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25px Italy  1980 Italian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 12 of 14 in the 1980 Formula One season
Imola 1980
Date September 14, 1980
Official name LI Gran Premio d'Italia
Location Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Course Permanent racing facility
5.000 km (3.107 mi)
Distance 60 laps, 300.000 km (186.411 mi)
Weather Sunny, Mild, Dry
Pole position
Driver 25px France René Arnoux Renault
Time 1:33.988
Fastest lap
Driver 25px Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford
Time 1:36.089 on lap 47
Podium
First 25px Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford
Second 25px Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford
Third 25px Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford

The 1980 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on September 14, 1980 at the Imola Circuit in Italy. It was the twelfth race of the 1980 Formula One season. The race was the 50th Italian Grand Prix and the first Grand Prix to be held at Imola. It was the first time since the 1948 Italian Grand Prix was held at Parco del Valentino that the Autodromo Nazionale Monza did not host the Italian Grand Prix. Monza was under refurbishment at the time. The race was such a success that a new race, the San Marino Grand Prix was established for Imola. The race was held over 60 laps of the 5.000-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 300 kilometres.

The race was won by Brazilian driver, Nelson Piquet driving a Brabham BT49. The win was Piquet's third Formula One Grand Prix victory and his second in succession. Piquet won by 28 seconds over championship points leader, Australian driver Alan Jones driving a Williams FW07B. Jones' Argentinian team mate Carlos Reutemann finished third.

Manfred Winkelhock made his debut, substituting for the still injured Jochen Mass at Arrows. He did not make it to the race after his Arrows A3 collided with the Lotus 81B of Nigel Mansell in practice, putting out both. Scuderia Ferrari debuted their first turbocar, the Ferrari 126C but Gilles Villeneuve started the race in his regular Ferrari 312T5. Regardless, after a very heavy crash in practice at the flat-out right hander before Tosa, reigning world champion Jody Scheckter announced his retirement from the sport.

The front row of the grid was occupied by the Renault RE20s of René Arnoux and Jean-Pierre Jabouille although Piquet led by lap 4 and was never headed. On the sixth lap Villeneuve crashed his 312T5 heavily at the corner which now bears his name. Villeneuve was unhurt and Bruno Giacomelli retired his Alfa Romeo 179 after running over debris. Jones climbed into second after running as low as seventh. Behind Reutemann, Elio de Angelis finished fourth in his Lotus 81, a season highlight for Team Lotus from whom de Angelis' second place at the Brazilian Grand Prix was the only time a Lotus improved on fourth in 1980. Keke Rosberg finished fifth in his Fittipaldi F8, also his second best result of the year. Didier Pironi finished sixth in his Ligier JS11/15. Twelve cars finished, thirteen were classified including the Tyrrell 010 of Jean-Pierre Jarier who had brake failure with five laps to go.

The performances of Jones and Reutemann put Williams 34 points ahead of Ligier and secured the British team their first constructors' championship.

Despite finishing second to Piquet, Jones lost the world championship points lead. With two races to go Piquet led by a point as the European leg of the championship concluded. Reutemann was now five points ahead of Jacques Laffite and eight ahead of Arnoux. There would be a two week break while the championship relocated to North America for the conclusion of the season and the championship showdown that would erupt at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Classification[]

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 25px Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 60 1:38:07.52 5 9
2 27 25px Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford 60 +28.93 secs 6 6
3 28 25px Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 60 +1:13.67 secs 3 4
4 12 25px Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 59 +1 Lap 18 3
5 21 25px Finland Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 59 +1 Lap 11 2
6 25 25px France Didier Pironi Ligier-Ford 59 +1 Lap 13 1
7 8 25px France Alain Prost McLaren-Ford 59 +1 Lap 24
8 1 25px South Africa Jody Scheckter Ferrari 59 +1 Lap 16
9 26 25px France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 59 +1 Lap 20
10 16 25px France René Arnoux Renault 58 +2 Laps 1
11 50 25px United Kingdom Rupert Keegan Williams-Ford 58 +2 Laps 21
12 31 25px United States Eddie Cheever Osella-Ford 57 +3 Laps 17
13 3 25px France Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 54 Brakes 12
Ret 15 25px France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 53 Gearbox 2
Ret 9 25px Switzerland Marc Surer ATS-Ford 45 Engine 23
Ret 11 25px United States Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 40 Engine 10
Ret 29 25px Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 38 Engine 7
Ret 4 IRL Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford 33 Accident 22
Ret 7 25px United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford 20 Wheel Bearing 14
Ret 6 25px Mexico Hector Rebaque Brabham-Ford 18 Suspension 9
Ret 20 25px Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 17 Accident 15
Ret 2 25px Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 5 Puncture 8
Ret 23 25px Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 5 Puncture 4
Ret 22 25px Italy Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo 4 Spun Off 19
DNQ 43 25px United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford
DNQ 30 25px Germany Manfred Winkelhock Arrows-Ford
DNQ 14 25px Netherlands Jan Lammers Ensign-Ford
DNQ 41 25px United Kingdom Geoff Lees Ensign-Ford

Lap leaders[]

Standings after the race[]

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 25px Brazil Nelson Piquet 54
2 25px Australia Alan Jones 53
3 25px Argentina Carlos Reutemann 37
4 25px France Jacques Laffite 32
5 25px France René Arnoux 29
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 25px UK Williams-Ford 90
2 25px France Ligier-Ford 56
3 25px UK Brabham-Ford 54
4 25px France Renault 38
5 25px UK Tyrrell-Ford 12
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.


Previous race:
1980 Dutch Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1980 season
Next race:
1980 Canadian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1979 Italian Grand Prix
Italian Grand Prix Next race:
1981 Italian Grand Prix
Awards
Preceded by
1979 Italian Grand Prix
Formula One Promotional Trophy
for Race Promoter

1980
Succeeded by
1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix
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