1985 European Grand Prix

Fourteenth round of the 1985 Formula One World Championship February 2021 F1 European United Kingdom File:Brands Hatch 1976-1987.svg 6 October 1985 14 16 Shell Oils Grand Prix of Europe Brands Hatch, Kent, United Kingdom Permanent racing facility 2.61 4.206 75 195.8 315.5 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 1:07.169Hamilton Maurice AUTOCOURSE 1985-86 Hazleton Publishing 1985 0-905138-38-4 256 BRA 1968 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 1:11.526 55Hamilton Maurice AUTOCOURSE 1985-86 Hazleton Publishing 1985 0-905138-38-4 257 FRA Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda GBR Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault BRA 1968 Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda FIN EUR thumb|Nigel Mansell, driving for Williams, took his first Formula One victory. thumb|Ayrton Senna finished second for Lotus having started from pole position. thumb|Mansell's teammate Keke Rosberg completed the podium. thumb|Alain Prost fought his way to a fourth-place finish, thus securing his first Drivers' Championship. The 1985 European Grand Prix (formally the Shell Oils Grand Prix of EuropeMotor Racing Programme Covers: 1985 http://www.progcovers.com/motor/brands85.jpg The Programme Covers Project 29 October 2017) 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 75-lap race was won by Nigel Mansell, driving a Williams-Honda. It was Mansell's first Formula One victory in his 72nd race start. Ayrton Senna finished second in a Lotus-Renault, having started from pole position, while Mansell's teammate Keke Rosberg finished third. Alain Prost finished fourth in his McLaren-TAG which, combined with Michele Alboreto's retirement with a turbo failure, secured the Frenchman his first Drivers' Championship. As of 2025, Prost remains the only French driver to win the championship. Mansell was the first and only driver to win the European Grand Prix on home soil until Michael Schumacher in 1995. Qualifying Qualifying report Ayrton Senna took his sixth pole position of the season in his Lotus-Renault, averaging 140.106 mph km/h on, the first time anyone had lapped the Brands Hatch circuit faster than 140 mph. Compatriot Nelson Piquet was second in his Brabham-BMW, 0.3 seconds behind, followed by the Williams-Hondas of Nigel Mansell and Keke Rosberg. Philippe Streiff was a surprise fifth in his Ligier, ahead of Alain Prost's McLaren; the top ten was completed by Marc Surer in the second Brabham, Derek Warwick in the Renault, Elio de Angelis in the second Lotus and Jacques Laffite in the second Ligier. Prost's Drivers' Championship rival, Michele Alboreto, could only manage 15th in his Ferrari. Prost's teammate Niki Lauda was unfit to race due to the wrist injury he had suffered at the previous race in Belgium. His place was taken by former McLaren stalwart John Watson, in his first F1 race since the end of 1983; the Ulsterman qualified 21st, over five seconds behind Senna. Watson's participation marked the last time to date a Formula One driver raced with number 1 without having been World Champion the previous season.https://www.racefans.net/f1-information/whos-who/whos-who-w/john-watson/ John Watson · RaceFans Tyrrell had re-expanded to two cars, with Martin Brundle joined by Italian newcomer Ivan Capelli, who qualified 24th. Qualifying classification Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 12 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 1:08.020 1:07.169 2 7 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:09.204 1:07.482 +0.313 3 5 GBR Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:10.537 1:08.059 +0.890 4 6 FIN Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:09.277 1:08.197 +1.028 5 25 FRA Philippe Streiff Ligier-Renault 1:10.396 1:09.080 +1.911 6 2 FRA Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:10.345 1:09.429 +2.260 7 8 SWI Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 1:09.762 1:09.913 +2.593 8 16 GBR Derek Warwick Renault 1:11.014 1:09.904 +2.735 9 11 ITA Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:11.530 1:10.014 +2.845 10 26 FRA Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 1:11.312 1:10.081 +2.912 11 22 ITA Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 1:10.963 1:10.251 +3.082 12 18 BEL Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 1:10.918 1:10.323 +3.154 13 28 SWE Stefan Johansson Ferrari 1:11.309 1:10.517 +3.348 14 20 ITA Piercarlo Ghinzani Toleman-Hart 1:13.517 1:10.570 +3.401 15 27 ITA Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:10.877 1:10.659 +3.490 16 3 GBR Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 1:11.296 1:10.731 +3.562 17 15 FRA Patrick Tambay Renault 1:13.048 1:10.934 +3.765 18 23 USA Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 1:12.766 1:11.500 +4.331 19 17 AUT Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 1:11.608 1:11.638 +4.439 20 19 ITA Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 1:13.024 1:12.090 +4.921 21 1 GBR John Watson McLaren-TAG 1:12.496 1:12.516 +5.327 22 33 AUS Alan Jones Lola-Hart 1:14.050 1:13.084 +5.915 23 9 FRA Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 1:14.355 1:13.537 +6.368 24 4 ITA Ivan Capelli Tyrrell-Renault 1:16.879 1:13.721 +6.552 25 30 FRG Christian Danner Zakspeed 1:15.947 1:15.054 +7.885 26 29 ITA Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:16.642 1:15.127 +9.473 DNQ Did not qualify 24 NED Huub Rothengatter Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:16.994 1:18.022 +9.825 Race Race report Senna led off the line from a fast-starting Mansell, while Prost slid onto the grass and fell to 14th. Mansell then ran wide at Druids, allowing Rosberg and Piquet past. On lap 7, Rosberg attempted to overtake Senna, but the Brazilian blocked the move causing Rosberg to spin at Surtees Corner and was unavoidably hit by Piquet in third. The Brabham was out on the spot with a broken front