1980 French Grand Prix

The 1980 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 29 June 1980. It was the seventh round of the 1980 Formula One season. The race was the 58th French Grand Prix, or the 66th Grand Prix de l'ACF and the sixth to be held at Paul Ricard. The race was held over 54 laps of the 5.809-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 314 kilometres.

1980 French Grand Prix
Race 7 of 14 in the 1980 Formula One season
Race details
Date June 29, 1980
Location Paul Ricard Circuit
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.809 km (3.610 miles)
Distance 54 laps, 313.686 km (194.915 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Ligier-Ford
Time 1:38.88
Fastest lap
Driver Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford
Time 1:41.45 on lap 48
Podium
First Williams-Ford
Second Ligier-Ford
Third Ligier-Ford
Lap leaders

Controversy edit

Originally the race was the eighth round of the season but moved up the order after the Spanish Grand Prix was removed from the schedule as a consequence of the first major confrontation between FISA and FOCA.[citation needed] The controversy threatened to spill over into the French Grand Prix as well as the FISA aligned teams, primarily Ferrari, Renault and Alfa Romeo, had boycotted the Spanish race which later saw its results removed from championship considerations. The two camps came to an agreement in time for the French Grand Prix to not be affected.

Results edit

The race was won by Alan Jones driving a Williams FW07B. The win was Jones' seventh Formula One Grand Prix victory and his third of the year. Jones was entering a period of good form having won the Spanish Grand Prix four weeks earlier. Jones won by four seconds over French driver Didier Pironi driving a Ligier JS11/15. Third was Pironi's French teammate Jacques Laffite. Laffite had led for much of the race until his tyres lost condition. The large French contingent had dominated proceedings with the all-French teams Renault and Ligier taking up four of the top six grid positions with only Jones and his Williams teammate Carlos Reutemann intervening. Jean-Pierre Jabouille's Renault RE20 broke its transmission at the start and Jones picked his way past Pironi then the second Renault of René Arnoux before finally catching Laffite on lap 34.

Arnoux faded to fifth behind Nelson Piquet (Brabham BT49) with throttle problems with Reutemann taking the final point in sixth. The win saw Jones move back into the championship lead passing Arnoux and Piquet. Jones now led Piquet by three points and Arnoux by five. Pironi was now equal with Arnoux.

Williams now led Ligier by five points, unchanged from Monaco thanks to the efforts of all four drivers and Brabham increased the gap over Renault in third and fourth.

Shadow Racing Cars edit

This race also saw the final appearance of Shadow Racing Cars. Geoff Lees and David Kennedy were 25th and 27th in qualifying in the Shadow DN12s meaning both drivers missed the 24-car grid. The team had been sold only two months previously to Macau-based businessman and motor racing team owner Teddy Yip. Yip's own race team Theodore Racing would emerge as a Formula One team in 1981.

Classification edit

Qualifying edit

Pos No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 1:38.88 -
2 16   René Arnoux Renault 1:39.49 + 0.61
3 25   Didier Pironi Ligier-Ford 1:39.49 + 0.61
4 27   Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:39.50 + 0.62
5 28   Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:39.60 + 0.78
6 15   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:40.18 + 1.30
7 8   Alain Prost McLaren-Ford 1:40.63 + 1.75
8 5   Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:40.67 + 1.79
9 23   Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:40.85 + 1.97
10 22   Patrick Depailler Alfa Romeo 1:40.89 + 2.01
11 9   Marc Surer ATS-Ford 1:41.03 + 2.15
12 11   Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:41.56 + 2.68
13 7   John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:41.63 + 2.75
14 12   Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:41.66 + 2.78
15 30   Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford 1:41.71 + 2.83
16 3   Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 1:41.78 + 2.90
17 2   Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:41.99 + 3.11
18 29   Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:42.07 + 3.19
19 1   Jody Scheckter Ferrari 1:42.38 + 3.50
20 4   Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford 1:42.77 + 3.89
21 31   Eddie Cheever Osella-Ford 1:42.85 + 3.97
22 6   Ricardo Zunino Brabham-Ford 1:43.14 + 4.26
23 21   Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:43.16 + 4.28
24 20   Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:43.21 + 4.33
25 17   Geoff Lees Shadow-Ford 1:44.28 + 5.40
26 14   Jan Lammers Ensign-Ford 1:44.33 + 5.45
27 18   David Kennedy Shadow-Ford 1:44.56 + 5.68
Source:[1]

Race edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 27   Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 54 1:32:43.4 4 9
2 25   Didier Pironi Ligier-Ford G 54 +4.52 secs 3 6
3 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford G 54 +30.26 secs 1 4
4 5   Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford G 54 +1:14.88 secs 8 3
5 16   René Arnoux Renault M 54 +1:16.15 secs 2 2
6 28   Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford G 54 +1:16.74 secs 5 1
7 7   John Watson McLaren-Ford G 53 +1 Lap 13
8 2   Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 53 +1 Lap 17
9 29   Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford G 53 +1 Lap 18
10 30   Jochen Mass Arrows-Ford G 53 +1 Lap 15
11 4   Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford G 52 +2 Laps 20
12 1   Jody Scheckter Ferrari M 52 +2 Laps 19
13 20   Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford G 50 Engine 24
14 3   Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford G 50 +4 Laps 16
Ret 31   Eddie Cheever Osella-Ford G 43 Engine 21
Ret 9   Marc Surer ATS-Ford G 26 Gearbox 11
Ret 22   Patrick Depailler Alfa Romeo G 25 Handling 10
Ret 11   Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford G 18 Gearbox 12
Ret 21   Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford G 8 Spun Off 23
Ret 23   Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo G 8 Handling 9
Ret 8   Alain Prost McLaren-Ford G 6 Transmission 7
Ret 12   Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford G 3 Clutch 14
Ret 15   Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault M 0 Transmission 6
Ret 6   Ricardo Zunino Brabham-Ford G 0 Clutch 22
DNQ 17   Geoff Lees Shadow-Ford G
DNQ 14   Jan Lammers Ensign-Ford G
DNQ 18   David Kennedy Shadow-Ford G
Source:[2][3]

Championship standings after the race edit

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References edit

  1. ^ "1980 French Grand Prix | Motor Sport Magazine Database". Motor Sport Magazine. 2017-06-12. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  2. ^ "1980 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  3. ^ "1980 French Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 29 June 1980. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b "France 1980 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.


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