1979 South African Grand Prix

  1979 South African Grand Prix
Race details
Race 3 of 15 in the 1979 Formula One season

Date March 2, 1979
Location Kyalami
Gauteng, South Africa
Course Permanent racing facility
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

The 1979 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 3 March 1979 at Kyalami.

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 secs 2 6
3 4 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 78 +22.11 secs 9 4
4 1 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 78 +27.88 secs 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 Hector 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

Notes

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
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
Previous race:
1979 Brazilian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1979 season
Next race:
1979 United States Grand Prix West
Previous race:
1978 South African Grand Prix
South African Grand Prix Next race:
1980 South African Grand Prix