1980 United States Grand Prix

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1980 United States Grand Prix
Race 14 of 14 in the 1980 Formula One season
Watkins Glen 1975-1983.png
Race details
DateOctober 5, 1980
Official name XXIII Toyota United States Grand Prix
Location Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course
Watkins Glen, New York
Course Permanent road course
Course length 5.435 km (3.377 miles)
Distance 59 laps, 320.67 km (199.24 miles)
Weather Cloudy and dry with temperatures reaching up to 12 °C (54 °F);
Wind speeds up to 14.82 km/h (9.21 mph) [1]
Pole position
Driver Alfa Romeo
Time 1:33.291
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Williams-Ford
Time 1:34.068 on lap 44
Podium
First Williams-Ford
Second Williams-Ford
Third Ligier-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1980 United States Grand Prix

The 1980 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 5, 1980 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. [2] This event was also referred to as the United States Grand Prix East in order to distinguish it from the United States Grand Prix West held on March 30, 1980 in Long Beach, California.

Contents

It was the fourteenth and final race of the 1980 Formula One season. The race was the 30th United States Grand Prix, the 20th and last to be held at Watkins Glen, and the last to be held for nine years (other Formula One races were held in the United States during that time, but none were billed as the United States Grand Prix). The race was held over 59 laps of the 5.435-kilometre (3.377 mi) circuit for a total race distance of 320.67 kilometres (199.26 mi).

The race was won by the new World Champion, Australian driver Alan Jones, driving a Williams FW07B. It was Jones' fifth World Championship Formula One victory of the season and the sixth of the seven Grands Prix (including Spain and Australia) he would win in his career defining season. Jones won by four seconds over his Argentine team mate Carlos Reutemann with French driver Didier Pironi finishing third in his Ligier JS11/15. Two former World Champions, Emerson Fittipaldi and Jody Scheckter, retired after the race, although Fittipaldi would later return to racing in the American CART series. [3]

Summary

Frank Williams' first Championship season, his eleventh as an owner, ended in style with another victory by team leader and new Driver's Champion Alan Jones, but this was the last Grand Prix to be held on the historic Watkins Glen course in the wooded hills at the foot of Seneca Lake. The Glen's demise came about when attempts to resurface the track proved not to be enough, runoff areas became too short for the speeds produced, and attendance was not what it had been, for even this race had been in doubt until just a month before.

As the track's last Grand Prix weekend got under way, the big surprise of qualifying was the Alfa Romeo of Italian Bruno Giacomelli, who was quickest in both Friday's and Saturday's sessions, averaging 130.314 mph (209.720 km/h). Giacomelli took the only pole of his 69-race career, and the first for Alfa Romeo since Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1951 Italian Grand Prix, by three-quarters of a second over a tightly-bunched group including Nelson Piquet's Brabham, Carlos Reutemann's Williams, Elio de Angelis' Lotus and Jones in the second Williams. [4]

Race day threatened rain, but none appeared. Alain Prost, completing his first F1 season had a heavy crash at Turn 10 during Friday practice. He hit his head on his McLaren's steering wheel and suffered a concussion, forcing him to miss the race. This enabled Dutchman Jan Lammers to start the race, and Prost, already having suffered 8 previous mechanical failures during the season chose to leave McLaren for the factory Renault team. At the start, Giacomelli got off the line well and led into the first turn. Jones rocketed forward from fifth on the grid to second entering Turn One, but he could not hold his line through the turn. He, along with Giacomelli's teammate Andrea de Cesaris swung wide onto the dirt, then collected himself and continued, finishing the first lap in fourteenth place.

At the end of a lap, Giacomelli had opened a gap back to Piquet, followed by Reutemann, Didier Pironi, de Angelis and Héctor Rebaque. In two more laps, the Alfa was ahead by two and a half seconds. Meanwhile, Jones was battling his way back through the field, and on lap 7, he was already poking around the gearbox of John Watson's McLaren, trying to take seventh place. Watson held him off until the tenth lap, and, once by, Jones quickly pulled away after de Angelis and Pironi.

Giacomelli continued to set an even pace, and his lead was ten seconds on lap 21, with Reutemann now threatening Piquet, whose tires were beginning to go off. Jones had caught up to de Angelis, and on the next lap, got around him for fifth.

Reutemann's pressure, and the Brabham's increasing lack of grip, finally got to Piquet on lap 26 as he spun off in turn one. The off-road excursion damaged a skirt, and he retired after reaching the pits. Three laps later, Jones passed Pironi for third, as the Ligier was also suffering from tire wear.

