1985 European Grand Prix

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1985 European Grand Prix
Race 14 of 16 in the 1985 Formula One World Championship
Brands Hatch 1976-1987.svg
Race details
Date6 October 1985
Official name Shell Oils Grand Prix of Europe
Location Brands Hatch, Kent, United Kingdom
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.206 km (2.61 miles)
Distance 75 laps, 315.5 km (195.8 miles)
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Renault
Time 1:07.169 [1]
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault
Time 1:11.526 on lap 55 [2]
Podium
First Williams-Honda
Second Lotus-Renault
Third Williams-Honda
Lap leaders
  • 1985 European Grand Prix
Nigel Mansell, driving for Williams, took his first Formula One victory. 1985 European GP Nigel Mansell01.jpg
Nigel Mansell, driving for Williams, took his first Formula One victory.
Ayrton Senna finished second for Lotus having started from pole position. 1985 European GP Senna.jpg
Ayrton Senna finished second for Lotus having started from pole position.
Mansell's teammate Keke Rosberg completed the podium. 1985 European GP Rosberg.jpg
Mansell's teammate Keke Rosberg completed the podium.
Alain Prost fought his way to a fourth-place finish, thus securing his first Drivers' Championship. 1985 European GP Prost.jpg
Alain Prost fought his way to a fourth-place finish, thus securing his first Drivers' Championship.

The 1985 European Grand Prix (formally the Shell Oils Grand Prix of Europe [3] ) was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on 6 October 1985. It was the fourteenth race of the 1985 Formula One World Championship.

Contents

The 75-lap race was won by Nigel Mansell, driving a Williams-Honda. It was Mansell's first Formula One victory in his 72nd race start. Ayrton Senna finished second in a Lotus-Renault, having started from pole position, while Mansell's teammate Keke Rosberg finished third. Alain Prost finished fourth in his McLaren-TAG which, combined with Michele Alboreto's retirement with a turbo failure, secured the Frenchman his first Drivers' Championship.

Qualifying

Qualifying report

Ayrton Senna took his sixth pole position of the season in his Lotus-Renault, averaging 140.106 mph (225.479 km/h), the first time anyone had lapped the Brands Hatch circuit faster than 140 mph. Compatriot Nelson Piquet was second in his Brabham-BMW, 0.3 seconds behind, followed by the Williams-Hondas of Nigel Mansell and Keke Rosberg. Philippe Streiff was a surprise fifth in his Ligier, ahead of Alain Prost's McLaren; the top ten was completed by Marc Surer in the second Brabham, Derek Warwick in the Renault, Elio de Angelis in the second Lotus and Jacques Laffite in the second Ligier. Prost's Drivers' Championship rival, Michele Alboreto, could only manage 15th in his Ferrari.

Prost's teammate Niki Lauda was unfit to race due to the wrist injury he had suffered at the previous race in Belgium. His place was taken by former McLaren stalwart John Watson, in his first F1 race since the end of 1983; the Ulsterman qualified 21st, over five seconds behind Senna. Watson's participation marked the last time to date a Formula One driver raced with number 1 without having been World Champion the previous season. [4] Tyrrell had re-expanded to two cars, with Martin Brundle joined by Italian newcomer Ivan Capelli, who qualified 24th.

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
112 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 1:08.0201:07.169
27 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:09.2041:07.482+0.313
35 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:10.5371:08.059+0.890
46 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:09.2771:08.197+1.028
525 Flag of France.svg Philippe Streiff Ligier-Renault 1:10.3961:09.080+1.911
62 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:10.3451:09.429+2.260
78 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 1:09.7621:09.913+2.593
816 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Renault 1:11.0141:09.904+2.735
911 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:11.5301:10.014+2.845
1026 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 1:11.3121:10.081+2.912
1122 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 1:10.9631:10.251+3.082
1218 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 1:10.9181:10.323+3.154
1328 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson Ferrari 1:11.3091:10.517+3.348
1420 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Toleman-Hart 1:13.5171:10.570+3.401
1527 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:10.8771:10.659+3.490
163 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 1:11.2961:10.731+3.562
1715 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Renault 1:13.0481:10.934+3.765
1823 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 1:12.7661:11.500+4.331
1917 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 1:11.6081:11.638+4.439
2019 Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 1:13.0241:12.090+4.921
211 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson McLaren-TAG 1:12.4961:12.516+5.327
2233 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Lola-Hart 1:14.0501:13.084+5.915
239 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 1:14.3551:13.537+6.368
244 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli Tyrrell-Renault 1:16.8791:13.721+6.552
2530 Flag of Germany.svg Christian Danner Zakspeed 1:15.9471:15.054+7.885
2629 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:16.6421:15.127+9.473
DNQ24 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Huub Rothengatter Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:16.9941:18.022+9.825

Race

Race report

Senna led off the line from a fast-starting Mansell, while Prost slid onto the grass and fell to 14th. Mansell then ran wide at Druids, allowing Rosberg and Piquet past.

