The 1980 Formula One season was the 34th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1980 World Championship of Drivers and the 1980 International Cup for F1 Constructors,1980 FIA Yearbook, page 11 which were contested concurrently from 13 January to 5 October over a fourteen-race series.Motor Sport, January 1981, page 44 The season also included one non-championship race, the Spanish Grand Prix.Motor Sport, January 1981, page 45
Alan Jones, driving a Williams-Ford, became the first Australian to win the World Championship since Jack Brabham in . The season saw a major change of guard in Formula One with the Williams team's first Drivers' and Constructors' titles, the emergence of Nelson Piquet as a championship contender and the debut of future World Champions Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell, while reigning champions Jody Scheckter and Ferrari suffered a terrible season that resulted in Scheckter retiring from the sport at the end of the year. In addition, Frenchman Patrick Depailler lost his life while testing at Hockenheim.
Drivers and constructors The following drivers and constructors contested the 1980 World Championship of Drivers and the 1980 International Cup for F1 Constructors. Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyres No Driver Rounds SEFAC Ferrari Ferrari 312T5 Ferrari 015 3.0 F12 1 Jody Scheckter All 2 Gilles Villeneuve All 126C Ferrari 021 1.5 V6 t 12 Candy Tyrrell Team Tyrrell-Ford 009 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 3 Jean-Pierre Jarier 1–2 4 Derek Daly 1–2 010 3 Jean-Pierre Jarier 3–14 4 Derek Daly 3–14 43 Mike Thackwell 13–14 Parmalat Racing Brabham-Ford BT49 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 5 Nelson Piquet All 6 Ricardo Zunino 1–7 Héctor Rebaque 8–14 Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren-Ford M29B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 7 John Watson 1–3 8 Alain Prost 1–3 M29C 7 John Watson 4–14 8 Stephen South 4 Alain Prost 5–10 M30 11–14 Team ATS ATS-Ford D3 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 9 Marc Surer 1–2 10 Jan Lammers 1–3 D49 Marc Surer 3, 7–14 Jan Lammers 4–610 Harald Ertl 9 Team Essex Lotus Lotus-Ford 8181B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 11 Mario Andretti All 12 Elio de Angelis All 43 Nigel Mansell 10–12 Unipart Racing Team Ensign-Ford N180 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 14 Clay Regazzoni 1–4 Tiff Needell 5–6 Jan Lammers 7–14 41 Geoff Lees 11–12 Équipe Renault Elf Renault RE20 Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t 15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille 1–13 16 René Arnoux All Shadow Cars Theodore Shadow Shadow-Ford DN11DN12 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 17 Stefan Johansson 1–2 Geoff Lees 3–7 18 David Kennedy 1–7 Skol Fittipaldi Team Fittipaldi-Ford F7F8 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 20 Emerson Fittipaldi All 21 Keke Rosberg All Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 179 Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12 22 Patrick Depailler 1–8 Vittorio Brambilla 11–12 Andrea de Cesaris 13–14 23 Bruno Giacomelli All Équipe Ligier Gitanes Ligier-Ford JS11/15 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 25 Didier Pironi All 26 Jacques Laffite All Albilad Williams Racing Team Williams-Ford FW07 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 27 Alan Jones 1 FW07B 2–14 28 Carlos Reutemann All Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team Warsteiner Arrows Racing with Penthouse Rizla+. Arrows-Ford A3 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 29 Riccardo Patrese All 30 Jochen Mass 1–10, 13–14 Mike Thackwell 11 Manfred Winkelhock 12 Osella Racing Team Osella-Ford FA1FA1B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 31 Eddie Cheever All Brands Hatch Racing Williams-Ford FW07 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 43 Desiré Wilson 8 RAM – Penthouse Rizla+. Racing RAM – Rainbow Jeans/Theodore Racing RAM – Williams Grand Prix Engineering Williams-Ford FW07 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 50 Rupert Keegan 8–14 51 Kevin Cogan 13 Geoff Lees 14
Team and driver changes
Arturo Merzario and Héctor Rebaque had participated in the season, building their own chassis and driving themselves. However, both had closed down their F1 operations at the end of the year. Osella had been close to winning the 1979 European Formula Two Championship with driver Eddie Cheever. After securing the sponsorship of the Italian Tobacco Organization, they entered Formula 1 in 1980, taking Cheever with them. The American previously drove for Theodore and Hesketh in 1978. Williams signed Carlos Reutemann. The Argentinian had finished third in the championship in as well as , but had suffered a difficult season with Lotus. Ex-Williams driver Clay Regazzoni rejoined Ensign Racing, having driven for them in , after Marc Surer had moved to ATS. ATS also signed Jan Lammers, coming from the slowly dissipating Shadow team. Lammers' 1979 teammate Elio de Angelis moved to Lotus after Reutemann had left. For 1980, Shadow signed David Kennedy, runner-up in the 1979 British Formula One Championship, and Stefan Johansson, while he was still just a British F3 driver. Jacky Ickx had retired at the end of 1979, his Ligier seat taken up by Didier Pironi. 1979 European F3 champion Alain Prost made his F1 debut with McLaren. He replaced Patrick Tambay, who went on to become the 1980 Can-Am champion with Haas Lola. Fittipaldi signed future champion Keke Rosberg after buying the remains of the Wolf team at the end of last season. Whilst still recovering from a hang gliding accident, Patrick Depailler joined Alfa Romeo, taking the place of Vittorio Brambilla.
