1980 French Grand Prix

The 1980 French Grand Prix was the seventh race of the 1980 Formula One Season. Alan Jones won the race in his beating the French s on home turf, Didier Pironi and Jacques Laffite finishing second and third.
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==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 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 team. Ensign having replaced Patrick Gaillard after only one race. 
==Entry List==
Below is the full entry list for the :
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model 	Tyre
1 	Jody Scheckter 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312T5 	 	015 F12 3.0 	
2 	Gilles Villeneuve 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312T5 	 	015 F12 3.0 	
3 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	Candy Team Tyrrell 	 	010 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
4 	Derek Daly 	Candy Team Tyrrell 	 	010 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
5 	Nelson Piquet 	Parmalat Racing Team 	 	BT49 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
6 	Ricardo Zunino 	Parmalat Racing Team 	 	BT49 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
7 	John Watson 	Marlboro Team McLaren 	 	M29C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
8 	Alain Prost 	Marlboro Team McLaren 	 	M29C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
9 	Marc Surer 	Team ATS 	 	D4 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
11 	Mario Andretti 	Team Essex Lotus 	 	81 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
12 	Elio de Angelis 	Team Essex Lotus 	 	81 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
14 	Jan Lammers 	Unipart Racing Team 	 	N180 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
15 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RE20 	 	EF1 V6t 1.5 	
16 	René Arnoux 	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RE20 	 	EF1 V6t 1.5 	
17 	Geoff Lees 	Theodore Shadow 	 	DN12 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
18 	David Kennedy 	Theodore Shadow 	 	DN12 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
20 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	Skol Fittipaldi Team 	 	F7 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
21 	Keke Rosberg 	Skol Fittipaldi Team 	 	F7 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
22 	Patrick Depailler 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	179 	 	1260 V12 3.0	
23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	179 	 	1260 V12 3.0	
25 	Didier Pironi 	Equipe Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS11/15	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
26 	Jacques Laffite 	Equipe Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS11/15	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
27 	Alan Jones 	Albilad Williams Racing Team 	 	FW07B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
28 	Carlos Reutemann 	Albilad Williams Racing Team 	 	FW07B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
29 	Riccardo Patrese 	Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team	 	A3 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
30 	Jochen Mass 	Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team	 	A3 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
31 	Eddie Cheever 	Osella Squadra Course 	 	FA1 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
===Qualifying Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time 	Gap
1  	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	1:38.88	
2 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	1:39.49	+ 0.61
3 	25 	Didier Pironi 	 	1:39.49	+ 0.61
4 	27 	Alan Jones 	 	1:39.50	+ 0.62
5 	28 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	1:39.60	+ 0.72
6 	15 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	 	1:40.18	+ 1.30
7 	8 	Alain Prost 	 	1:40.63	+ 1.75
8 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:40.67	+ 1.79
9 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	1:40.85	+ 1.97
10 	22 	Patrick Depailler 	 	1:40.89	+ 2.01
11 	9 	Marc Surer 	 	1:41.03	+ 2.15
12 	11 	Mario Andretti 	 	1:41.56	+ 2.68
13 	7 	John Watson 	 	1:41.63	+ 2.75
14 	12 	Elio de Angelis 	 	1:41.66	+ 2.78
15 	30 	Jochen Mass 	 	1:41.71	+ 2.83
16 	3 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	 	1:41.78	+ 2.90
17 	2 	Gilles Villeneuve 	 	1:41.99	+ 3.11
18 	29 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:42.07	+ 3.19
19 	1 	Jody Scheckter 	 	1:42.38	+ 3.50
20 	4 	Derek Daly 	 	1:42.77	+ 3.89
21 	31 	Eddie Cheever 	 	1:42.85	+ 3.97
22 	6 	Ricardo Zunino 	 	1:43.14	+ 4.26
23 	21 	Keke Rosberg 	 	1:43.16	+ 4.28
24 	20 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	 	1:43.21	+ 4.33
DNQ 	17 	Geoff Lees 	 	1:44.23	+ 5.35
DNQ 	14 	Jan Lammers 	 	1:44.38	+ 5.50
DNQ 	18 	David Kennedy 	 	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 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 . 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 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 	Alan Jones 	 	54 	1:32.43.42 	4 	9
2 	25 	Didier Pironi 	 	54 	+ 4.52 	3 	6
3 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	54 	+ 30.26 	1 	4
4 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	54 	+ 1:14.88 	8 	3
5 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	54 	+ 1:16.15 	2 	2
6 	28 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	54 	+ 1:16.74 	5 	1
7 	7 	John Watson 	 	53 	+ 1 Lap 	13 	
8 	2 	Gilles Villeneuve 	 	53 	+ 1 Lap 	17 	
9 	29 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	53 	+ 1 Lap 	18 	
10 	30 	Jochen Mass 	 	53 	+ 1 Lap 	15 	
11 	4 	Derek Daly 	 	52 	+ 2 Laps 	20 	
12 	1 	Jody Scheckter 	 	52 	+ 2 Laps 	19 	
13 	20 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	 	50 	Engine 	24 	
14 	3 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	 	50 	+ 4 Laps 	16 	
Ret 	31 	Eddie Cheever 	 	43 	Engine 	21 	
Ret 	9 	Marc Surer 	 	26 	Gearbox 	11 	
Ret 	22 	Patrick Depailler 	 	25 	Handling 	10 	
Ret 	11 	Mario Andretti 	 	18 	Gearbox 	12 	
Ret 	21 	Keke Rosberg 	 	8 	Spun off 	23 	
Ret 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	8 	Handling  	9 	
Ret 	8 	Alain Prost 	 	6 	Transmission	7 	
Ret 	12 	Elio de Angelis 	 	3 	Clutch 	14 	
Ret 	15 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	 	0 	Transmission	6 	
Ret 	6 	Ricardo Zunino 	 	0 	Clutch 	22 	
DNQ 	17 	Geoff Lees 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	14 	Jan Lammers 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	18 	David Kennedy 	 	 	 	 	
==Milestones==
==Standings after race==
 
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts 	+/-
1 	Alan Jones 	28 	2
2 	Nelson Piquet 	25 	1
3 	René Arnoux 	23 	1
4 	Didier Pironi 	23 	
5 	Carlos Reutemann 	16 	
6 	Jacques Laffite 	16 	
7 	Riccardo Patrese 	7 	
8 	Elio de Angelis 	6 	
9 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	5 	
10 	Keke Rosberg 	4 	
11 	Jochen Mass 	4 	
12 	Alain Prost 	3 	
13 	Derek Daly 	3 	
14 	John Watson 	3 	
15 	Gilles Villeneuve 	3 	
16 	Bruno Giacomelli 	2 	
17 	Jody Scheckter 	2 	
18 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	2 	
Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts 	+/-
1 	 	44 	
2 	 	39 	
3 	 	25 	
4 	 	23 	
5 	 	11 	
6 	 	9 	
7 	 	6 	
8 	 	6 	
9 	 	5 	
10 	 	5 	
11 	 	2 	
==External Links==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1980 Grands Prix
Category:French Grand Prix
Category:Formula One races in France