The 80’s of Formula 1 Race by Race

By Eddie Bennett

DO YOU WANT TO RELIVE THE LEGENDARY 1980S OF FORMULA 1?

 

At the end of the 70's, Lotus revolutionized Formula 1 by introducing the ground effect to its single-seaters, and the new decade began with the rest of the teams trying to adapt to this new technology.

 

The team that achieved a faster adaptation was Williams, which through Alan Jones achieved its first great triumphs in its history. At the same time, Renault improved its new turbo engine and went from constant retirements to achieving great results through René Arnoux, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Alain Prost.

 

Meanwhile, in the 80's, one of the great legends was forged as the Brazilian Nelson Piquet, reaching absolute glory up to three times with Brabham and Williams.

The 80's also saw the debut of the talented Ayrton Senna in Formula 1 with Toleman and his progress through Lotus, until he arrived at McLaren where one of the greatest rivalries of Formula 1 would be generated between teammates against Alain Prost, offering spectacular duels of champions.

 

Despite not being the best decade for Ferrari, the legendary Italian team would always be present in the top positions through drivers such as Michele Alboreto, Didier Pironi, Gerhard Berger or Gilles Villeneuve.

 

The impressive races of this decade also made us enjoy names like Nigel Mansell, Keke Rosberg, Carlos Reutemann or the return of Niki Lauda after his retirement.

 

In this book you will enjoy these wonderful years of Formula 1 in a race-by-race format, reviewing its main protagonists and the most outstanding anecdotes.

In this book you will find:

- The adaptation to the ground effect of the teams to compete against Lotus.

- The first successes of Jabouille, Arnoux and Prost at Renault with their new turbo engines.

- Mansell's debut with Lotus with his overalls burning for fuel.

- The struggle of Alan Jones and Nelson Piquet in the first championship for Williams

- The fierce rivalry between teammates and rivals Carlos Reutemann and Alan Jones

- The closest race finish in history in Spain 1981

- McLaren's first triumph after five years thanks to carbon fiber

- Laffite and Ligier's constant attempts to occupy the top positions

- The sad loss of Gilles Villeneuve in the qualifying session in Belgium 1982

- The frequent starting problems after the green light and their dramatic consequences

- The accident that left Didier Pironi out of Formula 1 when he was leading the championship

- The last Lotus triumph in the life of Colin Chapman

- Ferrari's last victories in Enzo's lifetime

- Nelson Piquet's three championships to become a legend of the 1980s

- Keke Rosberg's triumph, the champion with the fewest victories in a season

- Ayrton Senna's first F1 points with Toleman and his extraordinary podium at Monaco

- Niki Lauda's triumphant return with McLaren with cars totally different from the ones that had made him the champion

- Alain Prost's success in becoming a Formula 1 legend

- The hegemony of Honda engines, first with Williams and then with McLaren

- The banning of turbo engines and the return to naturally aspirated engines

- The intense rivalry at the limit between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost with the unstoppable McLaren MP4

 

All this and much more in a race-by-race format to travel back in time through the results and anecdotes of each Formula 1 Grand Prix of the 1980s.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eddie Bennett
• Release date: Apr 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224772681

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

At the end of the 1970s, Lotus revolutionized Formula 1 by introducing ground effect to its single-seaters, and the new decade began with the rest of the teams trying to adapt to this new technology.

The team that achieved a faster adaptation was Williams, which through Alan Jones achieved its first great victories in its history. In turn, Renault improved its new turbo engine and went from constant retirements to achieving great results through René Arnoux, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Alain Prost.

Meanwhile, in the 1980s one of the great legends was forged as the Brazilian Nelson Piquet, reaching absolute glory up to three times with Brabham and Williams.

The decade of the 80s also saw the debut of the talented Ayrton Senna in Formula 1 with Toleman and his progress through Lotus, until arriving at McLaren where one of the greatest rivalries in Formula 1 between teammates would be generated against Alain Prost, offering spectacular duels of champions.

Despite not being the best decade for Ferrari, the legendary Italian team would always be present in the top positions through drivers like Michele Alboreto, Didier Pironi, Gerhard Berger or Gilles Villeneuve.

The impressive careers of this decade also made us enjoy names like Nigel Mansell, Keke Rosberg, Carlos Reutemann or the return of Niki Lauda after his retirement.

In this book you will enjoy these wonderful years of Formula 1 in a race-by-race format, reviewing its main protagonists and the most outstanding anecdotes.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the following pages.

Eddie Bennett.

1980

Su primer Gran Premio de Fórmula 1: Imola, Italia 1980

Argentina 

The decade began at the Autódromo Municipal de Buenos Aires, with most teams trying to incorporate the powerful ground effect developed by Lotus and with added controversy, as the drivers threatened not to participate due to the deteriorating state of the track. The first pole position of the season went to Australian Alan Jones, who took first position on the starting grid, and after a slight fight with Nelson Piquet's Brabham, would end up gaining enough advantage to win ahead of the Brazilian.

Alan Jones Formula 1 Images: Argentinian GP (1980)

[1]

The engine failure of Jody Scheckter's Ferrari allowed Keke Rosberg to take third place, taking the podium in his Fittipaldi-Ford.

Meanwhile, Reutemann wept uncontrollably at having to retire without being able to win his home race with the other Williams.

Brazil 

The race in Brazil was not without controversy either, with the Interlagos circuit repaved and with the necessary security measures added too quickly, with a bumpy asphalt that made it difficult to drive, especially the cars with ground effect.

However, the event that was dominated by Renault was finally held. The height of the circuit favored their new turbocharged engines, so Jean-Pierre Jabouille took pole position, and held the lead position until his engine failed on lap 25.

