Round 3 of 15 · Midrand · 3 March 1979, Saturday
South African Grand Prix
Key highlights
Jabouille
pole position
78
laps
13
finishers out of 24
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time / Gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 1:41:49.96 | 9 |
| 2 | Jody Scheckter | Ferrari | +3.42 | 6 |
| 3 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Tyrrell | +22.11 | 4 |
| 4 | Mario Andretti | Team Lotus | +27.88 | 3 |
| 5 | Carlos Reutemann | Team Lotus | +1:06.97 | 2 |
| 6 | Niki Lauda | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | +1 Lap | 1 |
| 7 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | +1 Lap | |
| 8 | James Hunt | Wolf | +1 Lap | |
| 9 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams | +2 Laps | |
| 10 | Patrick Tambay | McLaren | +3 Laps | |
| 11 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows | +3 Laps | |
| 12 | Jochen Mass | Arrows | +4 Laps | |
| 13 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | +4 Laps | |
| DNF | Hector Rebaque | Team Lotus | Engine | |
| DNF | René Arnoux | Renault | Tyre | |
| DNF | Alan Jones | Williams | Suspension | |
| DNF | John Watson | McLaren | Ignition | |
| DNF | Hans-Joachim Stuck | ATS | Accident | |
| DNF | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | Engine | |
| DNF | Jacques Laffite | Ligier | Accident | |
| DNF | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell | Throttle | |
| DNF | Elio de Angelis | Shadow | Accident | |
| DNF | Patrick Depailler | Ligier | Accident | |
| DNF | Jan Lammers | Shadow | Accident | |
| DNQ | Derek Daly | Ensign | Did not qualify | |
| DNQ | Arturo Merzario | Merzario | Did not qualify |
- DNF
- Did not finish
- DNQ
- Did not qualify