United States Grand Prix 1980 - Race Schedule and Countdown

Alan Jones closed out his championship-winning season with a commanding victory at the United States Grand Prix, delivering Williams their sixth win of 1980. The Australian's dominant performance at Watkins Glen provided the perfect exclamation point to a brilliant campaign, with Jones leading teammate Carlos Reutemann home for yet another Williams 1-2 finish. The newly-crowned World Champion demonstrated that his motivation remained intact even after securing the title, controlling the race from start to finish on the challenging New York State circuit.

Reutemann's second place completed his excellent first season with Williams, with the Argentine establishing himself as a genuine championship contender for 1981. Didier Pironi claimed third place for Ligier, finishing a season in which the French team had shown consistent speed but lacked the ultimate reliability to challenge Williams for the championship. The race at Watkins Glen was the final round of a season that had seen Williams establish technical dominance through ground-effect aerodynamics, with Patrick Head's FW07B proving the class of the field. Jones's five victories and 67 championship points represented a comprehensive triumph, though Nelson Piquet's late-season surge had suggested the Brazilian would be a formidable opponent in years to come.

The championship had been clinched at the previous race in Canada, where Jones secured the points needed for his first World Championship. His 13-point margin over Piquet masked how close the battle had been, particularly in the final races when Brabham found late-season form. Jones's title was built on five victories and remarkable consistency, with the Australian rarely finishing outside the points all season. The 1980 championship marked the beginning of Williams' emergence as Formula 1's dominant force, a position they would maintain for much of the following decade. However, tensions were already emerging within the team that would explode in 1981, as Reutemann increasingly challenged Jones for supremacy.