1985 South African Grand Prix | |||
---|---|---|---|
Race 15 of 16 in the 1985 Formula One World Championship | |||
Race details | |||
Date | 19 October 1985 | ||
Location | Kyalami Transvaal Province, South Africa | ||
Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
Course length | 4.104 km (2.550 miles) | ||
Distance | 75 laps, 307.800 km (191.258 miles) | ||
Weather | Dry | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | Williams-Honda | ||
Time | 1:02.366 | ||
Fastest lap | |||
Driver | Keke Rosberg | Williams-Honda | |
Time | 1:08.149 on lap 74 | ||
Podium | |||
First | Williams-Honda | ||
Second | Williams-Honda | ||
Third | McLaren-TAG | ||
Lap leaders |
The 1985 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 19 October 1985 at the Kyalami Circuit in South Africa. It was the fifteenth and penultimate round of the 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship.
The race was marked with some teams boycotting the event due to apartheid – the segregation of blacks and whites – and was the last South African Formula One race until apartheid ended in 1992. The race was won by Nigel Mansell in a Williams-Honda, who also took pole position.
Until the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, this was the last World Championship Grand Prix to be held on a Saturday,; [1] [2] it also was the last World Championship Grand Prix where laurel wreaths were given to the drivers at the podium. [3] The event was boycotted by two teams, Ligier and Renault, owing to mounting international pressures against tolerating the country's system of apartheid. A state of emergency had been declared by the South African government in July due to growing civil unrest nationwide, and French teams Ligier and Renault's boycotts were in lockstep with the French government's boycott and sanctioning of South Africa, [4] apparently doing so under pressure. [5] Most of the Formula One drivers, including Alain Prost, Niki Lauda and Nigel Mansell were personally very much against racing in South Africa, but the drivers held the mentality that because they were contracted to drive at every Grand Prix, they would race at Kyalami. [6]
Some governments tried to keep their drivers from entering the race. Brazil's sanctions on South Africa nearly prevented Nelson Piquet or Ayrton Senna from racing. [7]
Finland and Sweden held similar reservations regarding Finn Keke Rosberg and Swede Stefan Johansson competing. [7] Sweden's National Automobile Federation had announced Johansson could not race in South Africa before the event, [7] but he did race.
Ayrton Senna initially said he would race if Lotus raced. However, he later said he would boycott the race. [8]
Multiple sponsors also ordered teams to remove their branding from cars they backed, most notably Marlboro and Beatrice Foods.
The latter held an equity interest in the single car Haas Lola team. While Alan Jones qualified 18th for that team, his car was not on the starting grid. Officially Jones cited illness as to why he did not race, but it was widely rumored at the time that Beatrice ordered the team to boycott. [6] In 2017, Jones described a meeting with Bernie Ecclestone the night before the race, who suggested that Jones feign illness the next morning and not show up. Ecclestone described how Beatrice were under pressure in the US from activists such as Jesse Jackson not to race, under threats including strike action by African Americans working in their businesses. Only Jones and team management Teddy Mayer and Carl Haas were aware of this plan. Jones said "And so, on the Saturday morning I was gone. I just didn’t turn up. They had the car out ready to go, when they were told, "AJ’s been struck down by a virus and we are not racing"." [9] [10]
It was the final South African Grand Prix until apartheid ended, with FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre announcing days after the race that the Grand Prix would not return to the nation for 1986 because of apartheid. [5] Even without the political pressures, this might well have been the final Formula One race held at Kyalami in its then form: FISA had long since deemed that circuits where lap times were under 60 seconds were considered too small for Grand Prix racing and with car speeds increasing all the time, it was reasonable to conclude that lap times from 1986 would be under 60 seconds. Kyalami's pole position time had actually fallen by over 10 seconds since the 1981 race, and Mansell's 1985 pole time of 1:02.366, at an average speed of 237 km/h (147 mph), was over two seconds faster than Nelson Piquet's 1984 pole time of 1:04.871.
The South African Grand Prix would only return in 1992, after apartheid ended, in a new configuration of the Kyalami circuit. Mansell would also win the 1992 race driving a Williams, albeit with a naturally-aspirated Renault engine. [11]
Pole position went to Nigel Mansell, averaging 236.898 km/h (147.201 mph).
Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 1:03.188 | 1:02.366 | — |
2 | 7 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-BMW | 1:03.844 | 1:02.490 | +0.124 |
3 | 6 | Keke Rosberg | Williams-Honda | 1:03.073 | 1:02.504 | +0.138 |
4 | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Renault | 1:04.517 | 1:02.825 | +0.459 |
5 | 8 | Marc Surer | Brabham-BMW | 1:05.411 | 1:04.088 | +1.722 |
6 | 11 | Elio de Angelis | Lotus-Renault | 1:04.611 | 1:04.129 | +1.763 |
7 | 19 | Teo Fabi | Toleman-Hart | 1:06.083 | 1:04.215 | +1.849 |
8 | 1 | Niki Lauda | McLaren-TAG | 1:05.357 | 1:04.283 | +1.917 |
9 | 2 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 1:05.757 | 1:04.376 | +2.010 |
10 | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 1:05.079 | 1:04.518 | +2.152 |
11 | 17 | Gerhard Berger | Arrows-BMW | 1:06.546 | 1:04.780 | +2.414 |
12 | 22 | Riccardo Patrese | Alfa Romeo | 1:06.386 | 1:04.948 | +2.582 |
13 | 20 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Toleman-Hart | 1:07.800 | 1:05.114 | +2.748 |
14 | 23 | Eddie Cheever | Alfa Romeo | 1:07.159 | 1:05.260 | +2.894 |
15 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 1:05.268 | 1:05.757 | +2.902 |
16 | 28 | Stefan Johansson | Ferrari | 1:05.406 | 1:05.388 | +3.022 |
17 | 3 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell-Renault | 1:06.709 | 1:05.649 | +3.283 |
18 | 33 | Alan Jones | Lola-Hart | 1:07.144 | 1:05.731 | +3.365 |
19 | 4 | Philippe Streiff | Tyrrell-Renault | 1:07.935 | 1:06.205 | +3.839 |
20 | 29 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 1:10.025 | 1:08.658 | +6.292 |
21 | 24 | Huub Rothengatter | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 1:09.904 | 1:09.873 | +7.507 |
Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 75 | 1:28:22.866 | 1 | 9 |
2 | 6 | Keke Rosberg | Williams-Honda | 75 | + 7.572 | 3 | 6 |
3 | 2 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 74 | + 1 Lap | 9 | 4 |
4 | 28 | Stefan Johansson | Ferrari | 74 | + 1 Lap | 16 | 3 |
5 | 17 | Gerhard Berger | Arrows-BMW | 74 | + 1 Lap | 11 | 2 |
6 | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 74 | + 1 Lap | 10 | 1 |
7 | 3 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell-Renault | 73 | + 2 Laps | 17 | |
Ret | 11 | Elio de Angelis | Lotus-Renault | 52 | Engine | 6 | |
Ret | 29 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 45 | Radiator | 20 | |
Ret | 1 | Niki Lauda | McLaren-TAG | 37 | Turbo | 8 | |
Ret | 4 | Philippe Streiff | Tyrrell-Renault | 16 | Accident | 19 | |
Ret | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Renault | 8 | Engine | 4 | |
Ret | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 8 | Turbo | 15 | |
Ret | 7 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-BMW | 6 | Engine | 2 | |
Ret | 20 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Toleman-Hart | 4 | Engine | 13 | |
Ret | 19 | Teo Fabi | Toleman-Hart | 3 | Engine | 7 | |
Ret | 8 | Marc Surer | Brabham-BMW | 3 | Engine | 5 | |
Ret | 24 | Huub Rothengatter | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 1 | Electrical | 21 | |
Ret | 22 | Riccardo Patrese | Alfa Romeo | 0 | Collision | 12 | |
Ret | 23 | Eddie Cheever | Alfa Romeo | 0 | Collision | 14 | |
DNS | 33 | Alan Jones | Lola-Hart | Unwell | 18 | ||
Source: [12] |
|
|
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One team and constructor. It was founded by Frank Williams (1942–2021) and Patrick Head. The team was formed in 1977 after Frank Williams's earlier unsuccessful F1 operation: Frank Williams Racing Cars. The team is based in Grove, Oxfordshire, on a 60-acre (24 ha) site.
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from 1977 to 1993.
Andrea de Cesaris was an Italian racing driver. He started 208 Formula One Grands Prix but never won. As a result, he holds the record for the most races started without a race victory. A string of accidents early in his career earned him a reputation for being a fast but wild driver.
René Alexandre Arnoux is a French former racing driver who competed in 12 Formula One seasons. He participated in 165 World Championship Grands Prix winning seven of them, achieving 22 podium finishes and scoring 181 career points. His best finish in the World Drivers' Championship was third in 1983 for Ferrari. In 1977, Arnoux won the European Formula Two Championship. In 2006 he raced in the inaugural season of the Grand Prix Masters series for retired F1 drivers.
The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard "Dick" Seaman, Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth and the 1939 winner Luigi Villoresi.
