Season 1979 · Round 3

South African Grand Prix

← R2 1979 Season R4 →
1979-03-03 · Kyalami · South Africa · South African Grand Prix · 78Lap · 320.112km
12 Gilles Villeneuve
Ferrari 1:41:49.960
Team win 15pt P1 · P2 1-2
11 Jody Scheckter
Ferrari +3.420
4 Jean-Pierre Jarier
Tyrrell +22.110
Fastest Lap
—
DNF
11
Hector Rebaque L71 René Arnoux L67 Alan Jones L63 John Watson L61 Hans-Joachim Stuck L57 Jean-Pierre Jabouille L47 Jacques Laffite L45 Didier Pironi L25 Elio de Angelis L16 Patrick Depailler L4 +1
Tyre usage Race Control
Storylines · This Grand Prix & circuit
Pole-to-win rate 4/20 20%
Most DNFs · all-time P5
Closest finish · all-time P41
Circuit Info
Kyalami Midrand, South Africa
78Lap 320.112km 20 races held (1967–)
Records Watch · Active drivers ranked at this Grand Prix
Wins
P1 Niki Lauda 3 wins · GP #1
P6 Mario Andretti 1 wins · → Alain Prost -1
P6 Carlos Reutemann 1 wins · → Alain Prost -1
Starts
P1 Niki Lauda 12 starts · GP #1
P2 Mario Andretti 10 starts · → Niki Lauda -2
P2 Emerson Fittipaldi 10 starts · → Niki Lauda -2
Grid → Finish · places gained and lost
GRID FINISH 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 L78 Villeneuve · P3 → P1 · +2 3 Villeneuve VIL 1 Villeneuve VIL Scheckter · P2 → P2 2 Scheckter SCH 2 Scheckter SCH Jarier · P9 → P3 · +6 9 Jarier JAR 3 Jarier JAR Andretti · P8 → P4 · +4 8 Andretti AND 4 Andretti AND Reutemann · P11 → P5 · +6 11 Reutemann REU 5 Reutemann REU Lauda · P4 → P6 · -2 4 Lauda LAU 6 Lauda LAU Piquet · P12 → P7 · +5 12 Piquet PIQ 7 Piquet PIQ Hunt · P13 → P8 · +5 13 Hunt HUN 8 Hunt HUN Regazzoni · P22 → P9 · +13 22 Regazzoni REG 9 Regazzoni REG Tambay · P17 → P10 · +7 17 Tambay TAM 10 Tambay TAM Patrese · P16 → P11 · +5 16 Patrese PAT 11 Patrese PAT Mass · P20 → P12 · +8 20 Mass MAS 12 Mass MAS Fittipaldi · P18 → P13 · +5 18 Fittipaldi FIT 13 Fittipaldi FIT Rebaque · P23 → retired L71 Rebaque · retired L71 23 Rebaque REB R Rebaque REB Arnoux · P10 → retired L67 Arnoux · retired L67 10 Arnoux ARN R Arnoux ARN Jones · P19 → retired L63 Jones · retired L63 19 Jones JON R Jones JON Watson · P14 → retired L61 Watson · retired L61 14 Watson WAT R Watson WAT Stuck · P24 → retired L57 Stuck · retired L57 24 Stuck STU R Stuck STU Jabouille · P1 → retired L47 Jabouille · retired L47 1 Jabouille JAB R Jabouille JAB Laffite · P6 → retired L45 Laffite · retired L45 6 Laffite LAF R Laffite LAF Pironi · P7 → retired L25 Pironi · retired L25 7 Pironi PIR R Pironi PIR de Angelis · P15 → retired L16 de Angelis · retired L16 15 de Angelis DE R de Angelis DE Depailler · P5 → retired L4 Depailler · retired L4 5 Depailler DEP R Depailler DEP Lammers · P21 → retired L2 Lammers · retired L2 21 Lammers LAM R Lammers LAM
retired horizontal axis = laps completed · line thickness = places gained or lost
PosDriverTeamGridLapTime / StatusPoints
1 12 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 3 78 1:41:49.960 9
2 11 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 2 78 +3.420 6
3 4 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell 9 78 +22.110 4
4 1 Mario Andretti Team Lotus 8 78 +27.880 3
5 2 Carlos Reutemann Team Lotus 11 78 +1:06.970 2
6 5 Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo 4 77 +1 Lap 1
7 6 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo 12 77 +1 Lap
8 20 James Hunt Wolf 13 77 +1 Lap
9 28 Clay Regazzoni Williams 22 76 +2 Laps
10 8 Patrick Tambay McLaren 17 75 +3 Laps
11 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows 16 75 +3 Laps
12 30 Jochen Mass Arrows 20 74 +4 Laps
13 14 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi 18 74 +4 Laps
R 31 Hector Rebaque Team Lotus 23 71 Engine
R 16 René Arnoux Renault 10 67 Tyre
R 27 Alan Jones Williams 19 63 Suspension
R 7 John Watson McLaren 14 61 Ignition
R 9 Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS 24 57 Accident
R 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1 47 Engine
R 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier 6 45 Accident
R 3 Didier Pironi Tyrrell 7 25 Throttle
R 18 Elio de Angelis Shadow 15 16 Accident
R 25 Patrick Depailler Ligier 5 4 Accident
R 17 Jan Lammers Shadow 21 2 Accident
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2003 onwards.
Starting grid
Official
1
15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille
2
11 Jody Scheckter
3
12 Gilles Villeneuve
4
5 Niki Lauda
5
25 Patrick Depailler
6
26 Jacques Laffite
7
3 Didier Pironi
8
1 Mario Andretti
9
4 Jean-Pierre Jarier
10
16 René Arnoux
11
2 Carlos Reutemann
12
6 Nelson Piquet
13
20 James Hunt
14
7 John Watson
15
18 Elio de Angelis
16
29 Riccardo Patrese
17
8 Patrick Tambay
18
14 Emerson Fittipaldi
19
27 Alan Jones
20
30 Jochen Mass
21
17 Jan Lammers
22
28 Clay Regazzoni
23
31 Hector Rebaque
24
9 Hans-Joachim Stuck
Final grid as classified, including any pit lane starts. Source: Jolpica-F1. The arrow compares the grid slot with the qualifying classification; hover a drop to see the stewards document behind it.
No data for this session.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 1996 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2012 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2023 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 1996 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2023 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2019 onwards.
Record Basis · Calculation basis
Race order is the final classification(post-race penalties applied) · qualifying session data 2003+ · lap times 1996+ · pit stops 2012+ (pit-lane transit, not stationary time) · DNF = Finished(Finished·+N Laps) non-Finished statuses
Data sources: Jolpica-F1 (Ergast compatible API) · weather·Race Control OpenF1 (2023+) · Last fetched: 2026-09-05 14:15