1980 Italian Grand Prix

The 1980 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 September 1980 at the Autodromo Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. It was the twelfth race of the 1980 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1980 International Cup for F1 Constructors.

1980 Italian Grand Prix
Race 12 of 14 in the 1980 Formula One season
Race details
Date	14 September 1980
Official name	51o Gran Premio d'Italia[1]
Location	Autodromo Dino Ferrari Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.000 km (3.107 mi)
Distance	60 laps, 300.000 km (186.411 mi)
Weather	Sunny, Mild, Dry
Pole position
Driver	René Arnoux	Renault
Time	1:33.988
Fastest lap
Driver	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford
Time	1:36.089 on lap 47
Podium
First	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford
Second	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford
Third	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford

This was the first Formula One World Championship race to be held at Imola (the circuit having hosted the non-championship Dino Ferrari Grand Prix the previous year). It was the only Italian Grand Prix since 1948 not to be held at Monza, which was undergoing refurbishment at the time. The event would return to Monza in 1981, but Imola would remain on the F1 calendar until 2006, hosting the San Marino Grand Prix.

The race was held over 60 laps of the 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) circuit for a total race distance of 300 kilometres (186.4 mi).

The race was won by Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet, driving a Brabham-Ford. Piquet won by nearly half a minute from Australian driver Alan Jones, driving a Williams-Ford, with Jones' Argentinian team-mate Carlos Reutemann third. The win was Piquet's third of the season and second in succession, and it gave him the lead of the Drivers' Championship by one point from Jones.

Manfred Winkelhock made his debut, substituting for the injured Jochen Mass at Arrows. A collision with Nigel Mansell's Lotus during qualifying resulted in both drivers failing to make the grid. Ferrari debuted their first turbo car, the 126C, but Gilles Villeneuve started the race in his regular 312T5. Regardless, after a heavy crash in practice at the flat-out right hander before Tosa, reigning World Champion Jody Scheckter announced his retirement from the sport.

The front row of the grid was occupied by the Renaults of René Arnoux and Jean-Pierre Jabouille, although Piquet led by lap 4 and was never headed. On lap 6, Villeneuve crashed his Ferrari heavily at the corner which now bears his name, following a puncture. Villeneuve escaped unhurt, but the incident also caused the retirement of Bruno Giacomelli, who ran over some of the debris in his Alfa Romeo. Jones moved up to second on lap 29 after running as low as seventh. Behind Reutemann, Elio de Angelis finished fourth in his Lotus, with Keke Rosberg fifth in his Fittipaldi and Didier Pironi sixth in his Ligier.

Jones' and Reutemann's podium finishes enabled the Williams team to secure their first Constructors' Championship with two races remaining.