Video: 'Full Throttle' Epic '70s F1 Action

Ligier and Ferrari had shared the spoils in the opening quartet of flyaway races, with Jacques Laffite winning for the French squad in Argentina and Brazil in the Cosworth DFV-powered JS11, while Gilles Villeneuve had given the new flat-12 Ferrari 312T4 victory in its first two races – in South Africa and on the California streets of Long Beach.

Jarama, however, looked good for Ligier, which had locked out the front row in Buenos Aires and at Interlagos but lost out to Renault at Kyalami and Ferrari in Long Beach. This time, Patrick Depailler, who was still looking for Grand Prix win number two to add to his victory in Monaco the previous year, headed team-mate Laffite, with Villeneuve and Mario Andretti – in the new Lotus 80 – on row two.

Other new cars appearing for the first time that weekend were a single Renault RS10 for Jean-Pierre Jabouille (team-mate René Arnoux would get his hands on the other at Monaco in two races’ time), and the Williams FW07s of Alan Jones and Clay Regazzoni.  

On raceday, Depailler disappeared up the road, leading every one of the 75 laps to come home 20 seconds ahead of Carlos Reutemann, who’d opted to stay in the older Lotus 79 after trying the 80 in practice. Andretti gave Colin Chapman’s new machine a debut podium finish with third but it was a false dawn for the radical machine; after reverting to the 79 for the next race, in Belgium, Mario persevered twice more that year, before Lotus called time on the 80.

Jody Schecker took fourth for Ferrari ahead of the Tyrrells of Jean-Pierre Jarier and Didier Pironi, while championship leader Villeneuve finished a lacklustre seventh in the second Ferrari. As a result, the French-Canadian would find himself heading to Zolder for the Belgian GP sharing the points lead with hero of the day Depailler.

Both the Williams retired with mechanical issues, but it would be only a few months before the British squad added its name to the record books.

The only other drama ensued later in the race when half a dozen spectators ran across the circuit just before the first corner. “And look at that for crass stupidity!” exclaimed commentator Murray Walker in his inimitable style. Fortunately that sort of thing doesn’t happy any more.