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1980 French Grand Prix
Race 7 of 14 in the 1980 Formula One season
Race details
Date	June 29, 1980
Location	Paul Ricard Circuit
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.809 km (3.610 miles)
Distance	54 laps, 313.686 km (194.915 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford
Time	1:38.88
Fastest lap
Driver	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford
Time	1:41.45 on lap 48
Podium
First	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford
Second	Didier Pironi	Ligier-Ford
Third	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1980 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 29 June 1980. It was the seventh round of the 1980 Formula One season. The race was the 58th French Grand Prix, or the 66th Grand Prix de l'ACF and the sixth to be held at Paul Ricard. The race was held over 54 laps of the 5.809-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 314 kilometres.

Controversy

Originally the race was the eighth round of the season but moved up the order after the Spanish Grand Prix was removed from the schedule as a consequence of the first major confrontation between FISA and FOCA. The controversy threatened to spill over into the French Grand Prix as well as the FISA aligned teams, primarily Ferrari, Renault and Alfa Romeo, had boycotted the Spanish race which later saw its results removed from championship considerations. The two camps came to an agreement in time for the French Grand Prix to not be affected.

Results

The race was won by Alan Jones driving a Williams FW07B. The win was Jones' seventh Formula One Grand Prix victory and his third of the year. Jones was entering a period of good form having won the Spanish Grand Prix four weeks earlier. Jones won by four seconds over French driver Didier Pironi driving a Ligier JS11/15. Third was Pironi's French teammate Jacques Laffite. Laffite had led for much of the race until his tyres lost condition. The large French contingent had dominated proceedings with the all-French teams Renault and Ligier taking up four of the top six grid positions with only Jones and his Williams teammate Carlos Reutemann intervening. Jean-Pierre Jabouille's Renault RE20 broke its transmission at the start and Jones picked his way past Pironi then the second Renault of René Arnoux before finally catching Laffite on lap 34.

Arnoux faded to fifth behind Nelson Piquet (Brabham BT49) with throttle problems with Reutemann taking the final point in sixth. The win saw Jones move back into the championship lead passing Arnoux and Piquet. Jones now led Piquet by three points and Arnoux by five. Pironi was now equal with Arnoux.

Williams now led Ligier by five points, unchanged from Monaco thanks to the efforts of all four drivers and Brabham increased the gap over Renault in third and fourth.

Shadow Racing Cars

This race also saw the final appearance of Shadow Racing Cars. Geoff Lees and David Kennedy were 25th and 27th in qualifying in the Shadow DN12s meaning both drivers missed the 24-car grid. The team had been sold only two months previously to Macau-based businessman and motor racing team owner Teddy Yip. Yip's own race team Theodore Racing would emerge as a Formula One team in 1981.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford	1:38.88	-
2	16	René Arnoux	Renault	1:39.49	+ 0.61
3	25	Didier Pironi	Ligier-Ford	1:39.49	+ 0.61
4	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	1:39.50	+ 0.62
5	28	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	1:39.60	+ 0.78
6	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	1:40.18	+ 1.30
7	8	Alain Prost	McLaren-Ford	1:40.63	+ 1.75
8	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	1:40.67	+ 1.79
9	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	1:40.85	+ 1.97
10	22	Patrick Depailler	Alfa Romeo	1:40.89	+ 2.01
11	9	Marc Surer	ATS-Ford	1:41.03	+ 2.15
12	11	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	1:41.56	+ 2.68
13	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	1:41.63	+ 2.75
14	12	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	1:41.66	+ 2.78
15	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows-Ford	1:41.71	+ 2.83
16	3	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford	1:41.78	+ 2.90
17	2	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1:41.99	+ 3.11
18	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	1:42.07	+ 3.19
19	1	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	1:42.38	+ 3.50
20	4	Derek Daly	Tyrrell-Ford	1:42.77	+ 3.89
21	31	Eddie Cheever	Osella-Ford	1:42.85	+ 3.97
22	6	Ricardo Zunino	Brabham-Ford	1:43.14	+ 4.26
23	21	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	1:43.16	+ 4.28
24	20	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	1:43.21	+ 4.33
25	17	Geoff Lees	Shadow-Ford	1:44.28	+ 5.40
26	14	Jan Lammers	Ensign-Ford	1:44.33	+ 5.45
27	18	David Kennedy	Shadow-Ford	1:44.56	+ 5.68
Source:

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	27	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	G	54	1:32:43.4	4	9
2	25	Didier Pironi	Ligier-Ford	G	54	+4.52 secs	3	6
3	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Ford	G	54	+30.26 secs	1	4
4	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	G	54	+1:14.88 secs	8	3
5	16	René Arnoux	Renault	M	54	+1:16.15 secs	2	2
6	28	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	G	54	+1:16.74 secs	5	1
7	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	G	53	+1 Lap	13
8	2	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	M	53	+1 Lap	17
9	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	G	53	+1 Lap	18
10	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows-Ford	G	53	+1 Lap	15
11	4	Derek Daly	Tyrrell-Ford	G	52	+2 Laps	20
12	1	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	M	52	+2 Laps	19
13	20	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	G	50	Engine	24
14	3	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell-Ford	G	50	+4 Laps	16
Ret	31	Eddie Cheever	Osella-Ford	G	43	Engine	21
Ret	9	Marc Surer	ATS-Ford	G	26	Gearbox	11
Ret	22	Patrick Depailler	Alfa Romeo	G	25	Handling	10
Ret	11	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	G	18	Gearbox	12
Ret	21	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	G	8	Spun Off	23
Ret	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	G	8	Handling	9
Ret	8	Alain Prost	McLaren-Ford	G	6	Transmission	7
Ret	12	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	G	3	Clutch	14
Ret	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	M	0	Transmission	6
Ret	6	Ricardo Zunino	Brabham-Ford	G	0	Clutch	22
DNQ	17	Geoff Lees	Shadow-Ford	G
DNQ	14	Jan Lammers	Ensign-Ford	G
DNQ	18	David Kennedy	Shadow-Ford	G
Source:

Notes

• This was the 10th French Grand Prix win for a Ford-powered car.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alan Jones 28 2 Nelson Piquet 25 3 René Arnoux 23 4 Didier Pironi 23 5 Carlos Reutemann 16 Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Ford 44 2 Ligier-Ford 39 3 Brabham-Ford 25 4 Renault 23 5 Arrows-Ford 11 Source:

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

References

1. "1980 French Grand Prix | Motor Sport Magazine Database". Motor Sport Magazine. 2017-06-12. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
2. "1980 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
3. "1980 French Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 29 June 1980. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
4. ^ "France 1980 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.

• 1980 Formula One races
• 1980 in French motorsport
• 1980 controversies
• June 1980 sports events in Europe
• French Grand Prix