1985 Belgian Grand Prix

F1 Belgium Belgian 15 September 1985 13 16 Circuit de Spa-FrancorchampsFrancorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium1985 Belgian GP https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1985-belgian-grand-prix/ Motor Sport 30 May 2022 Spa 1996.jpg Permanent racing facility 4.312 6.940 43 187.136 301.172 Wet/Dry, drying up in later stages Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:55.306 France Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 2:01.730 38 France Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault Brazil 1968 Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda UK Alain Prost McLaren-TAG France BEL The 1985 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 15 September 1985. It was the thirteenth round of the 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race was the 43rd Belgian Grand Prix, the 31st to be held at Spa and the second since the circuit had been rebuilt and re-opened at half its original length in 1979. The race was held over 43 laps of the seven kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 301 kilometres. The race was won by Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna driving a Lotus 97T. It was Senna's second World Championship victory and the first of five he would win at Spa-Francorchamps. Senna won by 28 seconds over British driver Nigel Mansell driving a Williams FW10. Third was World Championship points leader, French driver Alain Prost driving a McLaren MP4/2B. The win promoted Senna to third in the drivers' standings and third place allowed Prost to expand his lead over Ferrari driver Michele Alboreto to 16 points. Originally scheduled to take place on 2 June 1985, the Grand Prix was rescheduled for September after the recently resurfaced track became damaged during the race weekend. Race summary Track surface and postponement This was the second Belgian Grand Prix to occur at a reconfigured Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, with the first being the 1983 race. Race organisers opted to resurface the track with a material called Stress Absorbing Membrane Interlayer that intended to provide improved grip in wet-weather conditions at a cost of £3 million.http://en.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/story/9426.html The race that never was Williamson Martin 9 April 2010 ESPN live https://web.archive.org/web/20160202131123/http://en.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/story/9426.html 2 February 2016 26 March 2020 Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA), the governing body of Formula One, was queried about the resurfacing work and replied it would approve if race organisers complied with a regulation that mandates any such work occur 60 days beforehand. Local bureaucracy and a harsh winter caused delays to the work, which were reportedly finished ten days before the event's scheduled date of 31 May, and forced a cancellation of a pre-race test session at the circuit.https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/belgian-gp-1985-spa-retro/4772725/ The only other time F1 called off a race Cooper Adam 26 March 2020 motorsport.com 26 March 2020 Organisers did not refer the incident to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and went ahead. Warm weather, the powerful turbocharged cars of the time, and their wide, slick tyres, damaged the track during the Friday practice session. Repairs to the circuit were conducted overnight and undamaged turns were also addressed. After around 25 minutes into the Saturday practice session, all on-track activity stopped, since drivers noticed the damage and held a series of meetings. One suggestion was to cancel the remainder of the day's activities, the Sunday morning warm-up session and enter straight into the race on Sunday afternoon. Bernie Ecclestone, the commercial rights holder of Formula One, called every team principal to a meeting and told them to hold the International Formula 3000 support round on Sunday afternoon or it be the primary event. Drivers and officials inspected the track at 18:00 local time. Discussions continued until 19:30 local time and drivers' representative Niki Lauda told the media that the Formula One race would be postponed. Jean-Marie Balestre, the president of FISA, was furious and summoned race organisers to the FISA executive meeting in Paris "to explain the serious fault committed," and said that they "will be liable to very heavy sanctions." The Belgian ASN was fined $10,000 and a provisional $100,000 bond to be deposited to FISA by the organisers would be returned in the event there were no further problems with the track on the rescheduled date. Ecclestone rescheduled the race to 15 September, following the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza and the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. The race at Brands Hatch was later moved back by one week to provide the teams