1980 Spanish Grand Prix

The 1980 Spanish Grand Prix was a non-championship race, held on June 1. It was originally scheduled as a championship event, but fell victim to the ongoing war between FISA and FOCA. The race was won by Alan Jones in a , ahead of Jochen Mass in an and Elio de Angelis in a .
The , and teams never took to the track, afraid of retribution against their cars running in other FIA events. initially withheld their cars from practicing, but finally competed under pressure from their sponsors.
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==Background==
The 1980 Spanish Grand Prix had intended to be the seventh round of the 1980 Formula One World Championship. Following the Monaco race, Nelson Piquet led the championship by one point ahead of René Arnoux with Alan Jones a further three points adrift in third. led the constructor's standings, five points ahead of .
Heading into the event, tensions had begin to brew between Formula One's governing body, the FISA and FOCA, the body representing the Formula One team's on the grid. The only three teams not associated with FOCA were the manufacturer teams, , and .
At the beginning of the season, FISA President Jean-Marie Balestre had announced that there would be a mandatory drivers pre-race briefing which had compulsory attendance for all drivers on the grid. However during the previous two rounds in Belgium and Monaco, the FOCA drivers had been instructed to boycott the driver briefings by FOCA CEO Bernie Ecclestone. FOCA being unhappy with FISA, feeling they were demonstrating bias towards the three manufacturer teams.
As a result, heading into the Spanish race Balestre had ordered the suspension of fifteen of the driver's superlicenses, until a fine of approximately $2,000 had been paid by each. In a press conference held on the Thursday before the race weekend, Balestre announced to the race organisers of the Spanish Grand Prix, the Royal Automobile Club of Spain (RACE) that the suspended driver's would not be allowed to take part in Friday practice the following day until their fines had been paid. 
Despite this, the FOCA driver's continued to refuse to pay their fines despite the threat of expulsion from the event. RACE, worried that the event would not go ahead offered to deposit the fines to the FISA on behalf of the drivers. Balestre refused, stating the fines had to paid in full by the drivers.
A FOCA spokesperson then pointed out a failure in this argument as Essex, a sponsor for Mario Andretti had previously paid his fine for him to ensure he did not run into problems with his superlicense ahead of the 1980 Indianapolis 500 that Andretti had competed in. Furthermore, Nelson Piquet had been allowed to compete in an Endurance race at the Nürburgring, despite his superlicense being supposedly suspended. 
RACE had been instructed by the Spanish King, Juan Carlos that the race must be run regardless of the FISA-FOCA dispute. Due to this the race organisers would allow the FOCA teams to participate in the event, despite the race losing the sanctioning of the FIA if it did. 
As a result the race would go ahead without the sanctioning of the FIA and therefore losing its status as a 1980 World Championship event.
===Entry List===
The full entry list for the is outlined below:
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model 	Tyre
1 	Jody Scheckter 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312T5 	 	015 3.0 F12 	
2 	Gilles Villeneuve 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312T5 	 	015 3.0 F12 	
3 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	Candy Team Tyrrell 	 	010 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
4 	Derek Daly 	Candy Team Tyrrell 	 	010 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
5 	Nelson Piquet 	Parmalat Racing Team 	 	BT49 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
6 	Ricardo Zunino 	Parmalat Racing Team 	 	BT49 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
7 	John Watson 	Marlboro Team McLaren 	 	M29C 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
8 	Alain Prost 	Marlboro Team McLaren 	 	M29C 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
9 	Marc Surer 	Team ATS 	 	D4 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
11 	Mario Andretti 	Team Essex Lotus 	 	81 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
12 	Elio de Angelis 	Team Essex Lotus 	 	81 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
14 	Patrick Gaillard 	Unipart Racing Team 	 	N180 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
15 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RE20 	 	EF1 1.5 V6t 	
16 	René Arnoux 	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RE20 	 	EF1 1.5 V6t 	
17 	Geoff Lees 	Theodore Shadow 	 	DN12 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
18 	David Kennedy 	Theodore Shadow 	 	DN12 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
20 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	Skol Fittipaldi Team 	 	F7 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
21 	Keke Rosberg 	Skol Fittipaldi Team 	 	F7 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
22 	Patrick Depailler 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	179 	 	1260 3.0 V12	
23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	179 	 	1260 3.0 V12	
25 	Didier Pironi 	Equipe Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS11/15	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
26 	Jacques Laffite 	Equipe Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS11/15	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
27 	Alan Jones 	Albilad Williams Racing Team 	 	FW07B 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
28 	Carlos Reutemann 	Albilad Williams Racing Team 	 	FW07B 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
29 	Riccardo Patrese 	Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team	 	A3 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
30 	Jochen Mass 	Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team	 	A3 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
31 	Eddie Cheever 	Osella Squadra Corse 	 	FA1 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
34 	Emilio de Villota 	RAM Racing 	 	FW07 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
35 	Vittorio Brambilla 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	179 	 	1260 3.0 V12	
41 	Brian Henton 	Unipart Racing Team 	 	N180 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
50 	Eliseo Salazar 	RAM Racing 	 	FW07 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
==Qualifying==
Friday practice got underway with all the teams with the exception of , , and . All four teams gave the same reason for their non-participation, they could not afford to lose their superlicenses which allowed them to compete in other motorsport categories. Renault team manager Jean Sage, said the four teams were neither for or against Balestre and simply could not afford the risk of competing. 
