Race
Piquet was away from pole position and had built a huge gap. Down the field, Patrese, trying to make up positions in the race, made a mistake into the Druids Hairpin, with drivers reacting behind causing a multi-car pile up.
The race began with multiple incidents on the opening lap that significantly reduced the field. An Osella was forced into the barriers, a RAM somersaulted and came to rest on the grass, Eddie Cheever’s Alfa Romeo sustained rear-end damage, and Stefan Johansson’s Tyrrell was also damaged. While Johansson was able to return to the pits, Cheever retired. At the end of the first lap, 23 cars remained in the race.
At the front, Nelson Piquet led Alain Prost and Niki Lauda, with the three pulling clear of the rest of the field, which was headed by Derek Warwick. Early mechanical issues eliminated Keke Rosberg, who retired with Honda engine trouble, and Teo Fabi, whose BMW engine suffered electrical problems. Manfred Winkelhock also retired after spinning on the bottom straight.
By lap 10, the two McLarens of Prost and Lauda were applying increasing pressure to Piquet. On lap 12, Prost overtook Piquet at Paddock Bend, with Lauda following through shortly afterwards at Druids.
On the same lap, Jonathan Palmer crashed heavily exiting Clearways while running 17th. His damaged RAM came to rest in a dangerous position near the racing line. Although Palmer was uninjured, the severity and location of the wreck prompted race officials to stop the race in accordance with safety regulations.
During the stoppage, damaged barriers and tyre walls were repaired and remaining wreckage cleared. The restart was scheduled after a further 20-minute countdown. Cars lined up in the order they had held at the end of lap 11, meaning Piquet resumed from pole position and was permitted to fit new tyres.
Several cars were unable to restart. The ATS, which had been retrieved, was not allowed to rejoin as it had officially retired. Rosberg and Fabi were eligible to restart but their cars could not be repaired in time. As a result, 19 cars took the restart.
The final classification was based on the combined time of the first 11 laps and the remaining 60 laps of the restarted race, for a total distance of 71 laps instead of the scheduled 75.
Prost led the restart from Piquet and Lauda, followed by Warwick and Patrick Tambay. The leading trio again set the pace. Lauda passed Piquet on lap 29 and later inherited the lead when Prost slowed with gearbox problems on lap 38 and pitted.
Piquet remained competitive until late in the race, when his BMW engine lost turbo boost, reducing it to normally aspirated power. He dropped from second place to seventh by the finish.
Warwick capitalised on Piquet’s problems to move into second place, while Ayrton Senna delivered a notable performance for Toleman. Senna pressured Elio de Angelis for much of the race and overtook him at Paddock Bend on lap 69. De Angelis subsequently suffered turbo problems but finished, while Senna secured third place on the same lap as the winner.
Further down the order, Andrea de Cesaris spun at Druids on lap 52 but continued to finish 10th. The Ferraris of Michele Alboreto and René Arnoux finished fifth and sixth. Riccardo Patrese retired near the finish with gearbox failure, and Tambay’s Renault caught fire on the final lap but was quickly extinguished by marshals.
Renault driver Derek Warwick gave the British fans something to cheer when he finished 42 seconds behind Lauda in second place, while Cecotto's Toleman teammate Ayrton Senna finished 21 seconds behind Warwick in third, his second podium finish in just his rookie season. Lotus-Renault driver Elio de Angelis kept his championship hopes alive finishing a lap down in fourth place. He was followed by the two Ferraris of Michele Alboreto and René Arnoux in the final points positions.
Lauda's win saw him move to 33 points and with Prost failing to finish his championship lead was cut to just 1.5 points. With 67.5 points, McLaren had scored almost double the number of Constructors' points than second placed Ferrari who were on 34.5 points. [10]
Eddie Cheever (Alfa Romeo), Philippe Alliot (RAM) and Jo Gartner (Osella) were all outed in a first lap crash which started when Riccardo Patrese lost his Alfa going into the Graham Hill Bend. The race was stopped after 11 laps to clear Jonathan Palmer's RAM.
Niki Lauda 
