In 1979, South African racing driver Jody Scheckter won the drivers' championship driving for Scuderia Ferrari. Scheckter's victory was the team's third championship win in four years, following Niki Lauda's back-to-back titles in 1975 and 1977. Scheckter's championship-winning season was a closely contested battle, with him winning three races and finishing on the podium in six of the fifteen races that season. His main rivals for the championship were Gilles Villeneuve, his teammate at Ferrari, and Alan Jones, driving for Williams. Scheckter was able to clinch the title in the season-ending race in Monza, winning the championship by just four points. Following Scheckter's championship win in 1979, Ferrari entered a period of relative underperformance in Formula One. The team struggled to adapt to the new regulations introduced in the 1980s, and was often outpaced by rivals such as Williams and McLaren. Although Ferrari continued to achieve race victories and podium finishes, it would be 21 years before the team won another drivers' championship. During this period, Ferrari underwent significant changes in management and ownership, with the team being bought by Fiat in 1988. The team also worked to improve its technical capabilities, with the creation of its renowned factory in Maranello and the recruitment of talented engineers and designers such as Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne. It was not until 2000, when Michael Schumacher joined the team, that Ferrari returned to championship-winning form. Schumacher would go on to win five consecutive drivers' championships for Ferrari from 2000 to 2004, marking a new era of success for the team in Formula One.