with some preparation. Postponed race Because this was a rescheduled race Formula One's newest team Haas Lola and their driver, 1980 World Champion Alan Jones, who had their first race at the previous round in Italy were not permitted to enter as they were not on the original entry list. During the buildup to the race FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre announced that the controversial South African Grand Prix would take place despite pressure to cancel the event as part of anti-apartheid embargoes. Missing from the grid was an injured Niki Lauda. At the end of Friday's practice session before qualifying proper, his McLaren MP4/2B's throttle stuck open while he was only touring back to the pits. The car slid off the track on the newer section of track and the three time and defending World Champion hit a guardrail and on impact the steering wheel whipped around wrenching his wrist as it did so. X-rays revealed no break but Lauda was not fit to race so he returned home to Austria for further inspection and treatment from his physical therapist Willi Dungl. McLaren initially hoped to put John Watson in Lauda's car but this would have required the approval of all other teams. Mindful of the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari refused to agree, leaving Alain Prost as McLaren's only driver in Belgium. RAM was also down to one car, only bringing a single RAM 03 for Philippe Alliot and the 1985 Formula 3000 champion Christian Danner made his world championship debut with Zakspeed.http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr417.html Grand Prix Result: Belgian GP, Spa-Francorchamps, 1985 GrandPrix.com live https://web.archive.org/web/20011101103517/http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr417.html 1 November 2001 26 March 2020Jenkinson Denis Denis Jenkinson October 1985 The Belgian Grand Prix – Touch and Go https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1985/26/belgian-grand-prix-2 Motor Sport LXI 1080–1083 26 March 2020 10 Prost took pole position, averaging 135.929 mph (218.756 km/h) from Senna with Nelson Piquet qualifying third in his Brabham BT54, with Alboreto fourth in his Ferrari 156/85. Rain fell before the race leaving the grid to form on a damp track with wet-weather tyres for the first time since Senna won in Portugal. Senna won the start from Piquet but the Brabham spun at the first corner. Senna led from Prost, Mansell and the two Ferraris of Alboreto and Stefan Johansson. The Ferraris were soon out, from a broken clutch and engine respectively. Meanwhile Johansson retired after spinning off at the end of the Kemmel Straight on Lap 8. Prost dropped behind the two Williams FW10s as the field pitted for dry tyres. Late in the race rain fell again and Senna expanded his lead. Keke Rosberg dropped to fourth with a brief pit visit with a brake problem and they finished in that order. Fifth had been Thierry Boutsen until his Arrows A8 broke its gearbox. Piquet claimed fifth from Derek Warwick in a Renault RE60B, Warwick scored the last point for the original factory Renault team. Twelve cars finished the race, including for the first time a Minardi as Pierluigi Martini finished twelfth in his Minardi M185. A further two cars, Boutsen and the crashed Ligier JS25 of Jacques Laffite were also classified as finishers. Huub Rothengatter's Osella FA1G fell one lap short of being classified. Although the marshals led the cars directly into the pits after finish, Ayrton Senna drove around them and took a lap of honour.YouTube - Senna wins at Spa 1985 and drives around the Marshalls YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTqyR-Q02lA https://web.archive.org/web/20150714112948/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTqyR-Q02lA 2015-07-14 live 2009-10-03 Classification Qualifying Times recorded on Friday qualifying session before postponement (31 May 1985) Pos No Driver Constructor Time 1 27ITA Michele AlboretoFerrari 1:56.046 2 11ITA Elio de AngelisLotus-Renault 1:56.273 3 12BRA 1968 Ayrton SennaLotus-Renault 1:56.473 4 15FRA Patrick TambayRenault 1:56.586 5 28SWE Stefan JohanssonFerrari 1:57.506 6 6FIN Keke RosbergWilliams-Honda 1:57.705 7 7BRA 1968 Nelson PiquetBrabham-BMW 1:58.122 8 25ITA Andrea de CesarisLigier-Renault 1:58.302 9 17AUT Gerhard BergerArrows-BMW 1:58.343101AUT Niki LaudaMcLaren-TAG1:58.374 11 5GBR Nigel MansellWilliams-Honda 1:58.658 12 18BEL Thierry BoutsenArrows-BMW 1:58.874 13 16GBR Derek WarwickRenault 1:59.129 14 19ITA Teo FabiToleman-Hart 2:00.592 15 26FRA Jacques LaffiteLigier-Renault 2:00.729 16 23USA Eddie CheeverAlfa Romeo 2:00.782 17 22ITA Riccardo PatreseAlfa Romeo 2:01.396 18 8SWI Marc SurerBrabham-BMW 2:01.555 19 30GBR Jonathan PalmerZakspeed 2:04.990 20 4GER Stefan BellofTyrrell-Renault 2:05.070 21 24ITA Piercarlo GhinzaniOsella-Alfa Romeo 2:05.088 22 3GBR Martin BrundleTyrrell-Renault 2:05.782239GER Manfred WinkelhockRAM-Hart2:06.771 24 29ITA Pierluigi MartiniMinardi-Motori