1980 Austrian Grand Prix

The 1980 Austrian Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 1980 Formula One Season. Jean-Pierre Jabouille in a took his second grand prix victory ahead of the two cars of Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann. The race was also notable for the debut of Nigel Mansell for the team. 
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==Background==
Heading into Austria, Alan Jones and comfortably led the driver's and constructor's championships. Despite Jacques Laffite's win in Germany, the who were proving to be Williams's strongest rivals had not been consistent enough throughout the season to pose a serious threat to the Williams cars. The  Österreichring was the fastest circuit on the calendar, this would play to the advantage of the turbo-charged cars of René Arnoux and Jean-Pierre Jabouille who were usually the fastest cars on the track at the fast circuits. 
 would enter a third car for the weekend, the team's test driver Nigel Mansell would make his Formula One debut in Austria. Mansell had been in the running for the second seat at Lotus pre-season, the seat went to Elio de Angelis however, Mansell had in 1979 broken his back during a Formula Three event and wasn't in the best physical condition prior to the start of the season. After a series of impressive tests, Mansell was given the go to race, it was rumoured Colin Chapman was evaluating him for a race seat alongside Elio de Angelis for . After two disappointing seasons at Lotus following his world championship victory in , Mario Andretti was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Lotus team and was unlikely to stay on for the new season. 
==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 	Héctor Rebaque 	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 	
20 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	Skol Fittipaldi Team 	 	F8 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
21 	Keke Rosberg 	Skol Fittipaldi Team 	 	F8 	 	DFV V8 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 	
43 	Nigel Mansell 	Team Essex Lotus 	 	81B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
50 	Rupert Keegan 	RAM - Penthouse Rizla Racing 	 	FW07 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
During the qualifying session, Jochen Mass in his had a nasty off, Mass speared off the circuit and into a field rolling his car multiple times. During the accident Mass had injured his neck meaning he would be unable to further participate in the weekend. Following Mass's crash, six drivers were awarded a fine of 30 000 Austrian schillings for ignoring red flags following Mass's accident. 
Unsurprisingly, the cars were the quickest cars on the track with Arnoux and Jabouille taking the first two grid slots with the and cars lining up behind them. 
===Qualifying Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time 	Gap
1  	16 	René Arnoux 	 	1:30.27	
2 	15 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	 	1:31.48	+ 1.21
3 	27 	Alan Jones 	 	1:32.95	+ 2.78
4 	28 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	1:33.07	+ 2.80
5 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	1:33.16	+ 2.89
6 	25 	Didier Pironi 	 	1:33.22	+ 2.95
7 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:33.39	+ 3.12
8 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	1:33.64	+ 3.37
9 	12 	Elio de Angelis 	 	1:33.76	+ 3.49
10 	4 	Derek Daly 	 	1:34.17	+ 3.90
11 	21 	Keke Rosberg 	 	1:34.33	+ 4.06
12 	8 	Alain Prost 	 	1:34.35	+ 4.08
13 	3 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	 	1:34.63	+ 4.36
14 	6 	Héctor Rebaque 	 	1:34.86	+ 4.59
15 	2 	Gilles Villeneuve 	 	1:34.87	+ 4.60
16 	9 	Marc Surer 	 	1:35.10	+ 4.83
17 	11 	Mario Andretti 	 	1:35.21	+ 4.94
18 	29 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:35.29	+ 5.02
19 	31 	Eddie Cheever 	 	1:35.40	+ 5.13
20 	50 	Rupert Keegan 	() 	1:35.53	+ 5.26
21 	7 	John Watson 	 	1:35.56	+ 5.29
22 	1 	Jody Scheckter 	 	1:35.61	+ 5.34
23 	20 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	 	1:35.67	+ 5.40
24 	43 	Nigel Mansell 	 	1:35.71	+ 5.44
DNQ 	14 	Jan Lammers 	 	1:36.04	+ 5.77
DNQ 	30 	Jochen Mass 	 	No time	
==Race==
Prior to the start of the race, the mechanics had overfuelled their debutant driver Nigel Mansells car, this meant the fuel had spilt onto Mansell's back whilst he was sitting in the car. Mansell could feel the fuel burning on his back and although the team asked if he would like to retire from the event, Mansell refused to quit despite sitting in a puddle of petrol and took his final grid placing in twenty fourth place. 
The cars made poor getaways off the line, René Arnoux lost the lead to Alan Jones whilst Jean-Pierre Jabouille dropped behind Jones, Bruno Giacomelli who had made a brilliant start from eighth on the grid and Didier Pironi. By the end of the first lap, Giacomelli had lost third place as Pironi and Jabouille had overtaken him once again. On the second lap, Jabouille was making up ground as he overtook Pironi's Ligier for third position. 
The two Renault cars were clearly the fastest cars on track and Arnoux and Jabouille began to pressure Jones's Williams for the lead of the race. On lap three, the two Renault's made their attack with both cars getting by the Williams driver, Arnoux inheriting the lead of the race. 
On lap 12, Derek Daly had a terrifying moment when his suffered a brake failure whilst dicing with Keke Rosberg, Daly went flying off the circuit, smashing through a wooden fencing and ending up in a paddock outside of the circuit. Luckily the Tyrrell driver emerged unscathed. 
