#332 1980 United States Grand Prix West

The mark of success of an event is when it becomes established and accepted in a short space of time, with no doubts or discussions, and the Grand Prix at Long Beach in California is one such event. Getting a race organised around the streets of a city is a daunting and difficult problem, as the enthusiasts of the City of Birmingham know only too well, yet the Long Beach group not only got their race off the ground very quickly, but got it established and accepted by the hard-bitten world of Formula One almost instantly. The first race round the city streets was a Formula 5000 race in 1975 and the first Formula One Grand Prix was in 1976. Here we all are at the fifth Grand Prix to be held at Long Beach and the overall feeling is that the event is nearly as old as the Monaco Grand Prix. By all the rules and laws of this plastic age in which we live, a race round the streets of Long Beach doesn’t make sense. If anyone re-created the Long Beach circuit as an artificial Autodrome, with all the concrete walls, minimal run-off areas, cambered roads, changes of surface, blind brows, bumps, dips and hollows they would be laughed out of court. As I have said before, thank goodness the world of Formula One is full of hypocrites. I enjoy the Long Beach race and the circuit is much better than Monaco; long may it continue. Thanks to package-tours and group-travel by air the arrival in California is well before the serious business of practice begins and there is no pre-practice testing allowed, as at Monaco, though some teams go off to various permanent tracks for private testing. Consequently there is the opportunity to investigate a little of California before the 10 a.m. practice session on Friday morning. As is accepted fact the entire Grand Prix entry is all set and ready to go under clear blue skies when the circuit is officially opened for the morning untimed session preparatory to the timed qualifying session in the afternoon. There are 27 drivers ready to do battle for the 24 grid positions, and if Mr. Ecclestone had got his way there would have been 28 drivers. At the last minute he tries to bull-doze a third Brabham entry for the oval-track racer Rick Mears, but he is confronted with the rules he agreed to last year which call for three months advance warning for enlarging a team or substituting a new driver into Formula One.

The convener of the closed shop finds the shop door closed - and locked. The previous Grand Prix was at Kyalami, 5.500 feet above sea-level, and there had been a lot of muttering about the unfair advantage that the turbo-charged Renault’s had had. Now we are at sea-level and all things are equal for all teams, while in addition the Goodyear Tyre Company has relented on their decision about supplying qualifying tyres and has come prepared to let everyone have special short-life tyres. This is a final fling, for it has been agreed all round that special qualifying tyres will not be used by anyone as from the next Grand Prix, which is in Belgium on May 4th. There is now nothing for anyone to gripe about. Turbo-charged 1½ litre engines, or 3 litre unblown engines, Goodyear tyres or Michelin tyres, race-worthy tyres or qualifying tyres, it is the same for everyone, so practice takes a pretty serious aspect, and no-one has been trying the circuit previously. There are a few changes to be seen, the McLaren team has invited Stephen South to stand-in for the injured Alain Prost and the ATS team has built a brand new D4 car and Jan Lammers is taking the place of the injured Marc Surer. The Brabham team are trying out a new gearbox on their spare car, Lotus has new gearboxes on their two cars to be used by Andretti and de Angelis, Renault is trying an AP power-assisted brake system on Arnoux’s car, which is a brand new car, Shadow has built up another car to replace the one destroyed in South Africa, many teams are using bigger brake discs and extra cooling ducts and aerodynamic devices are going out of fashion; nose-fins are disappearing altogether on some cars and rear aerofoils are reduced to very small proportions on others, while sliding skirts and the efficiency of the mechanisms are still occupying designers’ minds. I often think it is very fortunate that the majority of teams do not have to think about engines, leaving it all to Cosworth Engineering, otherwise there would be an acute shortage of brain-power in some teams. On the other hand it makes you appreciate teams like Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Renault who have to deal with all aspects of the Formula One car.

All the usual troubles arise during the morning session, with engines breaking, gearboxes breaking, cars being broken against the concrete walls, cars spinning, drivers complaining, drivers contented, drivers happy and drivers miserable, in fact, never a dull moment. There is certainly no shortage of enthusiasm and no shortage of pressing-on, even if some of it is regardless. When the excitement of the morning has dissipated and preparations has begun for the all-important timed session it is seen that Rosberg was to take the spare Fittipaldi car, F7/3, which is the first totally new 1980 car from the united forces of last year’s Wolf team and Fittipaldi Automotive. He had hit a wall in the morning and distorted the monocoque on F7/2, so it was put to one side. The reason he hit the wall is because he misjudged his apex on the right-angle bend leading onto the pit straight, his front wheel bumping the curb, which bounced the whole car off-line and into the wall on the outside of the exit of the corner. Reutemann is to use the spare Williams, number 6, as he has bent his own car, number 5 and it is taking time to fit new suspension parts. Mass is in the spare Arrows, number A3/1, as the engine in A3/4 has blown up. The Long Beach circuit is such that you have to work hard and concentrate hard even if you are going slowly, for there are so many sharp corners and hazards that a moment of inattention will put you in deep trouble. Arnoux is using the spare Renault RE22, as he is not fully convinced about the power-assisted braking on RE24, while Piquet is giving the spare Brabham, BT49/03, a try using the new Weisemann gearbox. Daly comes in with a crumpled nose on his Tyrrell, and Watson is sitting patiently while the McLaren mechanics try to stop M29C/2 from boiling.