Moderni 2:12.279 2FRA Alain ProstMcLaren-TAG no time 10FRA Philippe AlliotRAM-Hart no time Rescheduled qualifying (13 and 14 September 1985) Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 2FRA Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:56.563 1:55.306 — 2 12BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 2:00.710 1:55.403 +0.097 3 7BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:56.643 1:55.648 +0.342 4 27ITA Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:56.999 1:56.021 +0.715 5 28SWE Stefan Johansson Ferrari 1:56.585 1:56.746 +1.279 6 18BEL Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 1:59.046 1:56.697 +1.391 7 5GBR Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:56.727 1:56.996 +1.421 8 17AUT Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 1:56.770 +1.464 9 11ITA Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:58.852 1:57.322 +2.016 10 6FIN Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:57.582 1:57.465 +2.159 11 19ITA Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 1:57.588 1:57.857 +2.282 12 8 SWI Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 2:00.154 1:57.729 +2.423 13 15FRA Patrick Tambay Renault 1:58.105 1:59.335 +2.799 14 16GBR Derek Warwick Renault 1:59.761 1:58.407 +3.101 15 22ITA Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 1:59.703 1:58.414 +3.108 16 20ITA Piercarlo Ghinzani Toleman-Hart 1:58.820 1:58.706 +3.400 17 26FRA Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 2:01.745 1:58.933 +3.627 18 25FRA Philippe Streiff Ligier-Renault 2:00.599 1:59.245 +3.939 19 23USA Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 2:00.861 1:59.370 +4.064 20 9FRA Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 1:59.626 1:59.755 +4.320 21 3GBR Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 2:00.950 2:01.364 +5.644 22 30FRG Christian Danner Zakspeed 2:05.059 2:07.046 +9.753 23 24NED Huub Rothengatter Osella-Alfa Romeo 2:06.083 2:05.776 +10.470 24 29ITA Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 2:06.007 2:06.606 +10.701 Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 12 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 43 1:34:19.893 2 9 2 5 GBR Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 43 + 28.422 7 6 3 2 FRA Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 43 + 55.109 1 4 4 6 FIN Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 43 + 1:15.290 10 3 5 7 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 42 + 1 lap 3 2 6 16 GBR Derek Warwick Renault 42 + 1 lap 14 1 7 17 AUT Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 42 + 1 lap 8   8 8 SWI Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 42 + 1 lap 12   9 25 FRA Philippe Streiff Ligier-Renault 42 + 1 lap 18   10 18 BEL Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 40 Gearbox 6   11 26 FRA Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 38 Accident 17   12 29 ITA Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 38 + 5 laps 24   13 3 GBR Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 38 + 5 laps 21   NC Not classified 24 NED Huub Rothengatter Osella-Alfa Romeo 37 + 6 laps 23   Ret Retired 22 ITA Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 31 Engine 15   Ret Retired 23 USA Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 26 Gearbox 19   Ret Retired 15 FRA Patrick Tambay Renault 24 Gearbox 13   Ret Retired 19 ITA Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 23 Throttle 11   Ret Retired 11 ITA Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 17 Turbo 9   Ret Retired 30 FRG Christian Danner Zakspeed 16 Gearbox 22   Ret Retired 9 FRA Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 10 Accident 20   Ret Retired 28 SWE Stefan Johansson Ferrari 7 Spun off 5   Ret Retired 20 ITA Piercarlo Ghinzani Toleman-Hart 7 Accident 16   Ret Retired 27 ITA Michele Alboreto Ferrari 3 Clutch 4   DNS Did not start 1 AUT Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG Driver injured Source:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1985/306/ 1985 Belgian Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20140218001232/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1985/306/ 18 February 2014 Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 FRA Alain Prost 69 2 ITA Michele Alboreto 53 3 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna 32 4 ITA Elio de Angelis 31 5 FIN Keke Rosberg 21Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1985/belgique/championnat.aspx Belgium 1985 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 12 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 GBR McLaren-TAG 83 2 ITA Ferrari 77 3 GBR Lotus-Renault 63 4 GBR Williams-Honda 34 5 GBR Brabham-BMW 26Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References 30em Belgian Grand Prix 1985 1985 Italian Grand Prix 1985 European Grand Prix 1984 Belgian Grand Prix 1986 Belgian Grand Prix Belgian Grand Prix Grand Prix Category:Belgian Grand Prix