The 1980 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 1 March 1980 at Kyalami in Gauteng, South Africa. It was the third round of the 1980 Formula One season. The race was the twenty-sixth South African Grand Prix and the fourteenth to be held at Kyalami. The race was held over 78 laps of the 4.104-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 320 kilometres.
The 1985 European Grand Prix 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.
The 1985 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on the Adelaide Street Circuit in Adelaide on 3 November 1985. The sixteenth and final race of the 1985 Formula One World Championship, it was the 50th running of the Australian Grand Prix and the first to be held on the streets of Adelaide on a layout specifically designed for the debut of the World Championship in Australia. The race was held over 82 laps of the 3.780 km (2.362 mi) circuit for a total race distance of 310 kilometres. The race was won by Keke Rosberg driving a Williams-Honda; this was the final win for Rosberg, the last race for Alfa Romeo until 2019, and the last by a Finnish driver until Mika Häkkinen won the 1997 European Grand Prix.
The 1992 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Kyalami circuit in Midrand, South Africa on 1 March 1992. It was the opening round of the 1992 Formula One World Championship and was contested over 72 laps. It was the 32nd South African Grand Prix, and the 22nd as part of the World Championship. Nigel Mansell dominated the weekend in his Williams-Renault, taking pole position, fastest lap and leading every lap of the race en route to victory for the second time in his career. Mansell's teammate, Riccardo Patrese, asserted the dominance of the car by completing a 1–2 finish. Ayrton Senna completed the podium for the McLaren team.
The 1993 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 14 March 1993. It was the first race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship.
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, and the Manufacturers' Championship was won by Williams-Honda, thus Honda became the first Japanese engine supplier World Champions of Formula One, and adding a constructors' title to Frank Williams' trophy collection. Prost was the first driver to win back-to-back Drivers' Championships since Jack Brabham in 1959 and 1960.
The 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 39th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It began on 7 April and ended on 3 November after sixteen races. The World Championship for Drivers was won by Alain Prost, and the World Championship for Manufacturers was won by McLaren for the second consecutive year.
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 Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a fifteen-race series that commenced on 13 March and ended on 15 October. Nelson Piquet won the Drivers' Championship, his second Formula One title and the first to be won by a driver using a turbocharged engine, while Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship. It was also the last Drivers' Championship won by a Brabham driver.
The 1981 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 35th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1981 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1981 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a fifteen-race series that commenced on 15 March and ended on 17 October. Formula One cars also competed in the 1981 South African Grand Prix, although this was a Formula Libre race and was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
The 1980 Formula One season was the 34th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1980 World Championship of Drivers and the 1980 International Cup for F1 Constructors, which were contested concurrently from 13 January to 5 October over a fourteen-race series. The season also included one non-championship race, the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Adelaide Street Circuit is a temporary street circuit in the East Parklands adjacent to the Adelaide central business district in South Australia, Australia.
Team Haas (USA) Ltd., sometimes called Beatrice Haas after its major sponsor, was an American Formula One team founded by Carl Haas in 1984 after an agreement with Beatrice Foods, a US consumer products conglomerate, which competed in the World Championship from 1985 to 1986. An agreement to use Ford engines for three seasons faltered after a change of management at Beatrice. The firing of Beatrice CEO Jim Dutt led to Beatrice withdrawing their funding of the project. The team was unable to continue in Formula One after the 1986 season. 1980 World Champion Alan Jones was coaxed out of retirement to drive the team's first car at the end of the 1985 season and on into 1986.
The Renault RE60 was a Formula One car designed by Bernard Dudot and Jean-Claude Migeot and was raced by the Renault team in the 1985 season. The cars were driven by Patrick Tambay and Derek Warwick who had also driven for the team in 1984.
The Lola THL1 was a Formula One racing car designed by Neil Oatley for Team Haas (USA) Ltd. during four of the last five races of the 1985 Formula One season. The car used the 750 bhp, turbocharged Hart 415T Straight 4 engine. The Haas Lola team only had one car for 1985 and it was driven by 1980 World Champion Alan Jones, who was making a full-time comeback to Formula One at the age of 39.
The Ligier JS25 was a Formula One car designed by Michel Beaujon and Claude Galopin for use by the Ligier team during the 1985 Formula One season. Like its predecessor, the JS23, the JS25 was powered by a turbocharged Renault V6 engine although the car ran on Pirelli instead of Michelin tyres after the French company pulled out of Grand Prix racing at the end of 1984. Drivers of the car were initially their 1984 driver Andrea de Cesaris and veteran Jacques Laffite who returned to the team after two fruitless years at Williams, but after a series of crashes, de Cesaris was fired by team boss Guy Ligier and replaced by Philippe Streiff.