Date January 13, 1980 | Course length 5.81 km (3.61 mi) | |
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Official name XVI Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina Location Autodromo Municipal Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina Course Permanent racing facility Distance 53 laps, 307.93 km (191.33 mi) | ||
The 1980 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 January 1980 at the Autodromo Municipal Ciudad de Buenos Aires in Argentina. It was the opening round of the 1980 Formula One season. The race was the 16th Argentine Grand Prix. It was the sixth to be held on the #15 variation of this racing facility in Buenos Aires. The race was held over 53 laps of the 5.81-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 308 kilometres.
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The race was won by Australian driver Alan Jones driving a Williams FW07. It was Jones' sixth World Championship victory. Jones won by 24 seconds over Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet driving a Brabham BT49. It was a prelude of the season to come as Jones, the rising star of 1979 and Piquet, the emerging talent of the newly competitive Brabham team, would fight out the 1980 season. Another future world champion, Finnish driver Keke Rosberg finished third driving a Fittipaldi F7, a career best finish for Rosberg to this point. It was Fittipaldi Automotive's best result since Emerson Fittipaldi finished second at the 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix.
This race was additionally notable for the drivers threatening to boycott the event because of the appalling state of the track, which was breaking up in many spots in the infield thanks to the intense heat of an South American summer, the immense grip of the aerodynamic suction created by the ground effect technology and the cars' tyres; and a battle between Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari 312T5), Alan Jones, Jacques Laffite (Ligier JS11/15) and Nelson Piquet, made even more exciting due to the break-up of the track surface. Piquet finished second, Laffite retired with a blown engine and Villeneuve crashed going through the fast Toboggan complex due to a front suspension failure, although this was most likely exacerbated by a number of times he went off the very slippery track onto the sometimes bumpy and grassy run off area of the Buenos Aires Autodrome. Keke Rosberg scored his first ever podium, and future world champion Alain Prost (McLaren M29) scored a point on his Formula 1 début.