1980 Brazilian Grand Prix

1980 Brazilian Grand Prix
Race 2 of 14 in the 1980 Formula One season
Race details
Date	January 27, 1980
Official name	IX Grande Prêmio do Brasil
Location	Interlagos, São Paulo, Brazil
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	7.87385 km (4.893 miles)
Distance	40 laps, 314.954 km (195.703 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault
Time	2:21.40
Fastest lap
Driver	René Arnoux	Renault
Time	2:27.31 on lap 22
Podium
First	René Arnoux	Renault
Second	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford
Third	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1980 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 27 January 1980 at the Interlagos circuit in the Interlagos neighborhood of São Paulo. It was the second round of the 1980 Formula One season, and it was also the ninth Brazilian Grand Prix. It was the eighth to be held at Interlagos and would be the last until the circuit was substantially redeveloped for the 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix. The race was held over 40 laps of the 7.87-kilometre (4.9 mile) circuit for a total race distance of 315 kilometres. This race was originally supposed to be held at the Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro, but was transferred to Interlagos because parts of the Rio circuit's tarmac were actually sinking into the soft swampland the circuit was built on. This last-minute switch to Interlagos- which was to be resurfaced and heavily rebuilt with new pit facilities and safety measures for the 1981 season caused a lot of controversy- Interlagos had returned a bit too soon for some of the drivers- the facility had been barely and badly maintained over the years.

Months before the race, a number of drivers including world champion Jody Scheckter, wanted to boycott the event due to safety concerns with the circuit. The improvements made to the circuit made in 1978 and 1979 were lacklustre, as the circuit was still extremely bumpy (which the circuit was well known for) and the catch-fencing and barriers surrounding the circuit were not perceived to be adequate to protect the drivers from the embankments and ditches around the circuit. The side skirted-ground effect wing cars at the time were not stiffly sprung yet, and had a tendency to bounce up and down over bumps, making them rather intolerant and of such a rough surface as Interlagos's was, and this made the cars very unpleasant to drive there. The drivers even claimed the surface was so bad that it was actually dangerous to drive those cars at the Sāo Paulo city-located circuit, and although Scheckter and the other concerned drivers nearly succeeded in stopping the race- there was a 13/13 vote, and the drivers then decided to do the race at the 11th hour.

The race was won by French driver René Arnoux driving a Renault RE20. It was Arnoux's first World Championship victory and Equipe Renault's second and the second for a turbocharged car. Arnoux won by 21 seconds over Italian driver Elio de Angelis driving a Lotus 81. Championship points leader, Australian driver Alan Jones finished third in his Williams FW07B.

Thanks to the high altitude (850 meters, or 2,840 feet) of the Interlagos circuit, the turbocharged Renaults of Jean-Pierre Jabouille and René Arnoux were dominant, running 1-2 for much of the race until Jabouille's turbo failed on lap 25. Pole-sitter Jabouille had made a poor start and dropped to fourth, with both Ligier JS11/15s and Gilles Villeneuve in his Ferrari 312T5 getting past; however, Jabouille's horsepower advantage on the high-altitude circuit meant that he passed both Ligiers; Jacques Laffite immediately on the Retao straight, Didier Pironi at Arquibacanas at the end of the first lap and took the lead from Villeneuve at the end of Reta Oposta into Curva do Sol. Arnoux had gotten up to 2nd, and when Jabouille retired Arnoux took the lead over and kept it until the checkered flag.

Alain Prost (McLaren M29) and Riccardo Patrese (Arrows A3) battled for much of the second half of the race for fifth place, with Prost having the advantage through the corners while Patrese was quicker in the straights. Ricardo Zunino (Brabham BT49) bumped into John Watson (McLaren M29) at Curva 3 and spun off; however, he was able to recover and finish the race. Brazilian hopeful Nelson Piquet fought back to sixth after a poor start but then suffered a puncture which subsequently caused suspension failure.

Pironi had to make an early pit stop after one of his aerodynamic skirts was stuck upwards, and he rejoined near the back of the field, however he began a charge and he was able to finish 4th on this most difficult and demanding of circuits. This effort was enough for Enzo Ferrari to take an interest in Pironi's services; which he secured for the 1981 season, replacing Scheckter, who withdrew from the category and motorsport at the end of 1980.

