1980 United States Grand Prix West

August 2023 F1 United States United States Grand Prix West Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach March 30 1980 Long Beach 1978-1981.png 4 14 Long Beach Street Circuit Temporary street course 2.02 3.251 80 161.60 260.08 Sunny and warm with temperatures reaching up to 81 F C; wind speeds up to 10.9 mph km/hhttps://archive.today/20140908225929/http://m.almanac.com/weather/history/CA/Long%20Beach/1980-03-30 Weather information for the 1980 United States Grand Prix West at The Old Farmers' Almanac Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:17.694 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:19.83 38 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford Brazil 1968 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford USW The 1980 United States Grand Prix West (officially the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach1980 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes http://www.progcovers.com/motor/f11980.html The Programme Covers Project) was a Formula One motor race held on March 30, 1980, at Long Beach Street Circuit. It was the fourth round of the 1980 Formula One season. The race was the fifth United States Grand Prix West and the sixth street race to be held at Long Beach. The race was held over 80 laps of the 3.251-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 260 kilometres. The race was won by Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet driving a Brabham BT49. It was Piquet's debut World Championship victory in just his fourth points finish and announced his emergence as a championship contender. Piquet won by 49 seconds over Italian driver Riccardo Patrese driving an Arrows A3. It was the best result for both Arrows and Patrese in two years after Patrese finished second at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix. Third was Brazilian driver, twice-World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi driving a Fittipaldi F7. It was Fittipaldi's best result since finishing second at the 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix. The race would also see defending champion Jody Scheckter of Ferrari score his only points of the 1980 season with the South African scoring two points by finishing the race in fifth place. Summary Nelson Piquet took pole, fastest lap and his first career race win to dominate the weekend in his gleaming blue and white Brabham. The Brazilian's qualifying time was a full second ahead of the rest of the field, and he led all 80 laps of the race to win by 49 seconds and grab a share of the lead in the Drivers' Championship. The race would be the last in Formula One for Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni, who suffered spinal damage when he lost the brakes in his Ensign approaching the Queen’s Hairpin, and struck a parked Brabham in the run-off followed by a concrete barrier and tires head on at 150 mi/h km/h on. In Friday qualifying, Frenchman Didier Pironi recorded the fastest time, but getting a good lap on Saturday was a matter of using the soft qualifying tires at the right time and slotting in a good time before the track became too oily. Piquet was easily the fastest man on the circuit, using Goodyear tires, but Championship leader René Arnoux grabbed second place in his Renault with an early run on soft Michelins. The big surprise, however, was Jan Lammers, who put his ATS in fourth position while subbing for the injured Marc Surer. James Hunt nearly made a comeback with McLaren, asking for $1 million for the race. This opportunity came about when French rookie driver Alain Prost broke his wrist during practice for the South African Grand Prix, and was not fully fit to drive at Long Beach. The team's main sponsor, Marlboro, offered half the figure but negotiations ended after Hunt broke his leg while skiing. Stephen South substituted but South failed to qualify. Pironi slipped to ninth by the end of the session, while the Ferraris of Gilles Villeneuve and Jody Scheckter, so dominant here the year before, struggled to 10th and 16th, and Emerson Fittipaldi just managed to scramble onto the grid in the 24th and final spot. Americans Mario Andretti (Lotus) and Eddie Cheever (Osella), in his first full F1 season, were 15th and 19th. The only mis-step of Piquet's weekend came in the Sunday morning warmup when he and Derek Daly collided entering the corner after the pits. The Brabham was vaulted into the air and landed heavily on all four tires, while Daly's Tyrrell went down the escape road. After careful examination, the Brabham crew decided that the car was fine and ready to race. Entering the first corner Ricardo Zunino, Andretti, Jochen Mass and Jean-Pierre Jarier all made contact under braking. Zunino's Brabham and Andretti's Lotus were unable to continue. After one lap, Piquet led Patrick Depailler, who had gotten by René Arnoux in the hairpin. They were followed by Alan Jones, Bruno Giacomelli, Riccardo Patrese, Carlos Reutemann, Villeneuve and Daly. On lap 4, Giacomelli lost control of his Alfa Romeo under braking for the hairpin at the beginning of Shoreline Drive, and slid sideways across the racing line. Reutemann, following directly behind, was the first to be collected and Jody Scheckter, Elio de Angelis, Cheever, Mass