F1 driver standings
| Pos | Driver | ARG  | BRA  | ZAF  | USW  | BEL  | MCO  | FRA  | GBR  | DEU  | AUT  | NLD  | ITA  | CAN  | USA | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Alan Jones | 1 | 3 | R | R | 2 | R | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 67 (71) |
| 2 | Nelson Piquet | 2 | R | 4 | 1 | R | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | R | R | 54 |
| 3 | Carlos Reutemann | R | R | 5 | R | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 42 (49) |
| 4 | Jacques Laffite | R | R | 2 | R | 11 | 2 | 3 | R | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 8R | 5 | 34 |
| 5 | Didier Pironi | R | 4 | 3 | 6 | 1 | R | 2 | R | R | R | R | 6 | 3 | 3 | 32 |
| 6 | Rene Arnoux | R | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | R | 5 | NC | R | 9 | 2 | 10 | R | 7 | 29 |
| 7 | Elio de Angelis | R | 2 | R | R | 10R | 9R | R | R | 16R | 6 | R | 4 | 10 | 4 | 13 |
| 8 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | R | R | R | 10 | R | R | R | R | R | 1 | R | R | R | 9 | |
| 9 | Riccardo Patrese | R | 6 | R | 2 | R | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 14 | R | R | R | R | 7 |
| 10 |  Keke Rosberg | 3 | 9 | R | R | 7 | DNQ | R | DNQ | R | 16 | DNQ | 5 | 9 | 10 | 6 |
| = |  Derek Daly | 4 | 14 | R | 8 | 9 | R | 11 | 4 | 10 | R | R | R | R | R | 6 |
| = | John Watson | R | 11 | 11 | 4 | NC | DNQ | 7 | 8 | R | R | R | R | 4 | NC | 6 |
| = | Jean-Pierre Jarier | R | 12 | 7 | R | 5 | R | 14 | 5 | 15 | R | 5 | 13R | 7 | NC | 6 |
| = | Gilles Villeneuve | R | 16R | R | R | 6 | 5 | 8 | R | 6 | 8 | 7 | R | 5 | R | 6 |
| 15 | Emerson Fittipaldi | NC | 15 | 8 | 3 | R | 6 | 13R | 12 | R | 11 | R | R | R | R | 5 |
| = | Alain Prost | 6 | 5 | DNS | DNS | R | R | R | 6 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 7 | R | 5 | |
| 17 | Jochen Mass | R | 10 | 6 | 7 | R | 4 | 10 | 13 | 8 | DNQ | 11 | R | 4 | ||
| = | Bruno Giacomelli | 5 | 13 | R | R | R | R | R | R | 5 | R | R | R | R | R | 4 |
| 19 | Jody Scheckter | R | R | R | 5 | 8 | R | 12 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 8 | DNQ | 11 | 2 |
| 20 |  Hector Rebaque | 7 | R | 10 | R | R | 6 | R | 1 | |||||||
| = | Mario Andretti | R | R | 12 | R | R | 7 | R | R | 7 | R | 8R | R | R | 6 | 1 |
 Marc Surer | R | 7 | DNQ | R | R | 12 | 12 | 10 | R | DNQ | 8 | |||||
| Ricardo Zunino | 7 | 8 | 10 | R | R | DNQ | R | |||||||||
| Rupert Keegan | 11 | DNQ | 15 | DNQ | 11 | DNQ | 9 | |||||||||
| Clay Regazzoni | NC | R | 9 | R | ||||||||||||
| Jan Lammers | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | R | 12R | NC | DNQ | DNQ | 14 | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 12 | R | ||
| Eddie Cheever | DNQ | DNQ | R | R | DNQ | DNQ | R | R | R | R | R | 12 | R | R | ||
| Geoff Lees | 13R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | R | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||
| Patrick Depailler | R | R | NC | R | R | R | R | R | ||||||||
| Nigel Mansell | R | R | DNQ | |||||||||||||
| Vittorio Brambilla | R | R | ||||||||||||||
| Andrea de Cesaris | R | R | ||||||||||||||
 Mike Thackwell | DNQ | R | DNQ | |||||||||||||
| Tiff Needell | R | DNQ | ||||||||||||||
| David Kennedy | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||
 Stefan Johansson | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||
| Stephen South | DNQ | |||||||||||||||
| Desire Wilson | DNQ | |||||||||||||||
| Harald Ertl | DNQ | |||||||||||||||
| Manfred Winkelhock | DNQ | |||||||||||||||
| Kevin Cogan | DNQ | |||||||||||||||
| No. | Driver | ARG | BRA | ZAF | USW | BEL | MCO | FRA | GBR | DEU | AUT | NLD | ITA | CAN | USA | Points |
Table key
- Highlight: Rookie
- Bold: pole position
- Underline: fastest lap
- Bold & underline: pole & fastest lap
- DNQ: Did not qualify
- NC: Not classified
- DNS: Did not start
Points system and championship rules
The top six classified finishers of each race were awarded points on the following basis:
- 1st (9)
- 2nd (6)
- 3rd (4)
- 4th (3)
- 5th (2)
- 6th (1)
Only the best five results from the first seven races and the best five results from the last seven races counted towards the championship.
Numbers shown without parentheses are the points scored that counted towards the championship; numbers in parentheses are the total number of points scored.
Race to the title
The Race to the title graph shows how the title race played out over the course of the season between the top six drivers of 1980. Reigning world champion Jody Scheckter, who finished 19th, is also shown.