The 1980 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 September 1980 at the Autodromo Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. It was the twelfth race of the 1980 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1980 International Cup for F1 Constructors.
This was the first Formula One World Championship race to be held at Imola (the circuit having hosted the non-championship Dino Ferrari Grand Prix the previous year). It was the only Italian Grand Prix since 1948 not to be held at Monza, which was undergoing refurbishment at the time. The event would return to Monza in 1981, but Imola would remain on the F1 calendar until 2006, hosting the San Marino Grand Prix, and the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from 2020 to 2025.
The race was held over 60 laps of the circuit for a total race distance of .
The race was won by Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet, driving a Brabham-Ford. Piquet won by nearly half a minute from Australian driver Alan Jones, driving a Williams-Ford, with Jones' Argentine team-mate Carlos Reutemann third. The win was Piquet's third of the season and second in succession, and it gave him the lead of the Drivers' Championship by one point from Jones.
Manfred Winkelhock made his debut, substituting for the injured Jochen Mass at Arrows. A collision with Nigel Mansell's Lotus during qualifying resulted in both drivers failing to make the grid. Ferrari debuted their first turbo car, the 126C, but Gilles Villeneuve started the race in his regular 312T5. Regardless, after a 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 Renaults of René Arnoux and Jean-Pierre Jabouille, although Piquet led by lap 4 and was never headed. On lap 6, Villeneuve crashed his Ferrari heavily at the corner which now bears his name, following a puncture. Villeneuve escaped unhurt, but the incident also caused the retirement of Bruno Giacomelli, who ran over some of the debris in his Alfa Romeo. Jones moved up to second on lap 29 after running as low as seventh. Behind Reutemann, Elio de Angelis finished fourth in his Lotus, with Keke Rosberg fifth in his Fittipaldi and Didier Pironi sixth in his Ligier.
Jones' and Reutemann's podium finishes enabled the Williams team to secure their first Constructors' Championship with two races remaining.
Classification
Qualifying Pos No. Driver Team Time Gap 1 16 René Arnoux Renault 1:33.988 - 2 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 1:34.339 + 0.351 3 28 Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:34.686 + 0.698 4 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:34.912 + 0.924 5 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:34.960 + 0.972 6 27 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:35.109 + 1.121 7 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:35.618 + 1.630 8 2 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:35.751 + 1.763 9 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 1:35.872 + 1.884 10 11 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:36.084 + 2.096 11 21 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:36.091 + 2.103 12 3 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 1:36.181 + 2.193 13 25 Didier Pironi Ligier-Ford 1:36.422 + 2.434 14 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:36.450 + 2.462 15 20 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 1:36.758 + 2.770 16 1 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 1:36.827 + 2.839 17 31 Eddie Cheever Osella-Ford 1:36.884 + 2.896 18 12 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:36.919 + 2.931 19 22 Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo 1:36.929 + 2.941 20 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 1:36.972 + 2.984 21 50 Rupert Keegan Williams-Ford 1:37.169 + 3.181 22 4 Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford 1:37.215 + 3.227 23 9 Marc Surer ATS-Ford 1:37.270 + 3.282 24 8 Alain Prost McLaren-Ford 1:37.284 + 3.296 25 43 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 1:37.661 + 3.673 26 30 Manfred Winkelhock Arrows-Ford 1:38.212 + 4.224 27 14 Jan Lammers Ensign-Ford 1:38.215 + 4.227 28 41 Geoff Lees Ensign-Ford 1:38.451 + 4.463Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 60 1:38:07.52 5 9 2 27 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 60 + 28.93 6 6 3 28 Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 60 + 1:13.67 3 4 4 12 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 59 + 1 Lap 18 3 5 21 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 59 + 1 Lap 11 2 6 25 Didier Pironi Ligier-Ford 59 + 1 Lap 13 1 7 8 Alain Prost McLaren-Ford 59 + 1 Lap 24 8 1 Jody Scheckter Ferrari 59 + 1 Lap 16 9 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Ford 59 + 1 Lap 20 10 16 René Arnoux Renault 58 + 2 Laps 1 11 50 Rupert Keegan Williams-Ford 58 + 2 Laps 21 12 31 Eddie Cheever Osella-Ford 57 + 3 Laps 17 13 3 Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Ford 54 Brakes 12 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault 53 Gearbox 2 9 Marc Surer ATS-Ford 45 Engine 23 11 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 40 Engine 10 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 38 Engine 7 4 Derek Daly Tyrrell-Ford 33 Accident 22 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 20 Wheel Bearing 14 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 18 Suspension 9 20 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 17 Accident 15 2 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 5 Puncture 8 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 5 Puncture 4 22 Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo 4 Spun Off 19 43 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 30 Manfred Winkelhock Arrows-Ford 14 Jan Lammers Ensign-Ford 41 Geoff Lees Ensign-Ford
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Nelson Piquet* 54 1 2 Alan Jones* 53 3 Carlos Reutemann 37 4 Jacques Laffite 32 5 René Arnoux 29Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Ford 90 2 Ligier-Ford 56 3 Brabham-Ford 54 4 Renault 38 5 Tyrrell-Ford 12Source:
Bold text indicates the 1980 World Constructors' Champion. Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
References