The 1979 season would turn out to be Villeneuve's best in Formula 1. The arrival of the new 312T4 in South Africa brought with it victory for Ferrari and the young Canadian!
Villeneuve qualified third behind his teammate Jody Scheckter. The Ferrari duo got to an excellent start, passing the pole-sitting Renault on either side into the first corner. Villeneuve took the lead, but a sudden downpour brought out the red flag and the three lap old race was stopped.
On the restart, Villeneuve's car was equipped with wet tires while Scheckter's was on slicks. The Ferrari drivers repeated their brilliant start. In the wet, Villeneuve drove away from the field, pulling out a 15 second lead over his teammate in second place. By lap 15 the storm had passed and as the track dried out Villeneuve stopped for slicks, handing the lead to Scheckter. On fresh rubber, however, Villeneuve attacked and closed the 30 second gap.
Though Villeneuve would not pass his teammate on the track, Scheckter's badly worn tires forced him into the pits and he rejoined the race in second place, 35 seconds behind Villeneuve. Villeneuve paced himself, conserving his tires, allowing Scheckter to close the gap to just 4 seconds before the checkered flag fell on Villeneuve's second F1 victory.