and Jarier also became involved. According to Reutemann, while Giacomelli's Alfa was facing the inside wall, he let 6th-placed Patrese pass, and then immediately put his car in reverse, and backed onto the racing line, and the approaching 7th-placed Reutemann had to come to a dead stop to avoid hitting the Italian's Alfa head on and stalled his engine. Villeneuve and Daly, who were behind Reutemann were both able to avoid hitting the Williams and the Alfa. Giacomelli, realizing he had made a mistake, went back to where he was, and he ended up blocking the track. This then caused Scheckter, de Angelis, Cheever, Jarier and Mass- all the cars that had been behind Daly to have a motorway-accordion-style accident right behind the stalled Reutemann where they crashed into the front and back of each other in order. By the time Giacomelli had realized what had happened, the 6 other aforementioned cars including Reutemann were already at a dead stop, although he and Scheckter, who had both stalled had not hit anything, de Angelis (who was injured), Cheever and Jarier had crashed, the latter most seriously; a wheel ripped off Jarier's Tyrrell when he hit de Angelis’s Lotus and he went into the run-off area. Mass was the luckiest, although he had not stalled he would end up losing several positions. The marshals decided to move forward Giacomelli, Reutemann and Cheever, all were able to continue for the time being, though Giacomelli and Cheever retired later in the race, and Reutemann had retired soon afterwards with gearbox problems. Mass was able to get going again, and he, Jabouille, Laffite, Rosberg, Regazzoni, Fittipaldi and Watson just managed to squeeze through the carnage, and the marshals somehow got the track cleared before the leaders came around, avoiding a red flag to stop the race. While Piquet continued to run unchallenged in front, Depailler was struggling with fading brakes on his Alfa Romeo. On lap 18, Jones caught and passed him on the outside of the hairpin to take second place. Meanwhile, Giacomelli was working his way back up through the field ahead of an extended battle between Regazzoni, Fittipaldi and John Watson. Gilles Villeneuve had managed to get the ill handling Ferrari into a good fourth place but his transmission failed on lap 46 and he was out of the race. After pitting for tires on lap 47, Giacomelli rejoined in 12th place, just ahead of Jones, but about to be lapped by the Williams for the second time, and he continued his reckless on-track conduct. As Jones moved inside to pass the Italian entering the hairpin at the end of the straight, Giacomelli turned in and Jones struck the Alfa Romeo's rear wheel, bending the steering arm on the Williams and putting Jones out of the race. This left Piquet with a lead of more than a minute over Patrese and Arnoux, and he began to ease off, allowing some cars to unlap themselves. Lap 50 saw an horrific accident which would ultimately end the career of Clay Regazzoni, the brakes on his Ensign N180 car failed on the long start finish straight, unable to reduce speed, he hit the stationary Brabham of Ricardo Zunino which had been left at the run off of the Queen’s hairpin since lap 1, and then head on into a concrete wall. The accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. Regazzoni later sued the race organisers, but lost the case.Plaschke Bill A Collision With the Past : Paralyzed Regazzoni Returns as Street Racer to Site of Tragedy https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-02-sp-41288-story.html 19 May 2020 Los Angeles Times April 2, 1994 On lap 63, Arnoux had his right rear tire go completely flat, and by the time he was able to make it back to the pits for a replacement, he had dropped all the way to ninth place. Watson now began to challenge Fittipaldi for third, and even get around him briefly, but gearbox troubles allowed the Brazilian to retake the position and then pull away. Watson, in fact, came under fire from Scheckter's Ferrari. Braking into the hairpin, Scheckter tried to go around the outside, as Watson defended the inside line. He slid wide on the dirt and marbles, however, and thereafter, decided to settle for 5th place and his final points in Formula One. For Piquet, it was the first of 23 career wins and pulled him even with Arnoux in the Drivers' Championship. For Fittipaldi, who finished third behind a steady Patrese in the Arrows, it was his first podium in more than two years, and the last of his F1 career (both as a driver and as a constructor). The torch was passed from one Brazilian multiple World Champion to another. Classification Qualifying Pos No. Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 5 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:17.694 - 2 16 France René Arnoux Renault 1:18.689 + 0.995 3 22 France Patrick Depailler Alfa Romeo 1:18.719 + 1.025 4 9 Netherlands Jan Lammers ATS-Ford 1:18.783 + 1.089 5 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:18.819 + 1.125 6 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:18.924 + 1.230 7 28 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:18.964 + 1.270 8 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:19.071 + 1.377 9 25 France Didier Pironi Ligier-Ford 1:19.276 + 1.582 10 2 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:19.285 + 1.591 11 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:19.316 + 1.622 12 3 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 1:19.318 + 1.624 13 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 1:19.455 + 1.88 14 4 Ireland Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford 1:19.744 + 2.050 15 11 USA Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:19.763 + 2.069 16 1 South Africa 1928 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 1:20.151 + 2.457 17 30 FRG Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 1:20.410 + 2.716 18 6 Argentina Ricardo Zunino Brabham-Ford 1:20.419 + 2.725 19 31 USA Eddie Cheever Osella-Ford 1:20.808 + 3.83 20 12 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:20.830 + 3.114 21 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:20.868 + 3.174 22 21 Finland Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:20.911 + 3.217 23 14 SWI Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford 1:20.984 + 3.290 24 20 Brazil 1968 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:21.350 + 3.656 25 18 Ireland David Kennedy Shadow-Ford 1:21.523 + 3.829 26 17 United Kingdom Geoff Lees Shadow-Ford 1:23.486 + 5.792 27 8 United Kingdom Stephen South McLaren-Ford 1:24.121 + 6.427 Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford Goodyear 80 1:50:18.550 1 9 2 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford Goodyear 80 + 49.212 8 6 3 20 Brazil 1968- Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford Goodyear 80 + 1:18.563 24 4 4 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford Goodyear 79 + 1 Lap 21 3 5 1 South Africa 1928 Jody Scheckter Ferrari Michelin 79 + 1 Lap 16 2 6 25 France Didier Pironi Ligier-Ford Goodyear 79 + 1 Lap 9 1 7 30 West Germany Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford Goodyear 79 + 1 Lap 17 8 4 Ireland Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 79 + 1 Lap 14 9 16 France René Arnoux Renault Michelin 78 + 2 Laps 2 NC Not classified 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault Michelin 71 + 9 Laps 11 Ret Retired 21 Finland Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford Goodyear 58 Overheating 22 Ret Retired 14 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ensign-Ford Goodyear 50 Accident 23 Ret Retired 27 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford Goodyear 49 Collision 5 Ret Retired 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo Goodyear 47 Collision 6 Ret Retired 2 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari Michelin 46 Transmission 10 Ret Retired 22 France Patrick Depailler Alfa Romeo Goodyear 40 Suspension 3 Ret Retired 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford Goodyear 36 Puncture 13 Ret Retired 31 United States Eddie Cheever Osella-Ford Goodyear 11 Transmission 19 Ret Retired 28 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford Goodyear 3 Transmission 7 Ret Retired 3 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 3 Accident 12 Ret Retired 12 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford Goodyear 3 Accident 20 Ret Retired 9 Netherlands Jan Lammers ATS-Ford Goodyear 0 Transmission 4 Ret Retired 11 United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford Goodyear 0 Accident 15 Ret Retired 6 Argentina Ricardo Zunino Brabham-Ford Goodyear 0 Accident 18 DNQ Did not qualify 18 Ireland David Kennedy Shadow-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 17 United Kingdom Geoff Lees Shadow-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 8 United Kingdom Stephen South McLaren-Ford GoodyearSource:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1980/376/ 1980 USA West Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20140219063410/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1980/376/ 19 February 2014https://gparchive.com/formula-1/1980-usa-west-grand-prix/ 1980 United States Grand Prix West - Race Results & History - GP Archive GPArchive.com 30 March 1980 1 November 2021 Notes This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British driver Stephen South. This was the first Grand Slam for a Brazilian driver. Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 FRA René Arnoux 18 10px 1 2 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet 18 10px 1 3 AUS Alan Jones 13 10px 4 FRA Didier Pironi 8 10px 8 5 ITA Riccardo Patrese 7Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1980/etats-unis-ouest/championnat.aspx United States West 1980 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 21 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 10px 1 FRA Renault 18 10px 2 2 UK Brabham-Ford 18 10px 1 3 UK Williams-Ford 15 10px 1 4 FRA Ligier-Ford 14 10px 5 5 UK Arrows-Ford 8Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References 30em Further reading Rob Walker (July, 1980). "5th United States Grand Prix West: Winner Takes All". Road & Track, 146–151. United States Grand Prix West 1980 1980 South African Grand Prix 1980 Belgian Grand Prix 1979 United States Grand Prix West 1981 United States Grand Prix West 1979 United States Grand Prix West 1981 United States Grand Prix West Grand Prix of Long Beach United States Grand Prix West Category:United States Grand Prix West United States Grand Prix West United States Grand Prix West