This would be the last of 8 Grands Prix held at the original 5-mile Interlagos circuit. In addition to the safety problems not helped by the rather lackluster upgrades of the circuit, Sāo Paulo had grown at an alarming rate over the space of 10 years from 5 to 8 million people. There were growing favelas and shanty towns around the circuit, and the circuit's surrounding area's poverty-stricken appearance was at odds with Formula One's image, which was evolving into a glamour sport. F1 would return to the Jacarepaguá Autodrome in Rio de Janeiro, having already been there in 1978 and for the rest of the 1980s.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	2:21.40	-
2	25	Didier Pironi	Ligier-Ford	2:21.65	+ 0.25
3	2	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	2:22.17	+ 0.77
4	28	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	2:22.26	+ 0.86
5	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford	2:22.30	+ 0.90
6	16	René Arnoux	Renault	2:22.31	+ 0.91
7	12	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	2:22.40	+ 1.00
8	1	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	2:23.02	+ 1.62
9	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	2:23.16	+ 1.76
10	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	2:23.38	+ 1.98
11	11	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	2:23.46	+ 2.06
12	14	Clay Regazzoni	Ensign-Ford	2:24.85	+ 3.45
13	8	Alain Prost	McLaren-Ford	2:24.95	+ 3.55
14	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	2:25.06	+ 3.66
15	21	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	2:25.74	+ 4.34
16	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows-Ford	2:25.75	+ 4.35
17	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	2:25.80	+ 4.40
18	6	Ricardo Zunino	Brabham-Ford	2:26.53	+ 5.13
19	20	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	2:26.86	+ 5.46
20	9	Marc Surer	ATS-Ford	2:27.10	+ 5.70
21	22	Patrick Depailler	Alfa Romeo	2:27.11	+ 5.71
22	3	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford	2:27.15	+ 5.75
23	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	2:27.29	+ 5.89
24	4	Derek Daly	Tyrrell-Ford	2:28.10	+ 6.70
DNQ	10	Jan Lammers	ATS-Ford	2:29.54	+ 8.14
DNQ	18	David Kennedy	Shadow-Ford	2:30.52	+ 9.12
DNQ	17	Stefan Johansson	Shadow-Ford	2:31.48	+10.08
DNQ	31	Eddie Cheever	Osella-Ford	2:34.52	+13.12

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	16	René Arnoux	Renault	M	40	1:40:01.33	6	9
2	12	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	G	40	+21.86 secs	7	6
3	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	G	40	+1:06.11 secs	10	4
4	25	Didier Pironi	Ligier-Ford	G	40	+1:40.13 secs	2	3
5	8	Alain Prost	McLaren-Ford	G	40	+2:25.41 secs	13	2
6	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	G	39	+1 Lap	14	1
7	9	Marc Surer	ATS-Ford	G	39	+1 Lap	20
8	6	Ricardo Zunino	Brabham-Ford	G	39	+1 Lap	18
9	21	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	G	39	+1 Lap	15
10	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows-Ford	G	39	+1 Lap	16
11	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	G	39	+1 Lap	23
12	3	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford	G	39	+1 Lap	22
13	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	G	39	+1 Lap	17
14	4	Derek Daly	Tyrrell-Ford	G	38	+2 Laps	24
15	20	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	G	38	+2 Laps	19
16	2	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	M	36	Throttle	3
Ret	22	Patrick Depailler	Alfa Romeo	G	33	Electrical	21
Ret	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	M	25	Turbo	1
Ret	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	G	14	Suspension	9
Ret	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford	G	13	Electrical	5
Ret	14	Clay Regazzoni	Ensign-Ford	G	13	Engine	12
Ret	1	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	M	10	Engine	8
Ret	11	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	G	1	Spun Off	11
Ret	28	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	G	1	Halfshaft	4
DNQ	10	Jan Lammers	ATS-Ford	G
DNQ	18	David Kennedy	Shadow-Ford	G
DNQ	17	Stefan Johansson	Shadow-Ford	G
DNQ	31	Eddie Cheever	Osella-Ford	G
Source:

Notes

• This was the 25th Grand Prix start for German constructor ATS.
• This was the 5th podium finish for Renault and a Renault-powered car.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Alan Jones	13
2	René Arnoux	9
3	Nelson Piquet	6
4	Elio de Angelis	6
5	Keke Rosberg	4
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Williams-Ford	13
2	Renault	9
3	Brabham-Ford	6
4	Lotus-Ford	6
5	Fittipaldi-Ford	4
Source:

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