1980 United States Grand Prix

Previous race

Canada was decided at the first corner. Piquet qualified on pole but used a fragile qualifying-specification car to do it. Jones outlaunched him at the start, the pair touched, Piquet hit the wall, and a multi-car pile-up followed. Piquet restarted in his qualifying car; the engine lasted only a handful of laps before failing. Jones won and clinched the 1980 Drivers’ Championship — the first Australian to win the title since Jack Brabham in 1966, and Williams’s first Drivers’ title to go alongside the Constructors’ crown secured at Imola. Jean-Pierre Jabouille crashed heavily and was cut from his car; he broke both legs.

Championship

Jones is the 1980 World Champion. Piquet holds second in the standings. Third place remains open: Reutemann leads Laffite by eight points. Second in the constructors’ championship is also contested, with Brabham five points behind Ligier.

Championship permutations

If Piquet wins at Watkins Glen, he would be required to drop the two points from his fifth-place finish at Austria, leaving him one point behind Jones regardless of Jones’s result. The constructors’ and drivers’ titles are both decided.

Between-race developments

Jean-Pierre Jabouille will miss this race due to his leg injuries from Canada. Mario Andretti wrote off his Lotus at the Canadian Grand Prix; he takes the car originally allocated to Nigel Mansell, who will not compete.

Background

The Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in New York State — the twentieth and final Formula One race to be held at this venue — very nearly did not take place. The race was in doubt for much of the season until a loan from FOCA to the organisers secured its future. Alain Prost crashed heavily at Turn 10 during Friday practice, hitting his head on the steering wheel and suffering a concussion; he will not race.

Milestones

This is the final Formula One World Championship race for both Emerson Fittipaldi and Jody Scheckter.