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The 1980 French Grand Prix was the seventh race of the 1980 Formula One Season. Alan Jones won the race in his Williams beating the French Ligiers on home turf, Didier Pironi and Jacques Laffite finishing second and third.

Background[]

Following the 1980 Spanish Grand Prix which was failed to be sanctioned by the FIA due to the issue of non-payment, the race failed to be classfied within the world championship. This meant that the French Grand Prix would in fact be the seventh round of the championship, the points that would have been earned in Spain were nullified and thus the standings following Monaco would continue to stand heading into France. 

The issue surrounding the payment of fines by the FOCA drivers was resolved heading into France, the driver's at long last paying their fines which ensured the legitimacy of the French Grand Prix would not be questioned and would indeed be counted to the world championship. 

There was some small changes to the driver line-up heading to France. Marc Surer returned to the cockpit of the ATS after being out of action since South Africa after he had broken his legs during the qualifying session. His temporary replacement Jan Lammers was now out of the team, however Lammers would find solace as the new driver for the Ensign team. Ensign having replaced Patrick Gaillard after only one race. 


Entry List[]

Below is the full entry list for the 1980 French Grand Prix:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 South Africa Jody Scheckter Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 312T5 Ferrari 015 F12 3.0 M
2 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 312T5 Ferrari 015 F12 3.0 M
3 France Jean-Pierre Jarier United Kingdom Candy Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 010 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
4 Ireland Derek Daly United Kingdom Candy Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 010 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
5 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Parmalat Racing Team Brabham BT49 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
6 Argentina Ricardo Zunino United Kingdom Parmalat Racing Team Brabham BT49 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
7 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren M29C Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
8 France Alain Prost United Kingdom Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren M29C Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
9 Switzerland Marc Surer West Germany Team ATS ATS D4 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
11 United States Mario Andretti United Kingdom Team Essex Lotus Lotus 81 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
12 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Team Essex Lotus Lotus 81 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
14 Netherlands Jan Lammers United Kingdom Unipart Racing Team Ensign N180 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille France Equipe Renault Elf Renault RE20 Renault EF1 V6t 1.5 M
16 France René Arnoux France Equipe Renault Elf Renault RE20 Renault EF1 V6t 1.5 M
17 United Kingdom Geoff Lees United Kingdom Theodore Shadow Shadow DN12 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
18 Ireland David Kennedy United Kingdom Theodore Shadow Shadow DN12 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
20 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Brazil Skol Fittipaldi Team Fittipaldi F7 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
21 Finland Keke Rosberg Brazil Skol Fittipaldi Team Fittipaldi F7 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
22 France Patrick Depailler Italy Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 179 Alfa Romeo 1260 V12 3.0 G
23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Italy Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 179 Alfa Romeo 1260 V12 3.0 G
25 France Didier Pironi France Equipe Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS11/15 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
26 France Jacques Laffite France Equipe Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS11/15 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
27 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Albilad Williams Racing Team Williams FW07B Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
28 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Albilad Williams Racing Team Williams FW07B Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
29 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team Arrows A3 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
30 West Germany Jochen Mass United Kingdom Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team Arrows A3 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
31 United States Eddie Cheever Italy Osella Squadra Course Osella FA1 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Qualifying Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
26 France Jacques Laffite France Ligier-Ford 1:38.88
2 16 France René Arnoux France Renault 1:39.49 + 0.61
3 25 France Didier Pironi France Ligier-Ford 1:39.49 + 0.61
4 27 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Williams-Ford 1:39.50 + 0.62
5 28 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Williams-Ford 1:39.60 + 0.72
6 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille France Renault 1:40.18 + 1.30
7 8 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 1:40.63 + 1.75
8 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 1:40.67 + 1.79
9 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Italy Alfa Romeo 1:40.85 + 1.97
10 22 France Patrick Depailler Italy Alfa Romeo 1:40.89 + 2.01
11 9 Switzerland Marc Surer Germany ATS-Ford 1:41.03 + 2.15
12 11 United States Mario Andretti United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 1:41.56 + 2.68
13 7 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 1:41.63 + 2.75
14 12 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 1:41.66 + 2.78
15 30 Germany Jochen Mass United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 1:41.71 + 2.83
16 3 France Jean-Pierre Jarier United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 1:41.78 + 2.90
17 2 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Italy Ferrari 1:41.99 + 3.11
18 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 1:42.07 + 3.19
19 1 South Africa Jody Scheckter Italy Ferrari 1:42.38 + 3.50
20 4 Ireland Derek Daly United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 1:42.77 + 3.89
21 31 United States Eddie Cheever Italy Osella-Ford 1:42.85 + 3.97
22 6 Argentina Ricardo Zunino United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 1:43.14 + 4.26
23 21 Finland Keke Rosberg Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 1:43.16 + 4.28
24 20 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 1:43.21 + 4.33
DNQ 17 United Kingdom Geoff Lees United Kingdom Shadow-Ford 1:44.23 + 5.35
DNQ 14 Netherlands Jan Lammers United Kingdom Ensign-Ford 1:44.38 + 5.50
DNQ 18 Ireland David Kennedy United Kingdom Shadow-Ford 1:44.56 + 5.68