The four teams kept their cars on hand in case of a reconciliation with the FIA. Negotiations between Balestre and Ecclestone continued throughout Friday, Balestre continued to insist full payment if the FIA was to sanction the event whilst Ecclestone continued to refuse to pay as payment would prevent FOCA to continue to question the legalities of the fines. 
Ahead of Saturday qualifying, Osella team principal Enzo Osella had began to consider to enter the event if the team ran under its sponsor's name whilst Renault and Alfa Romeo were seemingly prepared to enter only if Ferrari were willing as well. Ecclestone negotiated with Ferrari manager, Marco Piccinini throughout the morning, however Piccinini refused to change his stance as Ferrari supremo Enzo Ferrari was refusing to enter the event in fear of reprisal in Ferrari's other motorsport ventures. As a result, neither Renault, Alfa Romeo and Osella would have any further participation in the event.
During qualifying, the cars seemed to have the pace, Jacques Laffite and Didier Pironi dominated the session. A late charge from Alan Jones's Williams allowed him to split the Ligier rampage by moving into second place on the grid. Jones had during the session a scuffle with the local talent, Emilio de Villota in the privately entered by . De Villota continually blocking Jones saw the official Williams driver angrily gesticulating to the Spaniard as he finally drove past.
===Qualifying Results===
The full qualifying results for the are outlined below:
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time 	Time 	Gap
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Q1 	Q2 	Gap
1 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	1:12.647 	1:13.170 	—
2 	27 	Alan Jones 	 	1:13.583 	1:13.021 	+0.374s
3 	25 	Didier Pironi 	 	1:13.034 	1:13.768 	+0.387s
4 	28 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	1:13.270 	1:13.765 	+0.623s
5 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:13.604 	1:13.875 	+0.957s
6 	8 	Alain Prost 	 	1:14.036 	1:13.631 	+0.984s
7 	6 	Ricardo Zunino 	 	1:14.180 	1:15.207 	+1.533s
8 	11 	Mario Andretti 	 	1:14.249 	1:14.505 	+1.602s
9 	9 	Marc Surer 	 	1:14.795 	1:14.420 	+1.773s
10 	31 	Eddie Cheever 	 	— 	1:14.424 	+1.777s
11 	29 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:14.787 	1:14.437 	+1.790s
12 	7 	John Watson 	 	1:14.579 	1:14.692 	+1.932s
13 	12 	Elio de Angelis 	 	1:15.138 	1:14.583 	+1.936s
14 	30 	Jochen Mass 	 	1:14.805 	1:15.383 	+2.158s
15 	3 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	 	1:14.820 	1:15.002 	+2.173s
16 	4 	Derek Daly 	 	1:14.965 	1:15.331 	+2.318s
17 	34 	Emilio de Villota 	 	1:15.046 	1:15.279 	+2.399s
18 	21 	Keke Rosberg 	 	1:15.104 	1:15.414 	+2.457s
19 	20 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	 	1:15.365 	1:15.172 	+2.525s
20 	17 	Geoff Lees 	 	1:16.819 	1:15.708 	+3.061s
21 	14 	Patrick Gaillard 	 	1:16.868 	1:15.959 	+3.312s
22 	18 	David Kennedy 	 	1:16.673 	1:16.446 	+3.799s
WD 	1 	Jody Scheckter 	 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn
WD 	2 	Gilles Villeneuve 	 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn
WD 	15 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn
WD 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn
WD 	22 	Patrick Depailler 	 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn
WD 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn
WD 	35 	Vittorio Brambilla 	 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn
WD 	41 	Brian Henton 	 	Not present	Not present	Not present
WD 	50 	Eliseo Salazar 	 	Not present	Not present	Not present
===Grid===
==Race==
As the race began, Carlos Reutemann made a strong start from fourth on the grid to climb to first, teammate Alan Jones moved into second. Pole sitter Jacques Laffite dropped back to fourth behind teammate Didier Pironi. 
The two cars of Reutemann and Jones began to pull away as the two Ligier cars of Pironi and Laffite diced with Nelson Piquet's not far behind.
The second lap saw David Kennedy, having qualified for his first race with , fly off the circuit and into the barriers. Emilio de Villota joined him the barriers, however unlike Kennedy, De Villota continued albeit with a significantly more battered car. 
