[3] In his third race since returning from a self-imposed two-year "retirement," Austrian Niki Lauda won the seventh United States Grand Prix West at Long Beach, ahead of Keke Rosberg.

Canada's Gilles Villeneuve crossed the line in third, but he was disqualified after the race when a protest of his Ferrari's rear wing was upheld by the officials.

Just five days after the previous race in Brazil, Carlos Reutemann had shocked his boss Frank Williams, and everyone else in the paddock, by announcing his retirement.

His commitment to the Patrick Indy racing team posed no conflicts, so he agreed to drive the second Williams for the weekend, saying, "I had nothing else to do, so I accepted."

The Queen's Hairpin at the end of Shoreline Drive had been transformed into a right-angle turn that led into a new section of track with several demanding corners, leading up to Ocean Boulevard.

The changes increased the length of the lap only slightly, but added about ten seconds to the previous year's times as the drivers became acclimated to the new layout.

At the time, de Cesaris was the youngest driver to achieve pole position, a record beaten by Rubens Barrichello at the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix.

At the end of the first lap, de Cesaris led by two seconds, followed by Arnoux, Lauda, Bruno Giacomelli, Villeneuve, Alain Prost, Didier Pironi, Rosberg, Piquet, Michele Alboreto, John Watson, Cheever and Andretti.

On the next lap, the Williams edged briefly ahead between the hairpin and the new chicane, but the Ferrari's horsepower advantage allowed Villeneuve to retake the position down the Shoreline Drive straight.

Apparently content now with second place, but possibly distracted by smoke from an engine fire, the Italian lost concentration and shockingly flew off the road into the Turn Five wall on lap 34, ripping off two wheels and the right sidepod.

This became third in the books when the stewards accepted Tyrrell's protest of Ferrari's staggered, two-part rear wing, aimed at circumventing the 110 cm limit on its width, and Villeneuve was disqualified.