Race[]

Report[]

Jacques Laffite maintained his lead into the first corner, followed by René Arnoux and Didier Pironi. Going into the third corner Pironi made a lunge down the inside of Arnoux to make it a Ligier 1-2. Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Ricardo Zunino failed to make it off the start line due to mechanical troubles.

Heading into the second lap, Arnoux and Pironi squabbled for second place. Arnoux briefly got by before Pironi retook second. Whilst this occured, Laffite began to pull away at the front. The third lap saw Arnoux overtake Pironi going down the Mistral Straight, whilst at the same time Nelson Piquet had overtaken Carlos Reutemann for fifth place. The same lap saw Elio de Angelis pull into the pits to retire with a clutch failure.

The fourth lap saw Alain Prost overtake Reutemann for sixth, Arnoux had began to pull away from Pironi as the Ligier driver began to fall into the clutches of Alan Jones. The end of the lap saw Jones overtake Pironi and then begin to put pressure on Arnoux. 

The following lap Jones dived down the inside of Arnoux, however whilst he managed to claim the place, Pironi surprised both of them by slipping down the inside of Jones at the same time. Prost then pulled out of the race to retire with transmission troubles.

Gilles Villeneuve had done a good job to climb to seventh from eighteenth on the grid where he began to pressure Reutemann's Williams. Arnoux began to experience throttle problems and fell into the clutches of Piquet and Reutemann. The seventh lap saw Jones finally overtake Pironi going down the Mistral Straight. 

Lap eight saw Piquet overtake Arnoux for fourth place. Bruno Giacomelli had meanwhile pulled into the pits to retire with handling issues. Keke Rosberg had also spun into the sand and retired from the race.

Lap 10 saw Mario Andretti pull into the pits with gearbox issues, whilst he was able to get going again he exited the pits right in the middle of the Arnoux-Reutemann battle, costing Reutemann a couple of seconds as the Williams driver having to make his way around the backmarker of Andretti. Andretti would retire eight laps later, his gearbox issues proving terminal.

Lap 19 saw John Watson overtake Villeneuve for seventh. Villeneuve had in the meantime dropped significantly back from Reutemann in sixth. 

Laffite had largely dominated the race, however getting to the mid-point of the race he began to suffer from tyre degradation. This meant he slowly began to fall into the clutches of Alan Jones behind him. Soon enough Jones was climbing all over the back of Laffite, eager to find a way past. Soon enough on lap 35, Jones made his move down the Mistral Straight to take the lead of the race.

Pironi then began to apply the pressure to his slower teammate and on lap 40 he made his own move on Laffite to move into second place. The order stayed the same until the finish, Jones took a comfortable win ahead of the Ligier's of Pironi and Laffite, Piquet was a distant fourth whilst Arnoux was able to successfully hold off Reutemann throughout the race to finish fifth.


Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 27 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Williams-Ford 54 1:32.43.42 4 9
2 25 France Didier Pironi France Ligier-Ford 54 + 4.52 3 6
3 26 France Jacques Laffite France Ligier-Ford 54 + 30.26 1 4
4 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 54 + 1:14.88 8 3
5 16 France René Arnoux France Renault 54 + 1:16.15 2 2
6 28 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Williams-Ford 54 + 1:16.74 5 1
7 7 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 13
8 2 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Italy Ferrari 53 + 1 Lap 17
9 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 18
10 30 Germany Jochen Mass United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 15
11 4 Ireland Derek Daly United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 20
12 1 South Africa Jody Scheckter Italy Ferrari 52 + 2 Laps 19
13 20 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 50 Engine 24
14 3 France Jean-Pierre Jarier United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 50 + 4 Laps 16
Ret 31 United States Eddie Cheever Italy Osella-Ford 43 Engine 21
Ret 9 Switzerland Marc Surer Germany ATS-Ford 26 Gearbox 11
Ret 22 France Patrick Depailler Italy Alfa Romeo 25 Handling 10
Ret 11 United States Mario Andretti United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 18 Gearbox 12
Ret 21 Finland Keke Rosberg Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 8 Spun off 23
Ret 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Italy Alfa Romeo 8 Handling  9
Ret 8 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 6 Transmission 7
Ret 12 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 3 Clutch 14
Ret 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille France Renault 0 Transmission 6
Ret 6 Argentina Ricardo Zunino United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 0 Clutch 22
DNQ 17 United Kingdom Geoff Lees United Kingdom Shadow-Ford
DNQ 14 Netherlands Jan Lammers United Kingdom Ensign-Ford
DNQ 18 Ireland David Kennedy United Kingdom Shadow-Ford

Milestones[]

Standings after race[]

 
Drivers' World Championship
Pos. Driver Pts +/-
1 Australia Alan Jones 28 ▲2
2 Brazil Nelson Piquet 25 ▼1
3 France René Arnoux 23 ▼1
4 France Didier Pironi 23
5 Argentina Carlos Reutemann 16
6 France Jacques Laffite 16
7 Italy Riccardo Patrese 7
8 Italy Elio de Angelis 6
9 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi 5
10 Finland Keke Rosberg 4
11 Germany Jochen Mass 4
12 France Alain Prost 3
13 Ireland Derek Daly 3
14 United Kingdom John Watson 3
15 Canada Gilles Villeneuve 3
16 Italy Bruno Giacomelli 2
17 South Africa Jody Scheckter 2
18 France Jean-Pierre Jarier 2
Constructors' World Championship
Pos. Team Pts +/-
1 United Kingdom Williams-Ford 44
2 France Ligier-Ford 39
3 United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 25
4 France Renault 23
5 United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 11
6 Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 9
7 United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 6
8 United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 6
9 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 5
10 Italy Ferrari 5
11 Italy Alfa Romeo 2

External Links[]

V T E 1980 Formula One Season
Teams Alfa Romeo • Arrows • ATS • Brabham • Ensign • Ferrari • Fittipaldi • Ligier • Lotus • McLaren • Osella • Renault • Shadow • Tyrrell • Williams
Engines Alfa Romeo • Ferrari • Ford Cosworth • Renault
Drivers Andretti • de Angelis • Arnoux • Brambilla • de Cesaris • Cheever • Cogan • Daly • Depailler • Ertl • Fittipaldi • Giacomelli • Johansson •Jabouille • Jarier • Jones • Keegan • Kennedy • Laffite • Lammers • Lees • Mansell • Mass • Needell • Patrese • Piquet • Pironi • Prost • Rebaque • Regazzoni • Reutemann • Rosberg • Scheckter • South • Surer • Thackwell • Villeneuve • Watson • Wilson • Winkelhock • Zunino
Cars Alfa Romeo 179 • Arrows A3 • ATS D3 • ATS D4 • Brabham BT49 • Ensign N180 • Ferrari 312T5 • Fittipaldi F7 • Fittipaldi F8 • Ligier JS11/15 • Lotus 81 • Lotus 81B • McLaren M29B • McLaren M29C • McLaren M30 • Osella FA1 • Osella FA1B • Renault RE20 • Shadow DN11 • Shadow DN12 • Tyrrell 009 • Tyrrell 010 • Williams FW07 • Williams FW07B
Tyres Goodyear • Michelin
Races Argentina • Brazil • South Africa • United States West • Belgium • Monaco • France • Britain • Germany • Austria • Netherlands • Italy • Canada • United States
Non-championship Races Spain
See also 1979 Formula One Season • 1981 Formula One Season • Category
V T E France French Grand Prix
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