Laffite abandons his Ligier after brushing a wall, and transfers to the spare car and Kennedy’s Shadow is wheeled in with the left-rear wheel at a drunken angle due to a broken upright. Giacomelli comes in with the nose of his Alfa Romeo all bent out of shape and Stephen South bends his McLaren when he has to dodge Depailler’s Alfa Romeo which is travelling slowly and unexpectedly. Watson is in the spare McLaren so it is the end of South’s practice. Mass is still in trouble for the spare Arrows have broken a drive-shaft universal joint. When it is all over there are no great surprises and the first six are Pironi (Ligier), Jones (Williams), Piquet (Brabham), Arnoux (Renault), Reutemann (Williams) and Jabouille (Renault). Those people who credited the Renault performance in South Africa solely to the altitude were having to think again, for both Renault drivers are up near the front in spite of a lot of brake trouble. At the back of the field are Lees, Kennedy and South, indicating that Formula One is not an easy game to break into. The Saturday morning test-session sees most of the Friday troubles put right, though Rosberg is still using the spare Fittipaldi car. The AP power-assisted braking system is transferred to the spare Renault and Arnoux gets back into his brand new car. Reutemann is back in his own car, as is Mass and everything goes a lot more smoothly as everyone prepares for the final fling in the afternoon test-session. Apart from a good grid position netting the driver/team a lot of money from the FOCA kitty, it is also pretty vital for the race as overtaking through the streets is not all that easy, and there are sections where you can get badly hold up by a slower car. The weather is staying perfect, with cloudless skies and everyone is wound up pretty tight. The Ferrari team seems to be getting nowhere at all, and get in a flap when Scheckter’s car goes sick and they have to prepare the spare car, number 042, in double-quick time.

The start for the Long Beach Grand Prix is situated on the bottom straight, leading towards the Queen’s Hairpin, but the timing line and finish line are still on the top straight, opposite the pits on Ocean Boulevard, so the race is actually 80½ laps in length. As at Monaco, or any other tight and twisty circuit, it is a terrible problem to find a suitable place to start 24 cars, with a 0-100 mph time in the region of 5 seconds, and not have them fall over each other at the first corner. The start is due at 2 pm and though the skies are still cloudless a light breeze is whisking the dust and rubbish about. All 24 cars leave the pit lane to be driven round to the finishing straight where they assemble in grid order. When all is ready and 2:00 p.m. approach they set off in formation, led by Piquet in the blue and white Brabham, with John Watson’s McLaren needing a push-start. They pause at the starting lights on Shoreline Drive, the red light shone, then the green and 24 accelerator pedals are flattened as clutch pedals are released. Piquet and Arnoux are side-by-side round the hairpin, with the Brabham taking the advantage of the inside line, and Depailler driving through into second place. At the back of the field Andretti runs over someone’s rear wheel and bends his steering and Zunino dodges out of the way of what he thought was going to be an accident and hits the outside wall. Up onto the top-straight to start the first timed lap Piquet leads from Depailler, Arnoux, Jones, Giacomelli and Patrese. The number two Brabham of Zunino stays down at the hairpin, Andretti is right down among the back-markers and the ATS comes to rest on the top straight with a broken drive-shaft universal joint. At the end of the first full lap Piquet still leads from Depailler, Arnoux, Jones, Giacomelli, Patrese, Reutemann and Villeneuve all nose-to-tail. Then come Daly, Pironi, Scheckter, Jabouille, Rosberg and Laffite all very close, with Regazzoni, Watson and Fittipaldi bringing up the rear. Mass is into the pits to change a punctured tyre and Andretti is in to withdraw due to the bent steering on his Lotus. One and a half laps gone and three cars out of the race already.

There is no change on the next lap but by the end of lap 3 Piquet has pulled out a measurable lead over Depailler, and he is not waiting for anyone. Jones has overtaken Arnoux and has his sights firmly on the back of the Alfa Romeo, while Reutemann has pushed the second Williams car past Patrese’s Arrows. On the fourth lap, as the mid-field runners have braked for the hairpin before the bottom straight Giacomelli gets his Alfa Romeo all crossed up and spins sideways and then rolls back across the track. All hell breaks loose and while the unlucky ones run into each other the lucky ones find a way through the melee. When the dust has settled Giacomelli has gone, heading for the pits for a new front, leaving Jarier’s Tyrrell minus a wheel, the de Angelis Lotus 81 with the right front corner smashed in, Reutemann’s Williams with a broken drive-shaft joint, and Cheever and Scheckter heading for the pits. The Osella has been punted up the back and Scheckter has put flat-spots on his tyres as he locked everything up in a panic stop. This little kerfuffle alters the whole pattern of the race from fourth place back, but out in front Piquet is completely unruffled and is pulling away beautifully, driving with lovely precision and looking the complete master of the situation. In the multiple accident de Angelis has suffered foot injuries and has been taken off to hospital and it is remarkable that no-one else was injured. At 5 laps the scene is well settled, with the Brabham well ahead and going strongly. Depailler is still second and driving his heart out, but it is only a matter of time before he will have to give in to the pressure from the cool Mr. Jones. Arnoux is doing a terrific job hanging onto the Williams and behind them Patrese is being pressured by Villeneuve, which is not a healthy position to be in. All the way through the field there are little scraps developing, apart from Piquet who is well out on his own. Daly has his Tyrrell between the two Ligiers, all running nose-to-tail, Jabouille with fading brakes is hounded by Rosberg and Regazzoni, Watson and Fittipaldi are locked in combat.