1985 Belgian Grand Prix | |||
---|---|---|---|
Race 13 of 16 in the 1985 Formula One World Championship | |||
Race details | |||
Date | 15 September 1985 | ||
Location | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium [1] | ||
Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
Course length | 6.940 km (4.312 miles) | ||
Distance | 43 laps, 301.172 km (187.136 miles) | ||
Weather | Wet/Dry, drying up in later stages | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | McLaren-TAG | ||
Time | 1:55.306 | ||
Fastest lap | |||
Driver | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | |
Time | 2:01.730 on lap 38 | ||
Podium | |||
First | Lotus-Renault | ||
Second | Williams-Honda | ||
Third | McLaren-TAG | ||
Lap leaders |
The 1985 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 15 September 1985. It was the thirteenth round of the 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race was the 43rd Belgian Grand Prix, the 31st to be held at Spa and the second since the circuit had been rebuilt and re-opened at half its original length in 1979. The race was held over 43 laps of the seven kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 301 kilometres.
The race was won by Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna driving a Lotus 97T. It was Senna's second World Championship victory and the first of five he would win at Spa-Francorchamps. Senna won by 28 seconds over British driver Nigel Mansell driving a Williams FW10. Third was World Championship points leader, French driver Alain Prost driving a McLaren MP4/2B. The win promoted Senna to third in the drivers' standings and third place allowed Prost to expand his lead over Ferrari driver Michele Alboreto to 16 points.
Originally scheduled to take place on 2 June 1985, the Grand Prix was rescheduled for September after the recently resurfaced track became damaged during the race weekend. [2]
This was the second Belgian Grand Prix to occur at a reconfigured Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, with the first being the 1983 race. Race organisers opted to resurface the track with a material called Stress Absorbing Membrane Interlayer that intended to provide improved grip in wet-weather conditions at a cost of £3 million. [3] [2] Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA), the governing body of Formula One, was queried about the resurfacing work and replied it would approve if race organisers complied with a regulation that mandates any such work occur 60 days beforehand. Local bureaucracy and a harsh winter caused delays to the work, which were reportedly finished ten days before the event's scheduled date of 31 May, and forced a cancellation of a pre-race test session at the circuit. [3] Organisers did not refer the incident to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and went ahead. [2]
Warm weather, the powerful turbocharged cars of the time, [3] and their wide, slick tyres, [2] damaged the track during the Friday practice session. [3] Repairs to the circuit were conducted overnight and undamaged turns were also addressed. After around 25 minutes into the Saturday practice session, all on-track activity stopped, since drivers noticed the damage and held a series of meetings. One suggestion was to cancel the remainder of the day's activities, the Sunday morning warm-up session and enter straight into the race on Sunday afternoon. Bernie Ecclestone, the commercial rights holder of Formula One, called every team principal to a meeting and told them to hold the International Formula 3000 support round on Sunday afternoon or it be the primary event. [3] Drivers and officials inspected the track at 18:00 local time. [2] Discussions continued until 19:30 local time and drivers' representative Niki Lauda told the media that the Formula One race would be postponed. [3]
Jean-Marie Balestre, the president of FISA, was furious and summoned race organisers to the FISA executive meeting in Paris "to explain the serious fault committed," and said that they "will be liable to very heavy sanctions." [3] The Belgian ASN was fined $10,000 and a provisional $100,000 bond to be deposited to FISA by the organisers would be returned in the event there were no further problems with the track on the rescheduled date. Ecclestone rescheduled the race to 15 September, following the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza and the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. The race at Brands Hatch was later moved back by one week to provide the teams with some preparation. [3]
Because this was a rescheduled race Formula One's newest team Haas Lola and their driver, 1980 World Champion Alan Jones, who had their first race at the previous round in Italy were not permitted to enter as they were not on the original entry list. During the buildup to the race FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre announced that the controversial South African Grand Prix would take place despite pressure to cancel the event as part of anti-apartheid embargoes.
