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The 1980 Austrian Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 1980 Formula One Season. Jean-Pierre Jabouille in a Renault took his second grand prix victory ahead of the two Williams cars of Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann. The race was also notable for the debut of Nigel Mansell for the Lotus team.


Background[]

Heading into Austria, Alan Jones and Williams comfortably led the driver's and constructor's championships. Despite Jacques Laffite's win in Germany, the Ligier 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 Renault cars of René Arnoux and Jean-Pierre Jabouille who were usually the fastest cars on the track at the fast circuits. 

Lotus 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 1981. After two disappointing seasons at Lotus following his world championship victory in 1978, 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 1980 Austrian Grand Prix:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 South Africa Jody Scheckter Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 312T5 Ferrari 015 F12 3.0 M
2 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 312T5 Ferrari 015 F12 3.0 M
3 France Jean-Pierre Jarier United Kingdom Candy Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 010 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
4 Ireland Derek Daly United Kingdom Candy Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 010 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
5 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Parmalat Racing Team Brabham BT49 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque United Kingdom Parmalat Racing Team Brabham BT49 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
7 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren M29C Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
8 France Alain Prost United Kingdom Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren M29C Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
9 Switzerland Marc Surer West Germany Team ATS ATS D4 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
11 United States Mario Andretti United Kingdom Team Essex Lotus Lotus 81 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
12 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Team Essex Lotus Lotus 81 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
14 Netherlands Jan Lammers United Kingdom Unipart Racing Team Ensign N180 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille France Equipe Renault Elf Renault RE20 Renault EF1 V6t 1.5 M
16 France René Arnoux France Equipe Renault Elf Renault RE20 Renault EF1 V6t 1.5 M
20 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Brazil Skol Fittipaldi Team Fittipaldi F8 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
21 Finland Keke Rosberg Brazil Skol Fittipaldi Team Fittipaldi F8 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Italy Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 179 Alfa Romeo 1260 V12 3.0 G
25 France Didier Pironi France Equipe Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS11/15 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
26 France Jacques Laffite France Equipe Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS11/15 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
27 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Albilad Williams Racing Team Williams FW07B Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
28 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Albilad Williams Racing Team Williams FW07B Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
29 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team Arrows A3 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
30 West Germany Jochen Mass United Kingdom Warsteiner Arrows Racing Team Arrows A3 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
31 United States Eddie Cheever Italy Osella Squadra Course Osella FA1 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
43 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Team Essex Lotus Lotus 81B Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
50 United Kingdom Rupert Keegan United Kingdom RAM - Penthouse Rizla Racing Williams FW07 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

During the qualifying session, Jochen Mass in his Arrows 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 Renault cars were the quickest cars on the track with Arnoux and Jabouille taking the first two grid slots with the Williams and Ligier cars lining up behind them. 

Qualifying Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
16 France René Arnoux France Renault 1:30.27
2 15 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille France Renault 1:31.48 + 1.21
3 27 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Williams-Ford 1:32.95 + 2.78
4 28 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Williams-Ford 1:33.07 + 2.80
5 26 France Jacques Laffite France Ligier-Ford 1:33.16 + 2.89
6 25 France Didier Pironi France Ligier-Ford 1:33.22 + 2.95
7 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 1:33.39 + 3.12
8 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Italy Alfa Romeo 1:33.64 + 3.37
9 12 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 1:33.76 + 3.49
10 4 Ireland Derek Daly United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 1:34.17 + 3.90
11 21 Finland Keke Rosberg Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 1:34.33 + 4.06
12 8 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 1:34.35 + 4.08
13 3 France Jean-Pierre Jarier United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 1:34.63 + 4.36
14 6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 1:34.86 + 4.59
15 2 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Italy Ferrari 1:34.87 + 4.60
16 9 Switzerland Marc Surer Germany ATS-Ford 1:35.10 + 4.83
17 11 United States Mario Andretti United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 1:35.21 + 4.94
18 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 1:35.29 + 5.02
19 31 United States Eddie Cheever Italy Osella-Ford 1:35.40 + 5.13
20 50 United Kingdom Rupert Keegan United Kingdom Williams-Ford (RAM) 1:35.53 + 5.26
21 7 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 1:35.56 + 5.29
22 1 South Africa Jody Scheckter Italy Ferrari 1:35.61 + 5.34
23 20 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 1:35.67 + 5.40
24 43 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 1:35.71 + 5.44
DNQ 14 Netherlands Jan Lammers United Kingdom Ensign-Ford 1:36.04 + 5.77
DNQ 30 Germany Jochen Mass United Kingdom Arrows-Ford No time

Race[]

