1984 Brazilian Grand Prix

  1984 Brazilian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 1 of 16 in the 1984 Formula One season
Date	March 25, 1984
Official name	X Grande Prêmio do Brasil
Location	Jacarepaguá Circuit Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.031 km (3.126 mi)
Distance	61 laps, 306.891 km (190.686 mi)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault
Time	1:28.392
Fastest lap
Driver	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG
Time	1:36.499 on lap 42
Podium
First	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG
Second	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda
Third	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault

The 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Jacarepaguá Circuit in Rio de Janeiro on March 25, 1984. It was the first round of the 1984 Formula One season and the first race where the FISA mandated 220 litre fuel limit came into effect, with the re-fueling of 1983 now banned. Many of the drivers correctly predicted that this would turn Grand Prix racing into fuel economy runs rather than actual races. It was also the first Formula One race for the future triple World Champion, Ayrton Senna.

Qualifying

Elio de Angelis claimed the first pole position of the season in his Lotus-Renault from the Ferrari of Michele Alboreto in his first race for the Prancing Horse. Derek Warwick, in his first race for Renault, was 3rd on the grid with the McLaren-TAG of Alain Prost 4th, Prost returning to the team he started his career with after three seasons with Renault. Reigning World Champion (and local favourite) Nelson Piquet qualified 7th in his Brabham-BMW, while another Brazilian, a Formula One rookie by the name of Ayrton Senna qualified 17th for his first ever Grand Prix in his Toleman-Hart.

Race

Alboreto got the jump at the start and led early from Warwick and de Angelis, with the McLarens of Niki Lauda and Prost. The Frenchman had made a bad start after bogging down at the green light with too few revs and was 10th at the end of the first lap. Not having done a practice start in the car, during the warm-up he had asked Lauda what revs to use at the start. Lauda told him no less than 10,000 but on the grid Prost felt this was too high and dropped to 8,000 only to find Lauda had been correct. Despite this he was beginning to show the superior race speed which would become the story of the season. When Lauda passed Warwick for 2nd at the end of the back straight on lap 10, the McLaren's right rear hit the Renault's left front tyre. The hit damaged Warwick's suspension, leading to suspension failure for the Renault driver late in the race when running second.

Senna was the first retirement of the 1984 season with turbo failure on lap 8.

Alboreto's race was ruined by a loose bolt in his car's right front brake caliper which released all the brake fluid and caused the brake to overheat, resulting in a couple of spins. Lauda was leading by some 40 seconds on lap 34 when the wires to his McLaren's battery came loose causing electrical failure. Piquet, who had almost stalled his Brabham as the flag fell, finished an unhappy race on lap 32 when the BMW engine failed coming onto the pit straight.

After Passing Warwick for the lead, Prost, who was in the pits for a tyre change when Lauda coasted in to retire, lost the lead back to the Englishman when he made his second stop for tyres. He regained the lead for good following Warwick's retirement and ran out the winner by 40.514 seconds from the Williams-Honda of Keke Rosberg and the Lotus of de Angelis. For Rosberg it was his third successive second place in the Brazilian Grand Prix, though it was the only one in which he was not disqualified. Eddie Cheever drove well to finish 4th in the Alfa Romeo many said would not finish the race before running out of fuel, while Renault's Patrick Tambay was classified in 6th after running dry on the last lap, losing 5th to another F1 rookie in Martin Brundle in his Tyrrell-Ford.

Brundle, and the entire Tyrrell team would later be disqualified from the season for technical infringements. This gave 5th place to Tambay with Thierry Boutsen elevated to 6th in his Arrows-Ford.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Qual	Gap
1	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	1:28.392	—
2	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:28.898	+0.506
3	16	Derek Warwick	Renault	1:29.025	+0.633
4	7	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	1:29.330	+0.938
5	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault	1:29.364	+0.972
6	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	1:29.854	+1.462
7	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	1:30.149	+1.757
8	15	Patrick Tambay	Renault	1:30.554	+2.162
9	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda	1:30.611	+2.219
10	28	René Arnoux	Ferrari	1:30.695	+2.303
11	22	Riccardo Patrese	Alfa Romeo	1:30.973	+2.581
12	23	Eddie Cheever	Alfa Romeo	1:31.282	+2.890
13	5	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Honda	1:31.548	+3.156
14	26	Andrea de Cesaris	Ligier-Renault	1:32.895	+4.503
15	14	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-BMW	1:32.997	+4.253
16	2	Teo Fabi	Brabham-BMW	1:33.227	+4.835
17	19	Ayrton Senna	Toleman-Hart	1:33.525	+5.133
18	20	Johnny Cecotto	Toleman-Hart	1:35.300	+6.908
19	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Ford	1:36.081	+7.689
20	25	François Hesnault	Ligier-Renault	1:36.238	+7.846
21	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-Ford	1:36.312	+7.920
22	24	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:36.434	+8.042
23	4	Stefan Bellof	Tyrrell-Ford	1:36.609	+8.217
24	21	Mauro Baldi	Spirit-Hart	1:36.816	+8.424
25	17	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	1:37.204	+8.812
26	9	Philippe Alliot	RAM-Hart	1:37.709	+9.317
DNQ	10	Jonathan Palmer	RAM-Hart	1:37.919	+9.527

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	7	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	61	1:42:34.492	4	9
2	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda	61	+ 40.514	9	6
3	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	61	+ 59.128	1	4
4	23	Eddie Cheever	Alfa Romeo	60	+ 1 Lap	12	3
5	15	Patrick Tambay	Renault	59	Out of fuel	8	2
6	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-Ford	59	+ 2 Laps	20	1
7	17	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	59	+ 2 Laps	24
8	10	Jonathan Palmer	RAM-Hart	58	+ 3 Laps	26
DSQ	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Ford	60	Disqualified	18
Ret	16	Derek Warwick	Renault	51	Suspension	3
Ret	26	Andrea de Cesaris	Ligier-Renault	42	Gearbox	14
Ret	22	Riccardo Patrese	Alfa Romeo	41	Gearbox	11
Ret	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	38	Electrical	6
Ret	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault	35	Accident	5
Ret	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	32	Engine	7
Ret	2	Teo Fabi	Brabham-BMW	32	Turbo	15
Ret	28	René Arnoux	Ferrari	30	Battery	10
Ret	24	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	28	Gearbox	21
Ret	25	François Hesnault	Ligier-Renault	25	Overheating	19
Ret	9	Philippe Alliot	RAM-Hart	24	Battery	25
Ret	20	Johnny Cecotto	Toleman-Hart	18	Turbo	17
Ret	5	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Honda	15	Electrical	13
Ret	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	14	Brakes	2
Ret	21	Mauro Baldi	Spirit-Hart	12	Distributor	23
DSQ	4	Stefan Bellof	Tyrrell-Ford	11	Disqualified	22
Ret	19	Ayrton Senna	Toleman-Hart	8	Turbo	16
EX	14	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-BMW	0	Excluded
Source:

Lap Leaders

• Michele Alboreto 11 (1-11), Niki Lauda 26 (12-37), Alain Prost 12 (38, 51-61), Derek Warwick 12 (39-50)

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Alain Prost	9
2	Keke Rosberg	6
3	Elio de Angelis	4
4	Eddie Cheever	3
5	Martin Brundle	2

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	McLaren-TAG	9
2	Williams-Honda	6
3	Lotus-Renault	4
4	Alfa Romeo	3
5	Tyrrell-Ford	2

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Martin Brundle and Tyrrell were subsequently disqualified from 1984 results and their points reallocated.

External links

• Comments on Ayrton Senna @ 1984 Brazilian GP

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