Missing from the grid was an injured Niki Lauda. At the end of Friday's practice session before qualifying proper, his McLaren MP4/2B's throttle stuck open while he was only touring back to the pits. The car slid off the track on the newer section of track and the three time and defending World Champion hit a guardrail and on impact the steering wheel whipped around wrenching his wrist as it did so. X-rays revealed no break but Lauda was not fit to race so he returned home to Austria for further inspection and treatment from his physical therapist Willi Dungl. McLaren initially hoped to put John Watson in Lauda's car but this would have required the approval of all other teams. Mindful of the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari refused to agree, leaving Alain Prost as McLaren's only driver in Belgium. RAM was also down to one car, only bringing a single RAM 03 for Philippe Alliot and the 1985 Formula 3000 champion Christian Danner made his world championship debut with Zakspeed. [4] [5]
Prost took pole position, averaging 135.929 mph (218.756 km/h) from Senna with Nelson Piquet qualifying third in his Brabham BT54, with Alboreto fourth in his Ferrari 156/85. Rain fell before the race leaving the grid to form on a damp track with wet-weather tyres for the first time since Senna won in Portugal. Senna won the start from Piquet but the Brabham spun at the first corner. Senna led from Prost, Mansell and the two Ferraris of Alboreto and Stefan Johansson. The Ferraris were soon out, from a broken clutch and engine respectively. Meanwhile Johansson retired after spinning off at the end of the Kemmel Straight on Lap 8. Prost dropped behind the two Williams FW10s as the field pitted for dry tyres. Late in the race rain fell again and Senna expanded his lead. Keke Rosberg dropped to fourth with a brief pit visit with a brake problem and they finished in that order. Fifth had been Thierry Boutsen until his Arrows A8 broke its gearbox. Piquet claimed fifth from Derek Warwick in a Renault RE60B, Warwick scored the last point for the original factory Renault team. Twelve cars finished the race, including for the first time a Minardi as Pierluigi Martini finished twelfth in his Minardi M185. A further two cars, Boutsen and the crashed Ligier JS25 of Jacques Laffite were also classified as finishers. Huub Rothengatter's Osella FA1G fell one lap short of being classified. [4] [5]
Although the marshals led the cars directly into the pits after finish, Ayrton Senna drove around them and took a lap of honour. [6]
Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 1:56.563 | 1:55.306 | — |
2 | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Renault | 2:00.710 | 1:55.403 | +0.097 |
3 | 7 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-BMW | 1:56.643 | 1:55.648 | +0.342 |
4 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 1:56.999 | 1:56.021 | +0.715 |
5 | 28 | Stefan Johansson | Ferrari | 1:56.585 | 1:56.746 | +1.279 |
6 | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 1:59.046 | 1:56.697 | +1.391 |
7 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 1:56.727 | 1:56.996 | +1.421 |
8 | 17 | Gerhard Berger | Arrows-BMW | 1:56.770 | +1.464 | |
9 | 11 | Elio de Angelis | Lotus-Renault | 1:58.852 | 1:57.322 | +2.016 |
10 | 6 | Keke Rosberg | Williams-Honda | 1:57.582 | 1:57.465 | +2.159 |
11 | 19 | Teo Fabi | Toleman-Hart | 1:57.588 | 1:57.857 | +2.282 |
12 | 8 | Marc Surer | Brabham-BMW | 2:00.154 | 1:57.729 | +2.423 |
13 | 15 | Patrick Tambay | Renault | 1:58.105 | 1:59.335 | +2.799 |
14 | 16 | Derek Warwick | Renault | 1:59.761 | 1:58.407 | +3.101 |
15 | 22 | Riccardo Patrese | Alfa Romeo | 1:59.703 | 1:58.414 | +3.108 |
16 | 20 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Toleman-Hart | 1:58.820 | 1:58.706 | +3.400 |
17 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Renault | 2:01.745 | 1:58.933 | +3.627 |
18 | 25 | Philippe Streiff | Ligier-Renault | 2:00.599 | 1:59.245 | +3.939 |
19 | 23 | Eddie Cheever | Alfa Romeo | 2:00.861 | 1:59.370 | +4.064 |
20 | 9 | Philippe Alliot | RAM-Hart | 1:59.626 | 1:59.755 | +4.320 |
21 | 3 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell-Renault | 2:00.950 | 2:01.364 | +5.644 |
22 | 30 | Christian Danner | Zakspeed | 2:05.059 | 2:07.046 | +9.753 |
23 | 24 | Huub Rothengatter | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 2:06.083 | 2:05.776 | +10.470 |
24 | 29 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 2:06.007 | 2:06.606 | +10.701 |
|
|
The San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One championship race which was run at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, near the Apennine mountains in Italy, between 1981 and 2006. It was named after nearby San Marino as there already was an Italian Grand Prix held at Monza even though the Imola Circuit was in Italy and not within San Marino's own territory. In 1980, when Monza was under refurbishment, the Imola track was used for the 51st Italian Grand Prix.
The 1984 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Zolder on 29 April 1984. It was the third race of the 1984 Formula One World Championship. It was the 42nd Belgian Grand Prix, and the tenth and last to be held at Zolder. The race was held over 70 laps of the 4.26-kilometre (2.65 mi) circuit for a race distance of 298.3 kilometres (185.4 mi).
