1980 Dutch Grand Prix

  1980 Dutch Grand Prix

Race details
Race 11 of 14 in the 1980 Formula One season
The Zandvoort Circuit (1980-1989)
Date	August 31, 1980
Official name	XXVII Grote Prijs van Nederland
Location	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort, Netherlands
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.252 km (2.642 mi)
Distance	72 laps, 306.144 km (190.229 mi)
Weather	Sunny, Mild, Dry
Pole position
Driver	René Arnoux	Renault
Time	1:17.44
Fastest lap
Driver	René Arnoux	Renault
Time	1:19.35 on lap 67
Podium
First	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford
Second	René Arnoux	Renault
Third	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford

The 1980 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on August 31, 1980 at the Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands. It was the eleventh race of the 1980 Formula One season. The race was the 29th Dutch Grand Prix. The race was held over 72 laps of the 4.252-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 306 kilometres.

The race was won by Brazilian driver, Nelson Piquet driving a Brabham BT49. The win was Piquet's second Formula One Grand Prix victory having taken his first win earlier the same year at the 1980 United States Grand Prix West. The win confirmed Piquet as being the major threat to Alan Jones' charge to the world championship crown. Piquet won by twelve seconds over French driver René Arnoux driving a Renault RE20. Less than half a second behind in third was another French driver Jacques Laffite (Ligier JS11/15).

The circuit had been altered for the second time in as many years with the back straight chicane tightened significantly. There were several new combinations. Alfa Romeo entered a second car, a replacement after Patrick Depailler's death a month earlier, for Italian veteran Vittorio Brambilla. Geoff Lees was entered in a second Ensign N180 and Jochen Mass returned from injury in an Arrows A3. Mass' return proved to be premature and he pulled out of the meeting. Tyrrell Racing test driver Mike Thackwell stepped into the car but failed in his attempt to be the youngest ever Formula One race starter.

Jones won the start from the second row of the grid to lead early until he pitted with damaged skirts. Laffite soon took the lead from Arnoux before both were picked-off by Piquet. Late in the race Arnoux regained second place. Behind Laffite, the second Williams FW07B of Carlos Reutemann finished fourth ahead of Jean-Pierre Jarier (driving his 100th Grand Prix) in the surviving Tyrrell 010 after Derek Daly had crashed earlier after brake failure. Young rookie Alain Prost claimed the final point debuting the new McLaren M30, while in seventh Gilles Villeneuve had given one of Ferrari's few 1980 highlights, running as high as third before his tyres went off.

Jones was three laps down in eleventh, his championship now in real danger as Piquet had closed to within two points. Reutemann now led the battle for third by a point over Laffite and three over Arnoux. Williams now had one hand firmly on the constructors' trophy, leading Ligier by 25 points and Brabham by 35 with Piquet's team mates providing virtually no support to the constructor's tally.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	72	1:38:13.83	5	9
2	16	René Arnoux	Renault	72	+12.93 secs	1	6
3	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford	72	+13.43 secs	6	4
4	28	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	72	+15.29 secs	3	3
5	3	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford	72	+1:00.02 secs	17	2
6	8	Alain Prost	McLaren-Ford	72	+1:22.62 secs	18	1
7	2	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	71	+1 Lap	7
8	11	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	70	Out of Fuel	10
9	1	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	70	+2 Laps	12
10	9	Marc Surer	ATS-Ford	69	+3 Laps	20
11	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	69	+3 Laps	4
Ret	4	Derek Daly	Tyrrell-Ford	60	Brakes	23
Ret	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	58	Accident	8
Ret	31	Eddie Cheever	Osella-Ford	38	Engine	19
Ret	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	29	Engine	14
Ret	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	23	Handling	2
Ret	22	Vittorio Brambilla	Alfa Romeo	21	Accident	22
Ret	41	Geoff Lees	Ensign-Ford	21	Accident	24
Ret	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	18	Engine	9
Ret	20	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	16	Brakes	21
Ret	43	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	15	Brakes	16
Ret	12	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	2	Accident	11
Ret	25	Didier Pironi	Ligier-Ford	2	Accident	15
Ret	6	Hector Rebaque	Brabham-Ford	1	Gearbox	13
DNQ	50	Rupert Keegan	Williams-Ford
DNQ	14	Jan Lammers	Ensign-Ford
DNQ	30	Mike Thackwell	Arrows-Ford
DNQ	21	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford
Wth	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows-Ford		Driver Injured

Lap leaders

• Lap Leaders:
  • Alan Jones 1 lap (1)
  • René Arnoux 1 lap (2)
  • Jacques Laffite 10 laps (3-12)
  • Nelson Piquet 60 laps (13-72)

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alan Jones 47 2 Nelson Piquet 45 3 Carlos Reutemann 33 4 Jacques Laffite 32 5 René Arnoux 29

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Ford 80 2 Ligier-Ford 55 3 Brabham-Ford 45 4 Renault 38 5 Tyrrell-Ford 12

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

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