1983 South African Grand Prix

1983 South African Grand Prix
Race 15 of 15 in the 1983 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 15 October 1983
Location Kyalami
Transvaal Province, South Africa
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.104 km (2.550 miles)
Distance 77 laps, 316.008 km (196.358 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 1:06.554
Fastest lap
Driver Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW
Time 1:09.948 on lap 6
Podium
First
Brabham-BMW
Second
Alfa Romeo
Third
Brabham-BMW
Lap leaders

The 1983 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 15 October 1983. It was the fifteenth and final race of the 1983 Formula One season. The 77 lap race was won by Riccardo Patrese driving for Brabham. This would be Patrese's last win for nearly seven years until he won for Williams at the 1990 San Marino Grand Prix.

Race summary

Before the race, three drivers were still in a position to win the World Drivers' Championship: Alain Prost (Renault) led the championship with 57 points, followed by Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW) with 55 and René Arnoux (Ferrari) with 49. Piquet qualified second, behind Patrick Tambay (Ferrari) in pole position and ahead of Riccardo Patrese (Brabham), Arnoux and Prost in third, fourth and fifth. At the start Piquet passed Tambay to take the lead, with Patrese moving into second place. Arnoux retired with engine failure on lap 9. Prost fought his way up to third place, but he also retired on lap 35 with turbo failure. Needing only to finish fourth or higher, Piquet slowed and was overtaken by Patrese, Niki Lauda (McLaren) and Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo). Lauda's engine failed on lap 71. The race finished with Patrese in first place, de Cesaris in second and Piquet in third, and Piquet won the championship by two points. Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship despite not finishing in the points in the last race for the second consecutive year. John Watson, completing his last full Formula One season, was disqualified for overtaking other cars on the parade lap.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 27 France Patrick Tambay Ferrari 1:06.554 1:07.029 —
2 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:06.792 1:06.821 +0.238
3 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 1:08.181 1:07.001 +0.447
4 28 France René Arnoux Ferrari 1:07.222 1:07.105 +0.551
5 15 France Alain Prost Renault 1:07.186 1:08.136 +0.632
6 1 Finland Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:07.256 1:07.344 +0.702
7 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Lotus-Renault 1:09.443 1:07.643 +1.089
8 9 West Germany Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW 1:07.726 1:07.682 +1.128
9 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 1:08.970 1:07.759 +1.205
10 2 France Jacques Laffite Williams-Honda 1:07.931 1:08.652 +1.377
11 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:07.937 1:07.980 +1.383
12 8 Austria Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 1:07.974 1:08.587 +1.420
13 35 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:08.061 1:08.301 +1.507
14 16 United States Eddie Cheever Renault 1:08.069 1:08.360 +1.515
15 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-TAG 1:08.328 1:10.635 +1.774
16 36 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart 1:08.350 1:08.439 +1.796
17 23 Italy Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo 1:09.364 1:08.628 +2.074
18 3 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1:11.096 1:11.284 +4.542
19 4 United States Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Ford 1:11.750 1:11.382 +4.828
20 30 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Arrows-Ford 1:11.988 1:11.658 +5.104
21 25 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Ford 1:12.017 1:12.538 +5.463
22 29 Switzerland Marc Surer Arrows-Ford 1:12.309 1:12.049 +5.495
23 26 Brazil Raul Boesel Ligier-Ford 1:12.745 1:13.330 +6.191
24 17 United Kingdom Kenny Acheson RAM-Ford 1:13.352 no time +6.798
25 31 Italy Corrado Fabi Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:14.483 1:13.656 +7.102
26 32 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:14.903 1:15.503 +8.349
Source: [1][2][3][4]

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW M 77 1:33:25.708 3 9
2 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo M 77 + 9.319 9 6
3 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW M 77 + 21.969 2 4
4 35 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart P 76 + 1 Lap 13 3
5 1 Finland Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda G 76 + 1 Lap 6 2
6 16 United States Eddie Cheever Renault M 76 + 1 Lap 14 1
7 4 United States Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Ford G 75 + 2 Laps 19  
8 29 Switzerland Marc Surer Arrows-Ford G 75 + 2 Laps 22  
9 30 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Arrows-Ford G 74 + 3 Laps 20  
10 25 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Ford M 73 + 4 Laps 21  
11 8 Austria Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG M 71 Electrical 12  
12 17 United Kingdom Kenny Acheson RAM-Ford P 71 + 6 Laps 24  
NC 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Lotus-Renault P 68 + 9 Laps 7  
NC 26 Brazil Raul Boesel Ligier-Ford M 66 + 11 Laps 23  
Ret 3 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford G 60 Engine 18  
Ret 27 France Patrick Tambay Ferrari G 56 Turbo 1  
Ret 36 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart P 56 Turbo 16  
Ret 15 France Alain Prost Renault M 35 Turbo 5  
Ret 31 Italy Corrado Fabi Osella-Alfa Romeo M 28 Engine 25  
Ret 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault P 20 Engine 11  
DSQ 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-TAG M 18 Overtaking on Formation Lap 15  
Ret 28 France René Arnoux Ferrari G 9 Engine 4  
Ret 23 Italy Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo M 5 Engine 17  
Ret 9 West Germany Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW G 1 Engine 8  
Ret 2 France Jacques Laffite Williams-Honda G 1 Spun Off 10  
Ret 32 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo M 1 Engine 26  
Source: [5][6]

Championship permutations

    • Alain Prost (57pts) needed either
      • 1st
      • 2nd, ahead of Piquet
      • 3rd, with Piquet 2nd or lower
      • 4th or 5th, with Piquet 3rd or lower
      • 6th, with Piquet 4th or lower and Arnoux 2nd or lower
      • Piquet 5th or lower and Arnoux 2nd or lower
    • Nelson Piquet (55pts)
      • 1st
      • 2nd, with Prost 4th or lower
      • 3rd, with Prost 6th or lower
      • 4th, with Prost 7th or lower and Arnoux 2nd or lower
    • René Arnoux (49pts) needed 1st with Prost 6th or lower and Piquet 4th or lower
  • Ferrari and Renault were also fighting for the Constructor's Championship
    • Ferrari (89pts) needed either
      • To score 5pts or better
      • 4th, or 5th and 6th, or higher, with the Renaults 1st and 3rd or lower
      • 5th or better, with the Renaults 1st and 4th or lower
      • 6th or better, with the Renaults 1st and 5th or lower
      • The Renaults scoring fewer than 11pts
    • Renault (78pts) needed either
      • 1st and 2nd with the Ferraris scoring fewer than 5pts
      • 1st and 3rd with the Ferraris scoring fewer than 3pts
      • 1st and 4th with the Ferraris 6th or lower
      • 1st and 5th with the Ferraris 7th or lower.

Championship standings after the race

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

References

  1. ^ "Southern Sun Hotels Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Southern Sun Hotels Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2". formula1.com. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Southern Sun Hotels Grand Prix - OVERALL QUALIFYING". formula1.com. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  4. ^ Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1983). AUTOCOURSE 1983–84. Hazleton Publishing Ltd. p. 216. ISBN 0-905138-25-2.
  5. ^ "1983 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. ^ "1983 South African Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 15 October 1983. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  7. ^ a b "South Africa 1983 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.


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