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| 1980 Canadian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 13 of 14 in the 1980 Formula One season | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | September 28, 1980 | ||
| Official name | XIX Grand Prix Labatt du Canada | ||
| Location | Circuit Île Notre-Dame, Montreal, Quebec, Canada | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.410 km (2.740 miles) | ||
| Distance | 70 laps, 308.700 km (191.817 miles) | ||
| Weather | Cold and dry with temperatures reaching up to 11 °C (52 °F); wind speeds up to 15.9 kilometres per hour (9.9 mph) [1] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Brabham-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:27.328 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Didier Pironi | Ligier-Ford | |
| Time | 1:28.769 on lap 62 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Williams-Ford | ||
| Second | Williams-Ford | ||
| Third | Ligier-Ford | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The 1980 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 28 September 1980, at the Circuit Île Notre-Dame in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. [2] It was the thirteenth and penultimate race of the 1980 Formula One season. The race was the 19th Canadian Grand Prix and the third to be held in Montreal. The race was held over 70 laps of the 4.41-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 309 kilometres.
Contents
- Qualifying
- Qualifying classification
- Race
- Race classification
- Notes
- Championship standings after the race
- References
Australian driver Alan Jones, driving a Williams FW07B, won his second consecutive Canadian Grand Prix, and coupled with the retirement of the Brabham BT49 of Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet due to the failure of its Cosworth DFV engine, this allowed Jones to secure the 1980 World Drivers' Championship. Jones became only the second Australian to claim the world championship, a title last won by Jack Brabham in 1966. It was also the first World Drivers' Championship for Williams Grand Prix Engineering, adding to their first Constructors' Championship, achieved two weeks earlier at the Italian Grand Prix. The race featured a controversial first start where Piquet and Jones raced side by side to the first corner and touched, causing Piquet to hit the wall, sparking off other accidents behind. Piquet was forced to restart in his more fragile qualifying car, which ultimately led to his retirement and the end of the title battle. Some commentators thought Jones had forced Piquet into the wall, but the Brazilian shrugged it off as a racing incident.
The brief comeback of Vittorio Brambilla had come to an end with the Italian veteran retiring from Formula One. Alfa Romeo replaced him with someone younger and Andrea de Cesaris made his Grand Prix debut, as did teenage New Zealander Mike Thackwell. Thackwell stepped aboard a third Tyrrell 010 breaking the record as the youngest ever driver to start a Grand Prix, a record held for 19 years by the late Mexican teenager Ricardo Rodríguez. The record would stand for 29 years until broken by Jaime Alguersuari in 2009.
First and second in the championship were decided with the 1980 United States Grand Prix still to come. Jones led Piquet by 8 points but Piquet had already had five points-scoring finishes in the second half of the season. If Piquet won at Watkins Glen he would have to drop the two points from his fifth-place finish in Austria, leaving him one point behind Jones even if Jones failed to finish. Third place in the championship was theoretically open with Laffite eight points behind Reutemann. Second place in the constructors' championship was still open with Brabham just five points behind Ligier. The race weekend is also notable because the outgoing World Champion Jody Scheckter failed to qualify his Ferrari 312T5 for the event.
