1983 European Grand Prix

1983 European Grand Prix
Race 14 of 15 in the 1983 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	25 September 1983
Official name	John Player Grand Prix of Europe
Location	Brands Hatch, Kent, England
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.206 km (2.613 miles)
Distance	76 laps, 319.656 km (198.588 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault
Time	1:12.092
Fastest lap
Driver	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault
Time	1:14.342 on lap 70
Podium
First	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW
Second	Alain Prost	Renault
Third	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault
Lap leaders

The 1983 European Grand Prix (formally the John Player Grand Prix of Europe^[1]) was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on 25 September 1983. It was the fourteenth race of the 1983 Formula One World Championship.

The 76-lap race was won by Nelson Piquet, driving a Brabham-BMW. Piquet's Drivers' Championship rival Alain Prost was second in a factory Renault, while Nigel Mansell was third in a Lotus-Renault. With the win, Piquet moved within two points of Prost at the top of the championship with one race remaining.

Background

A third Grand Prix in the United States (after the earlier races at Long Beach and Detroit) was to have been held on this date, on a track at the Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, but was cancelled at short notice due to local protests. A second race in the United Kingdom, at Brands Hatch, was quickly organised in its place, and was the first Formula One race to be officially titled the European Grand Prix: this title had, until 1977, been an honorific title given to one race held in Europe each year alongside its official, national title.

Qualifying

Qualifying report

Elio de Angelis surprised by taking pole position in his Lotus-Renault, with teammate Nigel Mansell third. Between them was the Brabham-BMW of Riccardo Patrese, with Nelson Piquet fourth in the other Brabham. The Ferraris filled the third row with René Arnoux ahead of Patrick Tambay, while the factory Renaults took up the fourth row, Eddie Cheever ahead of Drivers' Championship leader Alain Prost. Completing the top ten were Manfred Winkelhock in the ATS and John Watson in the McLaren.

The fastest non-turbo car was the Williams of Keke Rosberg in 16th; teammate Jacques Laffite failed to qualify. Williams had planned to debut their Honda turbo-powered FW09 at this race, but instead decided to wait until the season finale in South Africa. The team, did, however, enter a third car for test driver and Formula Two champion Jonathan Palmer, who qualified 25th.^[2]

Qualifying classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	1:12.342	1:12.092	—
2	6	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	1:13.475	1:12.458	+0.366
3	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault	1:12.623	1:13.089	+0.531
4	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	1:12.724	1:13.095	+0.632
5	28	René Arnoux	Ferrari	1:13.596	1:13.113	+1.021
6	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	1:13.898	1:13.157	+1.065
7	16	Eddie Cheever	Renault	1:13.592	1:13.253	+1.161
8	15	Alain Prost	Renault	1:13.342	1:13.526	+1.250
9	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-BMW	1:13.679	1:14.750	+1.587
10	7	John Watson	McLaren-TAG	1:14.296	1:13.783	+1.691
11	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	1:14.411	1:13.855	+1.763
12	36	Bruno Giacomelli	Toleman-Hart	1:15.521	1:13.949	+1.857
13	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	1:15.266	1:13.972	+1.880
14	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	1:14.403	1:15.440	+2.311
15	23	Mauro Baldi	Alfa Romeo	1:14.727	1:15.174	+2.635
16	1	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Ford	1:14.917	1:15.252	+2.825
17	29	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	1:15.346	1:15.501	+3.254
18	30	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-Ford	1:16.094	1:15.428	+3.336
19	40	Stefan Johansson	Spirit-Honda	1:16.525	1:15.912	+3.820
20	4	Danny Sullivan	Tyrrell-Ford	1:17.134	1:16.640	+4.548
21	33	Roberto Guerrero	Theodore-Ford	1:16.769	1:17.454	+4.677
22	25	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier-Ford	1:17.141	1:16.880	+4.788
23	26	Raul Boesel	Ligier-Ford	1:17.177	1:17.593	+5.085
24	32	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:17.850	1:17.408	+5.316
25	42	Jonathan Palmer	Williams-Ford	1:17.432	1:17.524	+5.340
26	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	1:17.456	1:17.936	+5.364
27	17	Kenny Acheson	RAM-Ford	1:17.577	1:18.069	+5.485
28	31	Corrado Fabi	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:19.087	1:17.816	+5.724
29	2	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Ford	1:18.467	1:18.261	+6.169
WD	34	Johnny Cecotto	Theodore-Ford	—	—	—
Source: [3][4][5][6]

Race

Race report

At the start, Riccardo Patrese took the lead from Elio de Angelis, followed by Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and Eddie Cheever. On lap 2 Piquet passed Mansell, who was having trouble with his tyres and would soon fall to seventh, while Alain Prost made a charge to run fourth by lap 9.