The 1984 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 7 October 1984. It was the fifteenth race of the 1984 Formula One World Championship. It was also the first Formula One race to be held at the Nürburgring since 1976, and the first to be run on the new 4.54 km (2.82 mi) GP-Strecke circuit, rather than the historic 20.892 km (12.982 mi) Nordschleife, which after new pit facilities and layout modifications had been shortened so that both circuits could be used at the same time.
The 1985 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on 16 June 1985. It was the fifth race of the 1985 Formula One World Championship.
The 1985 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 7 July 1985. It was the seventh race of the 1985 Formula One World Championship. It was the 63rd French Grand Prix and the ninth to be held at Paul Ricard. The race was held over 53 laps of the 5.81-kilometre (3.61 mi) circuit for a total race distance of 307.93 kilometres (191.34 mi).
The 1985 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 21 July 1985. It was the eighth race of the 1985 Formula One World Championship.
The 1985 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Zandvoort on 25 August 1985. It was the eleventh round of the 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship and the 34th World Championship Grand Prix to be held in the Netherlands. The race was held over 70 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 298 kilometres. The race also proved to be the 25th and final Grand Prix victory for triple World Champion Niki Lauda, driving a McLaren-TAG. Lauda's teammate Alain Prost was second, with Brazilian racer Ayrton Senna third in his Lotus-Renault. However, it was also to be the last Dutch Grand Prix for 36 years. It was planned to be re-introduced in 2020, on a revised Zandvoort circuit, however the re-introduction was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which would be eventually cancelled. The first race back at Zandvoort eventually turned out to be in 2021, won by Max Verstappen, the nation's first World Champion. As of 2023, all three races since the track's return have been won by Verstappen.
The 1986 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 25 May 1986. It was the fifth race of the 1986 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race was the 44th Belgian Grand Prix and the 32nd to be held at Spa-Francorchamps. It was held over 43 laps of the 7-kilometre (4.35 mi) circuit for a total race distance of 301 kilometres (187 mi).
The 1987 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 17 May 1987 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Wallonia. Contested over 43 laps, the race was the 45th Belgian Grand Prix, the 33rd to be held at Spa and the fourth since the circuit was redeveloped in 1979, and the third race of the 1987 Formula One season.
The 1987 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 31 May 1987 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo. It was the fourth race of the 1987 Formula One World Championship.
The 1988 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Imola on 1 May 1988. The 60-lap race was the second round of the 1988 Formula One season. Ayrton Senna scored his first victory for the McLaren team, with turbocharged Honda-powered cars sweeping the top three positions.
The 1988 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 28 August 1988. It was the eleventh race of the 1988 Formula One World Championship.
The 1989 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Suzuka Circuit, Japan, on 22 October 1989. It was the 15th and penultimate round of the 1989 Formula One season. The 53-lap race was won by Alessandro Nannini for the Benetton team, from a sixth position start. Riccardo Patrese finished second for the Williams team, with Thierry Boutsen third in the other Williams car. It was Nannini's only win.
The 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 42nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1988 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1988 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 3 April and ended on 13 November. The World Championship for Drivers was won by Ayrton Senna, and the World Championship for Constructors by McLaren-Honda. Senna and McLaren teammate Alain Prost won fifteen of the sixteen races between them; the only race neither driver won was the Italian Grand Prix, where Ferrari's Gerhard Berger took an emotional victory four weeks after the death of team founder Enzo Ferrari. McLaren's win tally has only been bettered or equalled in seasons with more than sixteen races; their Constructors' Championship tally of 199 points, more than three times that of any other constructor, was also a record until 2002.
The 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 41st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1987 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1987 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 12 April and ended on 15 November.
The 1986 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 40th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1986 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1986 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, both of which commenced on 23 March and ended on 26 October after sixteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Alain Prost, Prost was the first driver to win back-to-back Drivers' Championships since Jack Brabham in 1959 and 1960. Together with Prost, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna dominated throughout the season and formed what was dubbed as the "Gang of Four".
The 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 39th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1985 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1985 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, both of which commenced on 7 April and ended on 3 November after sixteen races.
The 1984 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 38th season of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1984 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1984 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, both of which commenced on 25 March and ended on 21 October after sixteen races.
The 1983 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 37th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1983 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1983 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently over a fifteen-race series that commenced on 13 March and ended on 15 October.
The 1984 Detroit Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on June 24, 1984 in Detroit, Michigan. It was the eighth race of the 1984 Formula One World Championship.