Mid-season changes Marc Surer crashed while qualifying at Kyalami, injuring both his legs. ATS had just reduced their operations from two to one car and parted with Jan Lammers, but the Dutchman rejoined for three more races, while Surer recovered. Clay Regazzoni was paralysed from the waist down when he lost his brakes at Long Beach, slamming into a parked car and a concrete barrier. Tiff Needell, Jan Lammers and Geoff Lees would take over the seat, in that order. Lees had already driven for Shadow earlier that year, after Stefan Johansson failed to qualify for his first two races and his debut was deemed preliminary. Half way through the season, the Shadow operation was taken over by Theodore Racing. Theodore would enter the season with their own first chassis. RAM Racing entered the British Grand Prix with a 1979-spec Williams FW07, driven by Rupert Keegan. They stayed for the rest of the season, even entering a second car for the final two races. (RAM had been involved in F1 since , but it would take until before they entered a full season entry and built their own chassis.) Héctor Rebaque returned to Formula 1, replacing Ricardo Zunino at Brabham from the British Grand Prix on. During a private testing session at Hockenheim, Alfa Romeo driver Patrick Depailler was killed in a crash. The team's 1979 driver Vittorio Brambilla returned for two races, before handing the drive over to debutant Andrea de Cesaris. Lotus test driver Nigel Mansell made his debut when Colin Chapman awarded him with three race starts, driving a development version of the Lotus 81. He would go on to be their full-season driver for . Just over a year after winning his first race in Formula 3, Mike Thackwell was driving in Formula Two and, at the Dutch Grand Prix, was granted his first Formula 1 test by Ken Tyrrell. He made his racing debut at the Canadian Grand Prix, making him the youngest F1 driver up to then (although the race was red-flagged and he was asked to give his car to Tyrrell driver Jean-Pierre Jarier for the restart, so the record is arguable).
Calendar Round Grand Prix Circuit Date 1 Argentine Grand Prix Autódromo de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 13 January 2 Brazilian Grand Prix Autodromo de Interlagos, São Paulo 27 January 3 South African Grand Prix Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand 1 March 4 United States Grand Prix West Long Beach Street Circuit, California 30 March 5 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder 4 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 18 May 7 French Grand Prix Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet 29 June 8 British Grand Prix Brands Hatch, Kent 13 July 9 German Grand Prix Hockenheimring, Hockenheim 10 August 10 Austrian Grand Prix Österreichring, Spielberg 17 August 11 Dutch Grand Prix Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort 31 August 12 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola 14 September 13 Canadian Grand Prix Île Notre-Dame Circuit, Montréal 28 September 14 United States Grand Prix Watkins Glen Grand Prix Course, New York State 5 October
Calendar changes The Brazilian Grand Prix was originally supposed to return to Jacarepaguá, but parts of the track, originally built on a swamp, were beginning to sink into the soft ground, so the race was held at Autodromo de Interlagos, like the year before. The Spanish Grand Prix, held on 1 June, was to be a championship race but it had a FISA–FOCA war concerning ground-effect aerodynamics. As a result of the war, Ferrari, Renault and Alfa Romeo boycotted the event. It was announced before Friday practice that the race was not going to be held under FISA regulations and, therefore, would not count towards the championship. The race was won by Alan Jones. The French Grand Prix was moved from Dijon-Prenois to Circuit Paul Ricard, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. Likewise, the British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone to Brands Hatch. The Italian Grand Prix was moved from the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza to the Autodromo Dino Ferrari while Monza underwent major upgrades, including a new pit building.
Provisional calendar Originally, 1980 was to be an eighteen-race championship, but three Grands Prix were cancelled before the season began: The Mexican Grand Prix was scheduled to be held on 13 April, but the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit was not renovated in time.David Hayhoe, Formula 1: The Knowledge – 2nd Edition, 2021, page 35. The Swedish Grand Prix was originally scheduled to be held on 14 June at Anderstorp Raceway, but was cancelled on 19 November 1979. With enthusiasm for Formula One in Sweden falling as a result of the deaths of Swedish drivers Ronnie Peterson and Gunnar Nilsson, financial support for the event was not secured in time. There was never another Swedish Grand Prix. The Caesars Palace Grand Prix was originally supposed to be held on 2 November, but the race was cancelled. It would go through in .
Season report Round 1: Argentina The 1980 Formula One season started in Argentina in January, at the Buenos Aires Municipal Autodrome. After Friday's practice, due to the heat and the suction the ground-effect cars were creating, the track began to break up, and the drivers found conditions difficult and dangerous. Led by Emerson Fittipaldi, the drivers staged a semi-unsuccessful protest – the organizers fixed the track, but not successfully – and on race day, the track remained in subpar condition. The race went ahead anyway, and many drivers were caught-out by the disintegration of the twisty arena infield section of the No.15 variant of the racing facility. After going off twice and dropping back to 4th after making a pit-stop to clean grass out of his car's radiators, Australian and title favorite Alan Jones took victory in his Williams-Ford/Cosworth. Brazilian Nelson Piquet, who also went off a few times, finished 2nd, and Finn Keke Rosberg scored 3rd in his Fittipaldi. French rookie Alain Prost, in his first ever F1 race, finished 6th and scored his first ever World Championship point. Gilles Villeneuve, competitive throughout in his Ferrari, crashed heavily at the Toboggan left-right sequence of corners after his front suspension failed after possible damage caused to it after a number of off-track excursions the Canadian had during the race.
Round 2: Brazil