Pironi, meanwhile had begun to drop back, his Ligier had begun to lose pace and dropped behind Giacomelli, Carlos Reutemann and Nelson Piquet. By lap 25, Pironi was out of the race with handling problems. Piquet, in the found a surge of pace and overtook both Reutemann and Giacomelli to move into fourth position. 
Whilst enjoying a comfortable lead, Arnoux then began to suffer from severe tyre degradation and was forced into the pits for new tyres, ruining his race. Arnoux, already out of the running would have to pit for tyres another two times during the race. It would be an unfortunate result for him as in the final stages, Arnoux set a new lap record on lap 50 for the circuit despite being one lap down on the leaders. 
In the mid-stage of the race, Reutemann had moved ahead of Giacomelli and when Piquet began to experience clutch problems, the Argentine took third as well. Piquet would continue to struggle and dropped behind Giacomelli and Jacques Laffite as well.  A strong drive from Giacomelli was brought to an end on lap 28 when he went out with suspension problems. 
Lap 40 saw the debutant Mansell retire with engine failure. Mansell was barely able to walk as he stumbled out of his car, he had been sitting in a pool of petrol for nearly the entire race where he suffered first and second degree burns to his lower back and buttocks. 
Jabouille, meanwhile had managed to establish a comfortable ten second lead over Jones in second place. However in the closing stages, like Arnoux before him the Renault began to suffer from tyre degradation. Lap after lap Jones began to edge closer and by the final lap Jones was on Jabouille's tail. Jabouille however was able to hang on to first by the skin of his teeth, the Renault driver taking the win by less than a second as the two cars crossed the finish line nearly neck to neck. 
Jabouille was ecstatic, the Renault driver had suffered poor luck throughout the season, his car breaking down race after race. His Austrian win was remarkably not only his first win of the season but his first points of the season as well. Jones, although increasing his championship lead was more disgruntled. He felt that he could have taken the race win if his pit crew had kept him properly informed of Jabouille's issues where he would have applied more pressure at an earlier stage. 
Reutemann took third, further strengthening Williams's constructors standings whilst Laffite was fourth ahead of Piquet and Elio de Angelis. 
===Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired 	Grid	Points
1 	15 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	 	54 	1:26:15.73 	2 	9
2 	27 	Alan Jones 	 	54 	+ 0.82 	3 	6
3 	28 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	54 	+ 19.36 	4 	4
4 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	54 	+ 42.02 	5 	3
5 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	54 	+ 1:02.81 	7 	2
6 	12 	Elio de Angelis 	 	54 	+ 1:14.97 	9 	1
7 	8 	Alain Prost 	 	54 	+ 1:33.41 	12 	
8 	2 	Gilles Villeneuve 	 	53 	+ 1 Lap 	15 	
9 	16 	René Arnoux  	 	53 	+ 1 Lap 	1 	
10 	6 	Héctor Rebaque 	 	53 	+ 1 Lap 	14 	
11 	20 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	 	53 	+ 1 Lap 	23 	
12 	9 	Marc Surer 	 	53 	+ 1 Lap 	16 	
13 	1 	Jody Scheckter 	 	53 	+ 1 Lap 	22 	
14 	29 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	53 	+ 1 Lap 	18 	
15 	50 	Rupert Keegan 	() 	52 	+ 2 Laps 	20 	
16 	21 	Keke Rosberg 	 	52 	+ 2 Laps 	11 	
Ret 	43 	Nigel Mansell 	 	40 	Engine 	24 	
Ret 	7 	John Watson 	 	34 	Engine 	21 	
Ret 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	28 	Wheel 	8 	
Ret 	25 	Didier Pironi 	 	25 	Handling 	6 	
Ret 	3 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	 	25 	Electrical 	13 	
Ret 	31 	Eddie Cheever 	 	23 	Wheel bearing 	19 	
Ret 	4 	Derek Daly 	 	12 	Brakes / Accident	10 	
Ret 	11 	Mario Andretti 	 	6 	Engine 	17 	
DNQ 	14 	Jan Lammers 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	30 	Jochen Mass 	 	 	 	 	
==Milestones==
* Second and final victory and podium for Jean-Pierre Jabouille.
* First race for Nigel Mansell.
==Standings after race==
    
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts 	+/-
1 	Alan Jones 	47 	
2 	Nelson Piquet 	36 	
3 	Carlos Reutemann 	30 	
4 	Jacques Laffite 	28 	
5 	René Arnoux 	23 	
6 	Didier Pironi 	23 	
7 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille 	9 	12
8 	Riccardo Patrese 	7 	1
9 	Elio de Angelis 	7 	1
10 	Derek Daly 	6 	1
11 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	5 	1
12 	Keke Rosberg 	4 	1
13 	Jochen Mass 	4 	1
14 	Alain Prost 	4 	1
15 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	4 	1
16 	Gilles Villeneuve 	4 	1
17 	Bruno Giacomelli 	4 	1
18 	John Watson 	3 	1
19 	Jody Scheckter 	2 	1
Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts 	+/-
1 	 	77 	
2 	 	51 	
3 	 	36 	
4 	 	32 	
5 	 	11 	
6 	 	10 	
7 	 	9 	
8 	 	7 	
9 	 	7 	
10 	 	6 	
11 	 	4 	
==Notes==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1980 Grands Prix
Category:Austrian Grand Prix
Category:Formula One races in Austria