The only car between Jones and the leader now was teammate Reutemann, but with the Driver's Championship already in Jones' hands, there would be no team orders. Understeer induced by a worn left front tire was plaguing the Argentine, however, and Jones easily overcame him on lap 30 and set his sights on Giacomelli, now 12 seconds ahead. The red and white Alfa Romeo coasted to a halt in the Boot on lap 32 with electrical trouble. Once in the lead, Jones went faster and faster, finally doing a 1:34.068 on lap 44, better than his qualifying time.

When Watson pitted to replace a broken shock absorber on his McLaren, crowd favorite Mario Andretti moved up to the final points position. A set of new tires allowed René Arnoux to catch and pass the American, but a broken skirt soon slowed the Renault, and Andretti was able to regain the sixth spot and score his only point of the season.

The Williams team celebrated the climax to a year in which they had taken the Driver's and Constructor's Championships by waving a huge Union Flag at their one-two finish. The race saw not only the end of Formula One at Watkins Glen, but former champions Emerson Fittipaldi and Jody Scheckter's last Grand Prix and Mario Andretti's last race for Colin Chapman and Lotus. This Grand Prix would also witness the final occasion where a privateer entry would be classified as a finisher with Rupert Keegan finishing in 9th place in a RAM Racing-entered Williams FW07.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNo.DriverConstructorTimeGap
123 Flag of Italy.svg Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:33.291
25 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:34.080+0.789
328 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:34.111+0.820
412 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:34.185+0.894
527 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:34.216+0.925
616 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Renault 1:34.839+1.548
726 Flag of France.svg Didier Pironi Ligier-Ford 1:34.971+1.680
86 Flag of Mexico.svg Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 1:35.166+1.875
97 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:35.202+1.921
1022 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 1:35.235+1.954
1111 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:35.343+2.052
1225 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 1:35.421+2.130
138 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-Ford 1:35.988+2.697
1421 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:36.332+3.041
1550 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rupert Keegan Williams-Ford 1:36.750+3.459
1631 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Osella-Ford 1:36.908+3.607
179 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Marc Surer ATS-Ford 1:37.001+3.710
182 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:37.040+3.749
1920 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:37.088+3.797
2029 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:37.405+4.114
214 Flag of Ireland.svg Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford 1:37.923+4.632
223 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 1:37.966+4.675
231 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Ferrari 1:38.149+4.858
2430 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 1:38.526+5.535
2514 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jan Lammers Ensign-Ford 1:38.532+5.541
DNQ43 Flag of New Zealand.svg Mike Thackwell Tyrrell-Ford 1:51.102+17.811
DNQ51 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Geoff Lees Williams-Ford --
DNA60 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell* Lotus-Ford --
DNA15 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jabouille* Renault --

*Mansell was originally entered in this race, [2] but Andretti used the car originally allocated to Mansell after Andretti wrote off his car during the Canadian Grand Prix one week earlier.[ citation needed ] Jabouille was also entered in this race, [2] but had to miss out due to leg injuries sustained at the same Canadian race.

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorTyreLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
127 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 591:34:36.0559
228 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford G 59+ 4.2136
325 Flag of France.svg Didier Pironi Ligier-Ford G 59+ 12.5774
412 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford G 59+ 29.6943
526 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford G 58+ 1 lap122
611 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 58+ 1 lap111
716 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Renault M 58+ 1 lap6
89 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Marc Surer ATS-Ford G 57+ 2 laps17
950 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rupert Keegan Williams-Ford G 57+ 2 laps15
1021 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford G 57+ 2 laps14
111 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jody Scheckter Ferrari M 56+ 3 laps23
NC7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson McLaren-Ford G 50+ 9 laps9
Ret2 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 49Accident18
NC3 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford G 40+ 19 laps22
Ret30 Flag of Germany.svg Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford G 36Transmission24
Ret23 Flag of Italy.svg Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo G 31Electrical1
Ret5 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford G 25Spun off2
Ret6 Flag of Mexico.svg Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford G 20Engine8
Ret31 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Osella-Ford G 20Suspension16
Ret29 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford G 16Spun off20
Ret14 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jan Lammers Ensign-Ford G 16Steering25
Ret20 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 15Suspension19
Ret4 Flag of Ireland.svg Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford G 3Spun off21
Ret22 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo G 2Accident10
DNS8 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-Ford G Driver injured13
Source: [5] [6]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. "Weather History for Watkins Glen, NY". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "1980 United States Grand Prix Entry list".
  3. "F1 - The Official Home of Formula 1® Racing". Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  4. "F1 - The Official Home of Formula 1® Racing". Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  5. "1980 USA East Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  6. "1980 United States Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. October 5, 1980. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  7. 1 2 "United States 1980 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved March 21, 2019.

Further reading

Previous race:
1980 Canadian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1980 season
Next race:
1981 United States Grand Prix West
Previous race:
1979 United States Grand Prix
United States Grand Prix Next race:
1989 United States Grand Prix