suspension, while Rosberg limped back to the pits with a puncture, losing a full lap in the process. Mansell was now second again, followed by de Angelis, Stefan Johansson in the second Ferrari and Surer, with Prost up to seventh following a charge through the field. When Rosberg exited the pits, he rejoined in front of the leaders. An aggrieved Rosberg blocked Senna (who he felt was responsible for the earlier incident). Rosberg cleverly positioned his car which allowed teammate Mansell to catch up to the Lotus before getting past at Surtees. Rosberg then allowed Mansell through, and the Englishman then set about building a lead, while Rosberg continued to hold up Senna. On lap 14 Alboreto, who had made a good start and had run as high as sixth, suffered a fiery turbo failure, effectively ending his Championship challenge. Prost, running sixth at this point, now only needed to finish fifth to secure the title. Surer had moved ahead of Johansson by this stage and was closing on de Angelis, while Laffite was also on a charge, passing Prost and Johansson in quick succession. Surer overtook de Angelis on lap 21, followed soon after by Laffite. The two then closed up to Senna, Surer getting past on lap 35 and Laffite one lap later. At this point, Mansell's lead was 14 seconds, while Prost was still seventh. On lap 51, having just been re-passed by Senna, Laffite pitted for new tyres, dropping to eighth and promoting Johansson to fourth. Shortly afterwards, Prost passed de Angelis for fifth as the two were lapping Watson; this became fourth when Johansson started to suffer an electrical problem. Laffite retired on lap 59 with an engine failure, followed one lap later by Johansson. Surer was still running second when on lap 63, he suffered a turbo failure similar to Alboreto's. This left Mansell around 20 seconds clear of Senna, with Prost now third, de Angelis fourth and Rosberg back up to fifth. Rosberg soon passed de Angelis before Prost, taking no chances, allowed the Finn through into the final podium position. Up front, Mansell cruised to his first Formula One victory, his final margin over Senna being 21.4 seconds. Rosberg finished 37 seconds behind Senna and eight ahead of Prost, who celebrated becoming France's first Formula One Drivers' Champion. De Angelis and the Arrows of Thierry Boutsen rounded out the top six, Boutsen holding off Watson for the final point in what would turn out to be the Ulsterman's last F1 race. Race classification Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 GBR Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda Goodyear 75 1:32:58.109 3 9 2 12 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault Goodyear 75 + 21.396 1 6 3 6 FIN Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda Goodyear 75 + 58.533 4 4 4 2 FRA Alain Prost McLaren-TAG Goodyear 75 + 1:06.121 6 3 5 11 ITA Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault Goodyear 74 + 1 Lap 9 2 6 18 BEL Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW Goodyear 73 + 2 Laps 12 1 7 1 GBR John Watson McLaren-TAG Goodyear 73 + 2 Laps 21   8 25 FRA Philippe Streiff Ligier-Renault Pirelli 73 + 2 Laps 5   9 22 ITA Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo Goodyear 73 + 2 Laps 11   10 17 AUT Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW Goodyear 73 + 2 Laps 19   11 23 USA Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo Goodyear 73 + 2 Laps 18   12 15 FRA Patrick Tambay Renault Goodyear 72 + 3 Laps 17   Ret Retired 8 SWI Marc Surer Brabham-BMW Pirelli 62 Turbo 7   Ret Retired 28 SWE Stefan Johansson Ferrari Goodyear 59 Electrical 13   Ret Retired 26 FRA Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault Pirelli 58 Engine 10   Ret Retired 30 FRG Christian Danner Zakspeed Goodyear 55 Engine 25   Ret Retired 4 ITA Ivan Capelli Tyrrell-Renault Goodyear 44 Accident 24   Ret Retired 3 GBR Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault Goodyear 40 Water leak 16   Ret Retired 19 ITA Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart Pirelli 33 Engine 20   Ret Retired 9 FRA Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart Pirelli 31 Engine 23   Ret Retired 20 ITA Piercarlo Ghinzani Toleman-Hart Pirelli 16 Engine 14   Ret Retired 33 AUS Alan Jones Lola-Hart Goodyear 13 Radiator 22   Ret Retired 27 ITA Michele Alboreto Ferrari Goodyear 13 Turbo 15   Ret Retired 7 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW Pirelli 6 Collision 2   Ret Retired 16 GBR Derek Warwick Renault Goodyear 4 Injection 8   Ret Retired 29 ITA Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni Pirelli 3 Accident 26  Source:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1985/307/ 1985 European Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20140623045932/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1985/307/ 23 June 2014https://gparchive.com/formula-1/1985-european-grand-prix/ 1985 European Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive GPArchive.com 6 October 1985 26 November 2021 Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 FRA Alain Prost 72 2 ITA Michele Alboreto 53 3 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna 38 4 ITA Elio de Angelis 33 5 FIN Keke Rosberg 25Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1985/europe/championnat.aspx Europe 1985 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 15 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 UK McLaren-TAG 86 2 ITA Ferrari 77 3 UK Lotus-Renault 71 4 UK Williams-Honda 47 5 UK Brabham-BMW 26Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References 30em External links European Grand Prix 1985 1985 Belgian Grand Prix 1985 South African Grand Prix 1984 European Grand PrixPrevious race at Brands Hatch: 1984 British Grand Prix 1993 European Grand PrixNext race at Brands Hatch: 1986 British Grand Prix European Grand Prix Category:European Grand Prix European Grand Prix European Grand Prix Category:Sport in Kent