On lap 7, Rosberg attempted to overtake Senna, but the Brazilian blocked the move causing Rosberg to spin at Surtees Corner and was unavoidably hit by Piquet in third. The Brabham was out on the spot with a broken front suspension, while Rosberg limped back to the pits with a puncture, losing a full lap in the process. Mansell was now second again, followed by de Angelis, Stefan Johansson in the second Ferrari and Surer, with Prost up to seventh following a charge through the field. When Rosberg exited the pits, he rejoined in front of the leaders. An aggrieved Rosberg blocked Senna (who he felt was responsible for the earlier incident). Rosberg cleverly positioned his car which allowed teammate Mansell to catch up to the Lotus before getting past at Surtees. Rosberg then allowed Mansell through, and the Englishman then set about building a lead, while Rosberg continued to hold up Senna.

On lap 14 Alboreto, who had made a good start and had run as high as sixth, suffered a fiery turbo failure, effectively ending his Championship challenge. Prost, running sixth at this point, now only needed to finish fifth to secure the title. Surer had moved ahead of Johansson by this stage and was closing on de Angelis, while Laffite was also on a charge, passing Prost and Johansson in quick succession.

Surer overtook de Angelis on lap 21, followed soon after by Laffite. The two then closed up to Senna, Surer getting past on lap 35 and Laffite one lap later. At this point, Mansell's lead was 14 seconds, while Prost was still seventh.

On lap 51, having just been re-passed by Senna, Laffite pitted for new tyres, dropping to eighth and promoting Johansson to fourth. Shortly afterwards, Prost passed de Angelis for fifth as the two were lapping Watson; this became fourth when Johansson started to suffer an electrical problem. Laffite retired on lap 59 with an engine failure, followed one lap later by Johansson.

Surer was still running second when on lap 63, he suffered a turbo failure similar to Alboreto's. This left Mansell around 20 seconds clear of Senna, with Prost now third, de Angelis fourth and Rosberg back up to fifth. Rosberg soon passed de Angelis before Prost, taking no chances, allowed the Finn through into the final podium position.

Up front, Mansell cruised to his first Formula One victory, his final margin over Senna being 21.4 seconds. Rosberg finished 37 seconds behind Senna and eight ahead of Prost, who celebrated becoming France's first Formula One Drivers' Champion. De Angelis and the Arrows of Thierry Boutsen rounded out the top six, Boutsen holding off Watson for the final point in what would turn out to be the Ulsterman's last F1 race.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTyreLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
15 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda G 751:32:58.10939
212 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault G 75+ 21.39616
36 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda G 75+ 58.53344
42 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-TAG G 75+ 1:06.12163
511 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault G 74+ 1 Lap92
618 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW G 73+ 2 Laps121
71 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson McLaren-TAG G 73+ 2 Laps21 
825 Flag of France.svg Philippe Streiff Ligier-Renault P 73+ 2 Laps5 
922 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo G 73+ 2 Laps11 
1017 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW G 73+ 2 Laps19 
1123 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo G 73+ 2 Laps18 
1215 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Renault G 72+ 3 Laps17 
Ret8 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Marc Surer Brabham-BMW P 62Turbo7 
Ret28 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson Ferrari G 59Electrical13 
Ret26 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault P 58Engine10 
Ret30 Flag of Germany.svg Christian Danner Zakspeed G 55Engine25 
Ret4 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli Tyrrell-Renault G 44Accident24 
Ret3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault G 40Water leak16 
Ret19 Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart P 33Engine20 
Ret9 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart P 31Engine23 
Ret20 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Toleman-Hart P 16Engine14 
Ret33 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Lola-Hart G 13Radiator22 
Ret27 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari G 13Turbo15 
Ret7 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW P 6Collision2 
Ret16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Renault G 4Injection8 
Ret29 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni P 3Accident26 
Source: [5] [6]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1985). AUTOCOURSE 1985-86. Hazleton Publishing. p. 256. ISBN   0-905138-38-4.
  2. Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1985). AUTOCOURSE 1985-86. Hazleton Publishing. p. 257. ISBN   0-905138-38-4.
  3. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1985". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  4. "John Watson · RaceFans".
  5. "1985 European Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. "1985 European Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 6 October 1985. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Europe 1985 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
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1985 Belgian Grand Prix
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1985 South African Grand Prix
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1984 European Grand Prix
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