Patrese and de Angelis had pulled clear of the rest of the field when, on lap 11, de Angelis attempted to overtake the Brabham at Surtees Corner, only to make contact and send both cars spinning. Piquet duly went through into the lead, while Patrese rejoined the track ahead of Prost but was soon caught and passed by the Renault. De Angelis also rejoined, but continued for only two laps before retiring with an engine failure.

At quarter distance, Piquet led Prost by around 10 seconds, with Patrese a further 10 seconds back and holding up Cheever, René Arnoux, Mansell and Patrick Tambay. On lap 20 Arnoux spun at Surtees, dropping him to the back of the field. There were no further changes among the front-runners until the pit stops, during which both Brabhams hit trouble: Patrese was delayed by a misfitted rear wheel, while Piquet was held up by a malfunctioning wheel-nut gun.^[7] Piquet nonetheless retained his lead over Prost, while an unscheduled second stop for Cheever (due to a loose helmet visor which was taped by his pit crew) left Tambay in third and Mansell fourth, with Andrea de Cesaris up to fifth in the Alfa Romeo and Derek Warwick sixth in the Toleman.

In the closing stages, Tambay suffered brake problems, allowing Mansell past on lap 66 before spinning off at Druids two laps later. This moved the second Toleman of Bruno Giacomelli into the top six, while also ending Tambay's challenge for the Drivers' Championship. Shortly afterwards, Warwick had a bizarre accident when his cockpit fire extinguisher leaked, giving him burns to his right hand and leg, though he held on to fifth place.^[7]

Up front, Piquet cruised to his second consecutive win, finishing 6.5 seconds ahead of Prost with Mansell a further 24 seconds back. De Cesaris finished four seconds behind Mansell and ten ahead of Warwick, who in turn finished eight seconds ahead of teammate Giacomelli. Patrese ultimately finished seventh, while Arnoux was ninth and Cheever tenth, both one lap down on Piquet. With one race to go, Prost still led the Drivers' Championship but by only two points over Piquet, while Arnoux's failure to score left him needing to win in South Africa to have any chance of the title.

The race also saw the last appearance of the Theodore team, which was struggling financially and had scaled back to one car for Roberto Guerrero.^[8] Guerrero finished 12th, one place ahead of Palmer's Williams.

Race classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	M	76	1:36:45.865	4	9
2	15	Alain Prost	Renault	M	76	+ 6.571	8	6
3	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault	P	76	+ 30.315	3	4
4	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	M	76	+ 34.396	14	3
5	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	P	76	+ 44.915	11	2
6	36	Bruno Giacomelli	Toleman-Hart	P	76	+ 52.190	12	1
7	6	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	M	76	+ 1:12.684	2
8	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-BMW	G	75	+ 1 Lap	9
9	28	René Arnoux	Ferrari	G	75	+ 1 Lap	5
10	16	Eddie Cheever	Renault	M	75	+ 1 Lap	7
11	30	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-Ford	G	75	+ 1 Lap	18
12	33	Roberto Guerrero	Theodore-Ford	G	75	+ 1 Lap	21
13	42	Jonathan Palmer	Williams-Ford	G	74	+ 2 Laps	25
14	40	Stefan Johansson	Spirit-Honda	G	74	+ 2 Laps	19
15	26	Raul Boesel	Ligier-Ford	M	73	+ 3 Laps	23
Ret	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	G	67	Spun off	6
Ret	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	G	64	Engine	26
Ret	32	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	M	63	Throttle	24
Ret	29	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	G	50	Engine	17
Ret	1	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Ford	G	43	Engine	16
Ret	23	Mauro Baldi	Alfa Romeo	M	39	Clutch	15
Ret	7	John Watson	McLaren-TAG	M	36	Spun off	10
Ret	4	Danny Sullivan	Tyrrell-Ford	G	27	Oil leak	20
Ret	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	M	25	Engine	13
Ret	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	P	12	Oil pump	1
Ret	25	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier-Ford	M	0	Clutch	22
DNQ	17	Kenny Acheson	RAM-Ford	P
DNQ	31	Corrado Fabi	Osella-Alfa Romeo	M
DNQ	2	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Ford	G
Source: [9][10]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 57 2 Nelson Piquet 55 3 René Arnoux 49 4 Patrick Tambay 40 5 Keke Rosberg 25 Source: [11]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 89 2 Renault 78 3 Brabham-BMW 59 4 Williams-Ford 36 5 McLaren-Ford 34 Source: [11]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References