Williams | 63 | Suspension | 0 |
| Ret | 7 | John Watson | McLaren | 61 | Ignition | 0 |
| Ret | 9 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS | 57 | Accident | 0 |
| Ret | 15 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | 47 | Engine | 0 |
| Ret | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier | 45 | Accident | 0 |
| Ret | 3 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell | 25 | Throttle | 0 |
| Ret | 18 | Elio de Angelis | Shadow | 16 | Accident | 0 |
| Ret | 25 | Patrick Depailler | Ligier | 4 | Accident | 0 |
| Ret | 17 | Jan Lammers | Shadow | 2 | Accident | 0 |
| DNQ | 22 | Derek Daly | Ensign | 0 | ||
| DNQ | 24 | Arturo Merzario | Merzario | 0 |
1979 South African Grand Prix Fastest Laps
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Lap | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 23 | 1:14.412 |
Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.
1979 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings
Championship standings after the 1979 South African Grand Prix.
1979 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings
| POS | Driver | Nationality | Car | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacques Laffite | French | Ligier | 18 |
| 2 | Carlos Reutemann | Argentine | Lotus | 12 |
| 3 | Gilles Villeneuve | Canadian | Ferrari | 11 |
| 4 | Patrick Depailler | French | Ligier | 9 |
| 5 | Jody Scheckter | South African | Ferrari | 7 |
| 6 | Mario Andretti | American | Lotus | 5 |
| 7 | John Watson | British | McLaren | 4 |
| 8 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | French | Tyrrell | 4 |
| 9 | Didier Pironi | French | Tyrrell | 3 |
| 10 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Brazilian | Fittipaldi | 1 |
| 11 | Niki Lauda | Austrian | Brabham | 1 |
| – | Jochen Mass | German | Arrows | 0 |
| – | Elio de Angelis | Italian | Shadow | 0 |
| – | Nelson Piquet | Brazilian | Brabham | 0 |
| – | James Hunt | British | Wolf | 0 |
| – | Clay Regazzoni | Swiss | Williams | 0 |
| – | Riccardo Patrese | Italian | Arrows | 0 |
| – | Alan Jones | Australian | Williams | 0 |
| – | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | French | Renault | 0 |
| – | Patrick Tambay | French | McLaren | 0 |
| – | Derek Daly | Irish | Ensign | 0 |
| – | Jan Lammers | Dutch | Shadow | 0 |
| – | Hector Rebaque | Mexican | Lotus | 0 |
| – | René Arnoux | French | Renault | 0 |
| – | Hans-Joachim Stuck | German | ATS | 0 |
| – | Arturo Merzario | Italian | Merzario | 0 |
1979 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings
| POS | Car | PTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ligier – Ford | 27 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 18 |
| 3 | Lotus – Ford | 17 |
| 4 | Tyrrell – Ford | 7 |
| 5 | McLaren – Ford | 4 |
| 6 | Brabham – Alfa Romeo | 1 |
| 7 | Fittipaldi – Ford | 1 |
| — | Arrows – Ford | 0 |
| — | Shadow – Ford | 0 |
| — | Wolf – Ford | 0 |
| — | Williams – Ford | 0 |
| — | Renault | 0 |
| — | Ensign – Ford | 0 |
| — | Merzario – Ford | 0 |
| — | ATS – Ford | 0 |
Drivers counted their best 4 results from rounds 1–7 and their best 4 from rounds 8–15. Both cars could score constructor points, with every round counting.
1979 Formula 1 Race Calendar
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