On lap three Laffite overtook Pironi for third. The younger Frenchman battling with oversteer. Further down the field, the two cars battled spectacularly for twelfth place. On lap five Alain Prost finally overtook teammate John Watson, however only two corners later his engine blew and he had to retire.
Lap 11 saw Keke Rosberg suffer a brake failure, spinning his into the catch fencing, two laps later Derek Daly suffered a brake failure going down the main straight suffering an enormous accident going into the first corner. Amazingly the driver emerged unhurt. 
On lap 13, Jones missed a gear and dropped behind the two Ligier's of Laffite and Pironi as well as Piquet's . 
Over the space of five laps, the three cars of Jan Lammers, Mario Andretti and Riccardo Patrese who had been battling for sixth had retired. This had promoted the second of Jochen Mass into sixth, following an overtake on Ricardo Zunino who was soon to retire. 
At the front, Reutemann and Laffite continued to battle for the lead. On lap 36 the two cars came up to lap the slower car of De Villota. De Villota pulled to the left to allow the leader of Reutemann through, at the same time Laffite pulled to the inside of De Villota as Reutemann went around the outside. However three cars abreast heading into the corner was too much to handle and the trio collided in a big way. Both Reutemann and Laffite were out on the spot whilst De Villota limped back to the pits to retire. 
Nelson Piquet was the new race leader, two seconds ahead of Didier Pironi who was one second ahead of Alan Jones. However on lap 42, Piquet would be forced to retire with gearbox allowing Pironi to take the lead.
50 seconds adrift of Jones in second was Eddie Cheever and Jochen Mass who led the battling duo of John Watson and Elio de Angelis. Watson and De Angelis had battled throughout the race, however was to come to a dramatic end on lap 49. Watson had come up to the rear of the slower backmarker of Patrick Gaillard in the . Gaillard had braked much earlier than expected and Watson's flew over the top of Gaillard's car. Despite the severity of the accident which saw tyre tracks on Gaillard's helmet, no one was hurt. Watson was out whilst Gaillard limped back to the pits for a new rear wing. 
In the lead, Jones had slowed his water temperature getting too high forcing him to slow down and cool off. Pironi who now seemed to have the race in hand then had the tables turned against him when on lap 65 his front left wheel suddenly came loose and flew off his car. Pironi ground to a halt as Jones took the lead.
At the same time, Mass was able to overtake Cheever for second position. Cheever who had driven a remarkable race was forced to retire two laps after Pironi with gearbox failure.
By the end of the race only six cars remained. Jones took the win ahead of Mass, De Angelis, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Emerson Fittipaldi and the distantly adrift Gaillard.
===Results===
The full results for the are outlined below:
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
1 	27 	Alan Jones 	 	80 	1:43:14.076 	2
2 	30 	Jochen Mass 	 	80 	+50.940s 	14
3 	12 	Elio de Angelis 	 	80 	+1:12.271 	13
4 	3 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	 	79 	+1 Lap 	15
5 	20 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	 	79 	+1 Lap 	19
6 	14 	Patrick Gaillard 	 	75 	+5 Laps 	21
Ret 	31 	Eddie Cheever 	 	67 	Gearbox 	10
Ret 	25 	Didier Pironi 	 	65 	Wheel 	3
Ret 	7 	John Watson 	 	48 	Collision 	12
Ret 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	42 	Transmission	5
Ret 	17 	Geoff Lees 	 	42 	Suspension 	20
Ret 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	35 	Collision 	1
Ret 	28 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	35 	Collision 	4
Ret 	6 	Ricardo Zunino 	 	34 	Gear Linkage	7
Ret 	34 	Emilio de Villota 	 	33 	Collision 	17
Ret 	29 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	30 	Gearbox 	11
Ret 	11 	Mario Andretti 	 	29 	Engine 	8
Ret 	9 	Marc Surer 	 	26 	Electrics 	9
Ret 	4 	Derek Daly 	 	12 	Spin 	16
Ret 	21 	Keke Rosberg 	 	10 	Spin 	18
Ret 	8 	Alain Prost 	 	5 	Engine 	6
Ret 	18 	David Kennedy 	 	1 	Spin 	22
WD 	1 	Jody Scheckter 	 	 	 	
WD 	2 	Gilles Villeneuve 	 	 	 	
WD 	15 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	 	 	 	
WD 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	 	 	
WD 	22 	Patrick Depailler 	 	 	 	
WD 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	 	 	
WD 	35 	Vittorio Brambilla 	 	 	 	
WD 	41 	Brian Henton 	 	 	 	
WD 	50 	Eliseo Salazar 	 	 	 	
==Milestones==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Spanish Grand Prix
Category:1980 non-championship Grands Prix
Category:Formula One races in Spain
Category:Non-Championship races