It was his teammate René Arnoux who went on to lead the race then to take victory, giving the second victory to a turbocharged engine.

Vídeo] Brasil 1980: Arnoux se estrena en el adiós al viejo Interlagos

[2]

Italian Elio de Angelis was second in a Lotus that no longer had the advantage of previous years, while Alan Jones was on the podium for the second time in a row, finishing third in his Williams.

South Africa 

The South African event got off to a rocky start with Alain Prost breaking his wrist in qualifying and Swiss Marc Surer injuring his legs. The Frenchman would also miss the next race, and Surer would not be able to participate in the next two.

Renault once again dominated qualifying, with Jabouille taking pole position and Arnoux second on the starting grid.

Jabouille led the race again... until on lap 61 his car broke down. In a similar way to the previous race, his teammate Arnoux replaced him in the lead to get his second victory of the year.

[3] René Arnoux, 'el segundón volador' que pudo y no quiso ser campeón del mundo

Behind the Renault, the Ligier team managed to complete a great race with Jacques Laffite finishing second and Didier Pironi being third, on a completely French podium, both for its drivers and for the manufacture of its cars.

United States West 

In the first North American race of the year, the Brazilian Nelson Piquet managed to stand out with a masterful performance, achieving pole position, fastest lap and victory with his Brabham BT49.

Nelson Piquet: Wiki, Biografía, Perfil de Datos y Estadísticas de Carrera F1 [4]

While Piquet achieved the first victory of his career by dominating all the laps with the Parmalat Racing team, the Italian Riccardo Patrese had to settle for second position in his Arrows, the best for the brand so far. The podium was completed by another Brazilian, the two-time champion Emerson Fittipaldi, who took third place with the team he owned.

Belgium 

For the race at the Zolder circuit, Alan Jones took pole position for Williams, but was unable to complete a single lap in lead, which was taken from him by Didier Pironi.

The French driver no longer abandoned the first position that he occupied the rest of the 72 laps to achieve victory for Ligier, Jones having to settle for second position.

––––––––

Didier Pironi en-route to his first Grand Prix victory in Belgium in 1980 driving a Ligier-Ford. | Formula racing, Formula 1 car, Indy cars [5]

The third position went to the Argentine Carlos Reutemann who took the second Williams to the podium.

After five races, up to four different drivers had alternated in victory, in a very open championship led by René Arnoux, closely followed by Jones, Piquet and Pironi.

Monaco 

Didier Pironi took pole in Monaco and led the race trying to extend his good run, but an accident deprived him and Ligier of victory.

Long before, at the start of the race, another multiple accident had starred in the event when Derek Daly had collided with Bruno Giacomelli, with Daly's Tyrrell flying over the Italian and involving Jean-Pierre Jarier and Alain Prost. Fortunately, no pilot suffered serious injuries.

After the abandonment of Pironi, the Argentine Carlos Reutemann got the first position that he was able to maintain without difficulties to achieve a new victory for Williams.

El recuerdo de la victoria de Carlos Reutemann en Mónaco 1980 | Carburando

[6]

Ligier once again achieved a great result with second position for Jacques Laffite while Nelson Piquet returned to the podium taking his Brabham to third position.

France 

With the elimination of the Spanish Grand Prix due to a conflict between the International Federation of Sports Cars and the Formula 1 Constructors' Association, the championship continued at Circuit Paul Ricard in France.

The qualifying session for the French race saw the last performance of the Shadow team. Neither of their two cars achieved the necessary result to participate in the race, in what was the last appearance of the British team.

In that same qualifying session, Jacques Laffite took pole position in another good performance by Ligier, although he ended up giving up first place to Alan Jones on lap 34. The Williams driver would end up getting another victory, consolidating the British team in the standings manufacturers, with Didier Pironi and Jacques Laffite completing the podium with the two Ligiers.

Britain 

The two Ligier drivers took the first two positions on the grid, with Didier Pironi leading the first few laps of the race until one of his wheels suffered problems, being passed by his teammate Jacques Laffite on lap 18. Laffite would also suffer cracking problems on his tyres, thus ruining a race that Ligier had dominated.

Alan Jones then went on to lead the race, pursued by Nelson Piquet, although the Brazilian did not overly complicate the race for Jones, who added another victory. Behind them finished Carlos Reutemann, being the only ones capable of finishing on the leader's lap.

With two cars on the podium, Williams increased their lead in the constructors' championship while Alan Jones led the drivers' standings, just 6 points ahead of a constant Piquet.

Germany 

At the Hockenheimring, one of the fastest circuits of the season, Renault was expected to have a greater advantage with its turbocharged engine. However, they were overtaken by Alan Jones in qualifying in an increasingly optimized Williams FW07.

Already in the race, Jabouille squeezed his Renault to steal the first position from Jones on the first lap, but his engine only lasted until lap 27, in the already classic bad luck of the Frenchman.

Jones then went on to lead the race, but a puncture forced him to pit and the lead was handed over to Laffite, who was eventually able to hold on to lead until the end to clinch victory for Ligier. However, Laffite's victory was not enough for the French constructor, as with Reutemann in second and Jones climbing back to third, Williams continued to increase its lead in the constructors' championship.

With fourth place, Nelson Piquet was still on the prowl for the championship.

Austria 

Austria's high altitude once again favored Renault's turbocharged engines, with Arnoux taking pole ahead of teammate Jabouille. However, Jones took the lead after the start, although Arnoux regained the lead position on the third lap, although he ended up having problems losing positions. This allowed his teammate Jabouille to take the lead, pressured to the finish by Alan Jones sticking close to him.

Jabouille tried to resist with increasingly worn tyres, and