Prior to the start of the race, the Lotus 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 Renault 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 Tyrrell 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 Brabham 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 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille France Renault 54 1:26:15.73 2 9
2 27 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Williams-Ford 54 + 0.82 3 6
3 28 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Williams-Ford 54 + 19.36 4 4
4 26 France Jacques Laffite France Ligier-Ford 54 + 42.02 5 3
5 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 54 + 1:02.81 7 2
6 12 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 54 + 1:14.97 9 1
7 8 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 54 + 1:33.41 12
8 2 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Italy Ferrari 53 + 1 Lap 15
9 16 France René Arnoux  France Renault 53 + 1 Lap 1
10 6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 14
11 20 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 23
12 9 Switzerland Marc Surer Germany ATS-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 16
13 1 South Africa Jody Scheckter Italy Ferrari 53 + 1 Lap 22
14 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 18
15 50 United Kingdom Rupert Keegan United Kingdom Williams-Ford (RAM) 52 + 2 Laps 20
16 21 Finland Keke Rosberg Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 11
Ret 43 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 40 Engine 24
Ret 7 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 34 Engine 21
Ret 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Italy Alfa Romeo 28 Wheel 8
Ret 25 France Didier Pironi France Ligier-Ford 25 Handling 6
Ret 3 France Jean-Pierre Jarier United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 25 Electrical 13
Ret 31 United States Eddie Cheever Italy Osella-Ford 23 Wheel bearing 19
Ret 4 Ireland Derek Daly United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 12 Brakes / Accident 10
Ret 11 United States Mario Andretti United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 6 Engine 17
DNQ 14 Netherlands Jan Lammers United Kingdom Ensign-Ford
DNQ 30 Germany Jochen Mass United Kingdom Arrows-Ford

Milestones[]

Standings after race[]

    
Drivers' World Championship
Pos. Driver Pts +/-
1 Australia Alan Jones 47
2 Brazil Nelson Piquet 36
3 Argentina Carlos Reutemann 30
4 France Jacques Laffite 28
5 France René Arnoux 23
6 France Didier Pironi 23
7 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille 9 ▲12
8 Italy Riccardo Patrese 7 ▼1
9 Italy Elio de Angelis 7 ▼1
10 Ireland Derek Daly 6 ▼1
11 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi 5 ▼1
12 Finland Keke Rosberg 4 ▼1
13 Germany Jochen Mass 4 ▼1
14 France Alain Prost 4 ▼1
15 France Jean-Pierre Jarier 4 ▼1
16 Canada Gilles Villeneuve 4 ▼1
17 Italy Bruno Giacomelli 4 ▼1
18 United Kingdom John Watson 3 ▼1
19 South Africa Jody Scheckter 2 ▼1
Constructors' World Championship
Pos. Team Pts +/-
1 United Kingdom Williams-Ford 77
2 France Ligier-Ford 51
3 United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 36
4 France Renault 32
5 United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 11
6 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 10
7 Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 9
8 United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 7
9 United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 7
10 Italy Ferrari 6
11 Italy Alfa Romeo 4

Notes[]

V T E Austria Austrian Grand Prix
Circuits Zeltweg Airfield (1963–1964), Red Bull Ring (1970–1987, 1997-2003, 2014-present)
Circuit Red Bull Ring
Races 19641965–19691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988–199619971998199920002001200220032004–20132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Non-Championship Race 1963
Red Bull Ring was previously called Österreichring and A1-Ring.
V T E 1980 Formula One Season
Teams Alfa Romeo • Arrows • ATS • Brabham • Ensign • Ferrari • Fittipaldi • Ligier • Lotus • McLaren • Osella • Renault • Shadow • Tyrrell • Williams
Engines Alfa Romeo • Ferrari • Ford Cosworth • Renault
Drivers Andretti • de Angelis • Arnoux • Brambilla • de Cesaris • Cheever • Cogan • Daly • Depailler • Ertl • Fittipaldi • Giacomelli • Johansson •Jabouille • Jarier • Jones • Keegan • Kennedy • Laffite • Lammers • Lees • Mansell • Mass • Needell • Patrese • Piquet • Pironi • Prost • Rebaque • Regazzoni • Reutemann • Rosberg • Scheckter • South • Surer • Thackwell • Villeneuve • Watson • Wilson • Winkelhock • Zunino
Cars Alfa Romeo 179 • Arrows A3 • ATS D3 • ATS D4 • Brabham BT49 • Ensign N180 • Ferrari 312T5 • Fittipaldi F7 • Fittipaldi F8 • Ligier JS11/15 • Lotus 81 • Lotus 81B • McLaren M29B • McLaren M29C • McLaren M30 • Osella FA1 • Osella FA1B • Renault RE20 • Shadow DN11 • Shadow DN12 • Tyrrell 009 • Tyrrell 010 • Williams FW07 • Williams FW07B
Tyres Goodyear • Michelin
Races Argentina • Brazil • South Africa • United States West • Belgium • Monaco • France • Britain • Germany • Austria • Netherlands • Italy • Canada • United States
Non-championship Races Spain
See also 1979 Formula One Season • 1981 Formula One Season • Category
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