1985 French Grand Prix

Last updated
1985 French Grand Prix
Race 7 of 16 in the 1985 Formula One World Championship
Paul Ricard 1970.png
Race details
Date7 July 1985
Official name 71e Grand Prix de France [1]
Location Circuit Paul Ricard
Le Castellet, Var, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.810 [2] km (3.610 miles)
Distance 53 laps, 307.928 [2] km (191.338 miles)
Weather Dry, hot [2]
Pole position
Driver Williams-Honda
Time 1:32.462
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda
Time 1:39.914 on lap 46
Podium
First Brabham-BMW
Second Williams-Honda
Third McLaren-TAG
Lap leaders
  • 1985 French Grand Prix

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).

Contents

The race was won by Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet, driving a Brabham-BMW, his only victory of the season. It was the 35th and final Formula One victory for the Brabham team, as well as the first F1 victory for Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli since 1957. Finn Keke Rosberg finished second in a Williams-Honda, having started from pole position, with local driver Alain Prost third in a McLaren-TAG. Prost moved to within five points of Drivers' Championship leader, Italian Michele Alboreto, who retired on lap 6 with a turbo failure in his Ferrari.

This was to be the last French Grand Prix held on the full Paul Ricard circuit until 2018. A shorter, 3.813-kilometre (2.369 mi) circuit would be used from 1986 until 1990, following Elio de Angelis's fatal accident during a test session in May 1986.

Qualifying report

Qualifying saw Keke Rosberg take pole position in his Williams-Honda with a time of 1:32.462, averaging 140.561 mph (226.211 km/h), with Ayrton Senna alongside him on the front row in his Lotus-Renault. On the second row were Michele Alboreto in the Ferrari and Alain Prost in the McLaren, and on the third were Nelson Piquet in the Brabham and Niki Lauda in the second McLaren. Completing the top ten were Elio de Angelis in the second Lotus, Gerhard Berger in the Arrows, and the two factory Renaults of Patrick Tambay and Derek Warwick, Tambay driving a 'B' specification of the RE60.

Rosberg's Williams teammate, Nigel Mansell, had set a time good enough for eighth on the grid when he had a high-speed crash at the Signes corner, located at the end of the 1.8-kilometre (1.1 mi) long Mistral Straight. A puncture caused the car to plunge off the track at over 200 mph (322 km/h) and into catch fencing; one of the poles struck Mansell on the head, giving him a concussion which forced him to miss the race.

The race was also the first in which the Tyrrell team used Renault turbo engines, thus becoming the last F1 team to go over from naturally aspirated engines to turbos. However, only Martin Brundle drove the new Renault-powered 014 car, while teammate Stefan Bellof continued to use the Cosworth-powered 012. Brundle could only qualify 20th, but was still over four seconds faster than Bellof in 25th.

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
16 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:33.4841:32.462
212 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 1:32.8351:33.677+0.373
327 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:35.4211:33.267+0.805
42 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:33.5471:33.335+0.873
57 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:33.9811:33.812+1.350
61 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 1:33.8601:34.166+1.398
711 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:34.0221:34.227+1.560
85 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:34.191n/a+1.729
917 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 1:34.6741:37.445+2.212
1015 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Renault 1:34.6801:36.339+2.218
1116 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Renault 1:34.9761:35.190+2.514
1218 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 1:36.0511:35.488+3.026
1325 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault 1:37.3351:35.571+3.109
148 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 1:35.5721:35.640+3.110
1526 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 1:38.1731:36.133+3.671
1628 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson Ferrari 1:37.5461:36.140+3.678
1722 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 1:36.7291:38.745+4.267
1823 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 1:36.9311:38.489+4.469
1919 Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 1:37.1421:37.657+4.680
209 Flag of Germany.svg Manfred Winkelhock RAM-Hart 1:37.6541:45.628+5.192
213 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 1:40.4861:40.015+7.553
2230 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed 1:40.6471:40.289+7.827
2310 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 1:41.6471:44.221+9.185
2424 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:42.1361:42.968+9.674
2529 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:47.5231:44.350+11.888
264 Flag of Germany.svg Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Ford 1:44.4041:45.478+11.942

Race report

At the start, Rosberg led away from Senna and Piquet, while Prost slipped to eighth. The early laps saw both Ligiers retire, Jacques Laffite suffering a turbo failure on lap 3 and Andrea de Cesaris dropping out with steering problems two laps later. Alboreto also suffered a turbo failure on lap 6 while running fourth.

On lap 7, Piquet overtook compatriot Senna on the Mistral Straight. He then closed up to Rosberg, who was struggling for grip, before passing him for the lead at Beausset on lap 11. At the same time, Lauda and Prost moved up to third and fourth respectively, ahead of de Angelis. On lap 21, Berger collided with the Minardi of Pierluigi Martini, putting both drivers out.

Senna, who had dropped down the order due to gearbox problems, retired in dramatic fashion on lap 27, when his engine failed and oil from it leaked onto his rear tyres, causing him to spin off backwards into the catch fencing and crash massively at Signes. He escaped with bruises, while his Lotus caught fire. Lauda retired on lap 31 when his own gearbox failed, promoting Prost to third; Brundle also suffered a gearbox failure on lap 33.

On lap 38, by which time Piquet had extended his lead to over 20 seconds, Prost overtook Rosberg for second at the Verrerie bends. The Finn promptly pitted for new tyres, emerging in fourth behind de Angelis. He then made a charge, quickly passing the Lotus and setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 46, before retaking second from Prost on the final lap.

Up front, Piquet cruised to victory, taking the chequered flag 6.6 seconds ahead of Rosberg. Prost finished 44 seconds ahead of the second Ferrari of Stefan Johansson, who passed de Angelis for fourth on the final lap, with Tambay taking the final point for sixth.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
17 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 531:31:46.26659
26 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 53+ 6.66016
32 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 53+ 9.28544
428 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson Ferrari 53+ 53.491153
511 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 53+ 53.69072
615 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Renault 53+ 1:15.167 [3] 91
716 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Renault 53+ 1:44.21210 
88 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 52+ 1 lap13 
918 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 52+ 1 lap11 
1023 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 52+ 1 lap17 
1122 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 52+ 1 lap16 
129 Flag of Germany.svg Manfred Winkelhock RAM-Hart 50+ 3 laps19 
134 Flag of Germany.svg Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Ford 50+ 3 laps25 
1419 Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 49Fuel system18 
1524 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo 49+ 4 laps23 
Ret3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 32Gearbox20 
Ret1 Flag of Austria.svg Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 30Gearbox6 
Ret12 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 26Engine [4] 2 
Ret17 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 20Accident8 
Ret29 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 19Accident24 
Ret10 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 8Fuel system22 
Ret30 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed 6Engine21 
Ret27 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 5Turbo3 
Ret25 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault 4Steering12 
Ret26 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 2Turbo14 
DNS5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda Driver injured 
Source: [5]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1985". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Jenkinson, Denis (August 1985). "The French Grand Prix – Normality returns". Motor Sport . Vol. LXI, no. 8. pp. 849–852. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  3. Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1985). AUTOCOURSE 1985–86. Hazleton Publishing. p. 242. ISBN   0-905138-38-4.
  4. Pritchard, Anthony (March 2006). Lotus: The Competition Cars. Haynes Publishing. p. 245. ISBN   1-84425-006-7.
  5. "1985 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 "France 1985 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
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