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
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%;"
!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
|-
!
|22
| Derek Daly
| Ensign-Ford
|1:16.64
|—
|-
!
|24
| Arturo Merzario
|Merzario-Ford
|1:18.14
|—
|}
Race
Classification
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Tyre !! 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
|
|-
!
| 31
| Héctor Rebaque
| Lotus-Ford
|
| 71
| Engine
| 23
|
|-
!
| 16
| René Arnoux
| Renault
|
| 67
| Tyre
| 10
|
|-
!
| 27
| Alan Jones
| Williams-Ford
|
| 63
| Suspension
| 19
|
|-
!
| 7
| John Watson
| McLaren-Ford
|
| 61
| Ignition
| 14
|
|-
!
| 9
| Hans-Joachim Stuck
| ATS-Ford
|
| 57
| Accident
| 24
|
|-
!
| 15
| Jean-Pierre Jabouille
| Renault
|
| 47
| Engine
| 1
|
|-
!
| 26
| Jacques Laffite
| Ligier-Ford
|
| 45
| Accident
| 6
|
|-
!
| 3
| Didier Pironi
| Tyrrell-Ford
|
| 25
| Throttle
| 7
|
|-
!
| 18
| Elio de Angelis
| Shadow-Ford
|
| 16
| Accident
| 15
|
|-
!
| 25
| Patrick Depailler
| Ligier-Ford
|
| 4
| Accident
| 5
|
|-
!
| 17
| Jan Lammers
| Shadow-Ford
|
| 2
| Accident
| 21
|
|-
!
| 22
| Derek Daly
| Ensign-Ford
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 24
| Arturo Merzario
| Merzario-Ford
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!colspan="9"|
|}
Notes
- This was the first pole position set by Renault and a Renault-powered car.
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
!
! Pos
! Driver
! Points
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 1
| Jacques Laffite
| 18
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 2
| Carlos Reutemann
| 12
|-
|align="left"| 10px 4
|align="center"| 3
| Gilles Villeneuve
| 11
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 4
| Patrick Depailler
| 9
|-
|align="left"| 10px 3
|align="center"| 5
| Jody Scheckter
| 7
|-
!colspan=4|Source:
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
!
! Pos
! Constructor
! Points
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 1
| Ligier-Ford
| 27
|-
|align="left"| 10px 3
|align="center"| 2
| Ferrari
| 18
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 3
| Lotus-Ford
| 17
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 4
| Tyrrell-Ford
| 7
|-
|align="left"| 10px 2
|align="center"| 5
| McLaren-Ford
| 4
|-
!colspan=4|Source: