1985 Belgian Grand Prix

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1985 Belgian Grand Prix
Race 13 of 16 in the 1985 Formula One World Championship
Spa 1996.jpg
Race details
Date15 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 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-TAG
Time 2:01.730 on lap 38
Podium
First Lotus-Renault
Second Williams-Honda
Third McLaren-TAG
Lap leaders
  • 1985 Belgian Grand Prix

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.

Contents

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]

Race summary

Track surface and postponement

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]

Postponed race

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 marshals waved the finished cars into the old downhill pitlane after La Source, Ayrton Senna did not enter the pits and took a lap of honour. [6]

Classification

Qualifying

Times recorded on Friday qualifying session before postponement (31 May 1985)

PosNoDriverConstructorTime
127 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:56.046
211 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:56.273
312 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 1:56.473
415 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Renault 1:56.586
528 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson Ferrari 1:57.506
66 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:57.705
77 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:58.122
825 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault 1:58.302
917 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 1:58.343
101 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 1:58.374
115 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:58.658
1218 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 1:58.874
1316 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Renault 1:59.129
1419 Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 2:00.592
1526 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 2:00.729
1623 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 2:00.782
1722 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 2:01.396
188 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 2:01.555
1930 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed 2:04.990
204 Flag of Germany.svg Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Renault 2:05.070
2124 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo 2:05.088
223 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 2:05.782
239 Flag of Germany.svg Manfred Winkelhock RAM-Hart 2:06.771
2429 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 2:12.279
2 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-TAG no time
10 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart no time

Rescheduled qualifying (13 and 14 September 1985)

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
12 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:56.5631:55.306
212 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 2:00.7101:55.403+0.097
37 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:56.6431:55.648+0.342
427 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:56.9991:56.021+0.715
528 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson Ferrari 1:56.5851:56.746+1.279
618 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 1:59.0461:56.697+1.391
75 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:56.7271:56.996+1.421
817 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 1:56.770+1.464
911 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:58.8521:57.322+2.016
106 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:57.5821:57.465+2.159
1119 Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 1:57.5881:57.857+2.282
128 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 2:00.1541:57.729+2.423
1315 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Renault 1:58.1051:59.335+2.799
1416 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Renault 1:59.7611:58.407+3.101
1522 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 1:59.7031:58.414+3.108
1620 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Toleman-Hart 1:58.8201:58.706+3.400
1726 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 2:01.7451:58.933+3.627
1825 Flag of France.svg Philippe Streiff Ligier-Renault 2:00.5991:59.245+3.939
1923 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 2:00.8611:59.370+4.064
209 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 1:59.6261:59.755+4.320
213 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 2:00.9502:01.364+5.644
2230 Flag of Germany.svg Christian Danner Zakspeed 2:05.0592:07.046+9.753
2324 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Huub Rothengatter Osella-Alfa Romeo 2:06.0832:05.776+10.470
2429 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 2:06.0072:06.606+10.701

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
112 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 431:34:19.89329
25 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 43+ 28.42276
32 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 43+ 55.10914
46 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 43+ 1:15.290103
57 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 42+ 1 lap32
616 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Renault 42+ 1 lap141
717 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 42+ 1 lap8 
88 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 42+ 1 lap12 
925 Flag of France.svg Philippe Streiff Ligier-Renault 42+ 1 lap18 
1018 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 40Gearbox6 
1126 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 38Accident17 
1229 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 38+ 5 laps24 
133 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 38+ 5 laps21 
NC24 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Huub Rothengatter Osella-Alfa Romeo 37+ 6 laps23 
Ret22 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 31Engine15 
Ret23 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 26Gearbox19 
Ret15 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Renault 24Gearbox13 
Ret19 Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 23Throttle11 
Ret11 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 17Turbo9 
Ret30 Flag of Germany.svg Christian Danner Zakspeed 16Gearbox22 
Ret9 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 10Accident20 
Ret28 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson Ferrari 7Spun off5 
Ret20 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Toleman-Hart 7Accident16 
Ret27 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 3Clutch4 
DNS1 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG Driver injured
Source: [7]

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. "1985 Belgian GP". Motor Sport . Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Williamson, Martin (9 April 2010). "The race that never was". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cooper, Adam (26 March 2020). "The only other time F1 called off a race". motorsport.com . Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Grand Prix Result: Belgian GP, Spa-Francorchamps, 1985". GrandPrix.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2001. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  5. 1 2 Jenkinson, Denis (October 1985). "The Belgian Grand Prix – Touch and Go". Motor Sport . LXI (10): 1080–1083. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  6. "YouTube - Senna wins at Spa 1985 and drives around the Marshalls". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  7. "1985 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Belgium 1985 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
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1985 Italian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1985 season
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1985 European Grand Prix
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1984 Belgian Grand Prix
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1986 Belgian Grand Prix