1980 United States Grand Prix West

1980 United States Grand Prix West

The 1980 US Grand Prix west is the 4th race of the 1980 F1 season. It was won by Nelson Piquet with Riccardo Patrese 2nd and Fittipaldi 3rd, it was his first podium finish in 4 years.

Pre-race

Marc Surer broke his leg during practice for the South African Grand Prix and was replaced by Jan Lammers whilst Seigfried Strohr took the 2nd car. James Hunt nearly made a comeback with McLaren, asking for $1 million for the race. This opportunity came about when French rookie driver Alain Prost broke his wrist during practice for the South African Grand Prix, and was not fully fit to drive at Long Beach. The team's main sponsor, Marlboro, offered half the figure but negotiations ended after Hunt broke his leg while skiing. Stephen South substituted.

Qualifiying

Piquet took pole ahead of Arnoux in 2nd and Jones 3rd. Lammers surprised everyone by taking 4th on the grid with debutant Strohr taking 10th whilst South, Kennedy and Lees all failed to qualify.

Race

Entering the first corner Ricardo Zunino, Andretti, Jochen Mass and Jean-Pierre Jarier all made contact under braking. Zunino's Brabham and Andretti's Lotus were unable to continue. After one lap, Piquet led Alan Jones, who had gotten by René Arnoux in the hairpin. They were followed by Patrick Depailler, Bruno Giacomelli, Riccardo Patrese, Carlos Reutemann, Villeneuve and Daly.

On lap 4, Giacomelli lost control of his Alfa Romeo under braking for the hairpin at the beginning of Shoreline Drive, and slid sideways across the racing line. Reutemann, following directly behind, was the first to be collected. Jody Scheckter, Elio de Angelis, Cheever and Jarier also became involved. According to Reutemann, while Giacomelli's Alfa was facing the inside wall, he let a few cars pass, and then put his car in reverse, and backed onto the racing line, and Reutemann had to come to a dead stop to avoid hitting the Italian's Alfa, and then Giacomelli, realizing he had made a mistake, went back to where he was. By the time Giacomelli had realized what had happened, the 5 other aforementioned cars including Reutemann had created an accordion effect; although Reutemann and Scheckter had not hit anything, de Angelis (who was injured), Cheever and Jarier had crashed, the latter most seriously; a wheel ripped off Jarier's Tyrrell and he went into the run-off area. The marshals decided to move forward Giacomelli and Cheever were able to continue for the time being, though both retired later in the race, and Reutemann had retired soon afterwards with gearbox problems. Fittipaldi just managed to squeeze through the carnage, and the marshals somehow got the track cleared before the leaders came around, avoiding a red flag to stop the race.

While Piquet continued to run unchallenged in front, Jones was struggling with fading brakes on his Williams. On lap 10, Depailler caught and passed him on the outside of the hairpin to take second place. Meanwhile, Giacomelli was working his way back up through the field ahead of an extended battle between Regazzoni, Fittipaldi and John Watson. Gilles Villeneuve had managed to get the ill handling Ferrari into a good fourth place but his transmission failed on lap 12 and he was out of the race.

After pitting for tires on lap 13, Giacomelli rejoined in 12th place, just ahead of his teammate Depailler, but about to be lapped by the Frenchman for the second time. As Depailler moved inside to pass the Italian entering the hairpin at the end of the straight, Giacomelli turned in and Depailler struck the Alfa Romeo's rear wheel, bending the steering arm on the Alfa Romeo and putting Depailler out of the race. This left Piquet with a lead of more than a minute over Patrese and Arnoux, and he began to ease off, allowing some cars to unlap themselves.

Lap 16 saw a horrific accident which would ultimately end the career of Clay Regazzoni, the brakes on his Ensign N180 car failed on the long start finish straight, unable to reduce speed, he hit the stationary Brabham of Ricardo Zunino which had been left at the run off of the hairpin since lap 1, and then head on into a concrete wall. The accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. Regazzoni later sued the race organisers, but lost the case.

On lap 19, Arnoux had his right rear tire go completely flat, and by the time he was able to make it back to the pits for a replacement, he had dropped all the way to ninth place. Watson now began to challenge Fittipaldi for third, and even get around him briefly, but gearbox troubles allowed the Brazilian to retake the position and then pull away. Watson, in fact, came under fire from Scheckter's Ferrari. Braking into the hairpin, Scheckter tried to go around the outside, as Watson defended the inside line. He slid wide on the dirt and marbles, however, and thereafter, decided to settle for 5th place and his final points in Formula One.

For Piquet, it was the first of 23 career wins and pulled him even with Arnoux in the Drivers' Championship. For Fittipaldi, who finished third behind a steady Patrese in the Arrows, it was his first podium in more than two years, and the last of his F1 career (both as a driver and as a constructor). The torch was passed from one Brazilian multiple World Champion to another.