Italian GP 1980

Italian GP, 1980

The Italian GP moved away from Monza in 1980, as a direct result of the multiple-car accident in 1978. Monza had done the necessary safety work but by then a contract had been agreed with Imola. As a result there was a non-championship Dino Ferrari GP in 1979 and the Italian GP in 1980.

There were 28 cars entered and with Jochen Mass still out of action at Arrows, his place was taken by Manfred Winkelhock. His F1 debut was short-lived however as he soon spun and crashed into Nigel Mansell's Lotus. Both cars were destroyed and neither man qualified as a result.

Qualifying resulted in the expected 1-2 for the Renault team with Rene Arnoux beating Jean-Pierre Jabouille. Carlos Reutemann was third his Williams ahead of Bruno Giacomelli (Alfa Romeo), Nelson Piquet (Brabham), Alan Jones (Williams), Riccardo Patrese (Arrows), Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari), Hector Rebaque (Brabham) and Mario Andretti (Lotus). Ligier was in trouble with Didier Pironi 13th and Jacques Laffite 20th. Ferrari appeared with the new 126C turbo car in the hands of Villeneuve (Jody Scheckter had announced that he would be retiring at the end of the year) but the car was not reliable.

In the race Reutemann jumped into the lead at the start but it ran into clutch trouble almost immediately and so it was Arnoux and Jabouille who led the field away with Piquet third, Giacomelli fourth, Villeneuve fifth, Rebaque sixth and Jones seventh. On the third lap Jabouille and Piquet overtook Arnoux and then Piquet passed Jabouille to take the lead.

On lap six there was a spectacular accident when Villeneuve suffered a tire failure at the corner before Tosa (now known as Villeneuve). The Ferrari hit the barriers nearly head-on and the car was destroyed, the main section of the monocoque bouncing back into the middle of the pack. Villeneuve escaped unhurt but the accident caused the retirement of Giacomelli who ran over some of the wreckage.

Arnoux fell back and was overtaken by Jones (who had previously overtaken Rebaque). The Australian then chased after Jabouille and took second place on lap 29. The pair finished in that order and Piquet moved into the lead in the World Championship by just one point.

Reutemann was able to work his way up third after Arnoux faded and Jabouille went out with a gearbox failure. This enabled Elio de Angelis to finish fourth with Keke Rosberg (Wolf) fifth and Pironi sixth.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
Nelson Piquet Brabham-Cosworth  60 1h38m07.520s  
27 Alan Jones Williams-Cosworth  60 1h38m36.450s  
28 Carlos Reutemann Williams-Cosworth  60 1h39m21.190s  
12 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Cosworth  59  18 
21 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Cosworth  59  11 
25 Didier Pironi Ligier-Cosworth  59  13 
Alain Prost McLaren-Cosworth  59  24 
Jody Scheckter Ferrari  59  16 
26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Cosworth  59  20 
10 16 Rene Arnoux Renault  58  
11 50 Rupert Keegan Williams-Cosworth  58  21 
12 31 Eddie Cheever Osella-Cosworth  57  17 
13r Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell-Cosworth  54 Brakes 12 
15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault  53 Gearbox 
Marc Surer ATS-Cosworth  45 Engine 23 
11 Mario Andretti Lotus-Cosworth  40 Engine 10 
29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Cosworth  38 Engine 
Derek Daly Tyrrell-Cosworth  33 Accident 22 
John Watson McLaren-Cosworth  20 Brakes/ Wheel Bearing 14 
Hector Rebaque Brabham-Cosworth  18 Rear Suspension 
20 Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Cosworth  17 Accident 15 
Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari  Puncture/ Accident 
23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo  Puncture/ Accident 
22 Vittorio Brambilla Alfa Romeo  Accident 19 
nq 43 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Cosworth    25 
nq 30 Manfred Winkelhock Arrows-Cosworth    26 
nq 14 Jan Lammers Ensign-Cosworth    27 
nq 41 Geoff Lees Ensign-Cosworth    28