The 1985 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on a street circuit in the city of Adelaide on 3 November 1985. The Australian Grand Prix was the sixteenth and final race of the 1985 FIA 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 by a Finnish driver until Mika Häkkinen won the 1997 European Grand Prix.
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 World Championship for Drivers was won by Nelson Piquet, and the World Championship for Constructors by Williams-Honda. The season also encompassed the Jim Clark Trophy and the Colin Chapman Trophy, which were respectively contested by drivers and constructors of Formula One cars powered by naturally aspirated engines.
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. Prost was the first driver to win back-to-back Drivers' Championships since Jack Brabham in 1959 and 1960.
Zakspeed is a motor racing team from Germany, founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski and after that run by his son Peter Zakowski. It is based in Niederzissen, Rhineland-Palatinate, around 25 kilometres (16 mi) from the Nürburgring circuit.
Christian Danner is a former racing driver from Germany.
Harald Ertl was an Austrian racing driver and motorsport journalist. He was born in Zell am See and attended the same school as Grand Prix drivers Jochen Rindt, Helmut Marko and Niki Lauda.
Motori Moderni was a Formula One engine manufacturer from 1985 through 1987. It was established by the experienced Italian engine designer Carlo Chiti.
Rial is a German producer of light alloy wheels and rims, and was a Formula One constructor competing in the 1988 and 1989 seasons. Founded in the 1970s as a wheel rim producer, the company was bought by Günter Schmid, ex-owner of the ATS wheels company in 1987. Schmid followed the same strategy as he had at ATS, advertising the Rial wheel brand by entering Formula One as a constructor. Rial participated in 32 Grands Prix, entering a total of 48 cars. They scored six championship points, finishing a highest of ninth in the constructors championship in 1988. After leaving Formula One at the end of the 1989 season, the Rial Racing division was closed, and the company did not race again. Rial continues to manufacture wheels and rims from its factory in Fußgönheim.
David Keith Duckworth was an English mechanical engineer. He is most famous for designing the Cosworth DFV engine, an engine that revolutionised the sport of Formula One.
The McLaren MP4/2 was a Formula One car produced by McLaren for the 1984 season. An iteration of it, the MP4/2B, was used in the 1985 season, and a slightly updated version, the MP4/2C, raced in the 1986 season for McLaren. It was closely based on the MP4/1E model that was used as a test car, used in the final races of 1983.
The Ferrari 126C is the car with which Ferrari raced in the 1981 Formula One season. The team's first attempt at a turbocharged Formula 1 car, it was designed by Mauro Forghieri and Harvey Postlethwaite and used between the 1981 and 1984 seasons. The engine chief engineer was Nicola Materazzi.
The Zakspeed 861 was a Formula One car designed by Paul Brown for the Zakspeed team and was used in both the 1986 and 1987 seasons. In 1986 its drivers were Jonathan Palmer and Huub Rothengatter. The team did not employ a test driver as they could not afford one, despite sponsorship from German tobacco brand West. The lack of money also meant that the car's engine, Zakspeed's own 4 cylinder 1500/4 turbocharged power unit, which was rated at about 850 bhp for the season, was also short on power and development compared to those at the front of the grid. The team used Goodyear tyres.
Italian motor manufacturer Alfa Romeo has participated many times in Formula One. It currently participates as Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen while being operated by Sauber Motorsport AG. The brand has competed in motor racing as both a constructor and engine supplier sporadically between 1950 and 1987, and later as a commercial partner since 2015. The company's works drivers won the first two World Drivers' Championships in the pre-war Alfetta: Nino Farina in 1950 and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1951. Following these successes, Alfa Romeo withdrew from Formula One.
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 Zakspeed 881 was a Formula One car designed by Chris Murphy and Heinz Zollner and raced by Zakspeed in the 1988 Formula One season. The car was the last to be powered by the team's own 1.5 litre straight 4 turbo engine, the 1500/4. The car was driven by veteran Piercarlo Ghinzani and West German F1 rookie Bernd Schneider.
The Zakspeed 871 was a Formula One car designed by Chris Murphy and Heinz Zollner and raced by Zakspeed in the 1987 Formula One season. The car was powered by the team's own 1.5 litre, 1500/4 straight 4 turbo engine, which was rated at about 820 bhp for the season. Martin Brundle had moved after 3 years at Tyrrell to be Zakspeed's lead driver, in a virtual driver swap with Jonathan Palmer, who had left Zakspeed after two seasons to drive for Tyrrell. Brundle was joined by former Formula 3000 champion Christian Danner, who had moved from Arrows.
The Brabham BT50 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Murray and powered by a turbo BMW engine. It was raced by the Brabham team, owned by Bernie Ecclestone, during the 1982 Formula One season. Driven by Nelson Piquet and Riccardo Patrese, it made its debut at the South African Grand Prix before being withdrawn for further development of its engine while the team reverted to the previous year's car, the Brabham BT49. On the reintroduction of the BT50, Piquet finished fifth in the Belgian Grand Prix. A few races later he drove it to a win in the Canadian Grand Prix. Later in the year it achieved three more finishes in the points for the team. During the second half of the season, Brabham implemented the strategy of mid-race refueling. This allowed Piquet and Patrese to start the races relatively light and use their reduced weight to gain track position over their competitors before stopping to refuel. The poor reliability of the BT50 meant that they had only a few opportunities to demonstrate the strategy in practice.
The Osella FA1L was a Formula One car designed by Antonio Tomaini and raced by Osella in the 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship. The car was the last Osella to be powered by a turbocharged engine, the 1.5-litre V8 named the Osella 890T. The car was driven by young Italian Nicola Larini who had made his F1 debut with Coloni in 1987.
Ferrari made a series of turbocharged, 1.5-litre, V6 racing engines designed for Formula One; between 1981 and 1988. The engine was first used in the Ferrari 126C, in 1981.
Jonathan Palmer 
Christian Danner 
