1985 South African Grand Prix

February 2021 September 2012 F1 South Africa 1928 South African Kyalami 1961 - 1988 Layout.png 19 October 1985 15 16 KyalamiTransvaal Province, South Africa Permanent racing facility 2.550 4.104 75 191.258 307.800 Sunny, hot and dry Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:02.366 GBR Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:08.149 74 Finland Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda GBR Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda Finland Alain Prost McLaren-TAG France RSA The 1985 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 19 October 1985 at the Kyalami Circuit in South Africa. It was the fifteenth and penultimate round of the 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race was marked with some teams boycotting the event due to apartheid – the segregation of blacks and whites – and was the last South African Formula One race until apartheid ended in 1992. The race was won by Nigel Mansell in a Williams-Honda, who also took pole position. Report Until the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, this was the last World Championship Grand Prix to be held on a Saturday;F1 to return to Las Vegas with Saturday night race in 2023 https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-las-vegas-night-race-2023-saturday/9462772/ 2023-11-11 Motorsport.com enThe best Formula 1 schedule ever? Las Vegas Grand Prix schedule https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/motorsports/the-best-formula-1-schedule-ever-las-vegas-grand-prix-schedule/ar-AA1jtaJX 2023-11-11 AutoGear UK via MSN.com en it also was the last World Championship Grand Prix where laurel wreaths were given to the drivers at the podium.https://en.vmax.si/2021/07/15/formula-1-reawakens-the-history-of-the-first-three-sprint-races-get-the-crown/ FORMULA 1 brings back history: The first three SPRINT RACES win the WREATH 26 March 2023 The event was boycotted by two teams, Ligier and Renault, owing to mounting international pressures against tolerating the country's system of apartheid. A state of emergency had been declared by the South African government in July due to growing civil unrest nationwide, and French teams Ligier and Renault's boycotts were in lockstep with the French government's boycott and sanctioning of South Africa, Walker Rob Rob Walker (motorsport) February 1986 Tiger, Tiger Road & Track 122 37 6 Hachette Filipacchi Médias New York, United States apparently doing so under pressure.Paskman Ken Auto Racing The Orlando Sentinel B-2 24 October 1985 5 November 2020 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62627988/ Newspapers.com Most of the Formula One drivers, including Alain Prost, Niki Lauda and Nigel Mansell were personally very much against racing in South Africa, but the drivers held the mentality that because they were contracted to drive at every Grand Prix, they would race at Kyalami.http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/02/05/f1-and-racism-the-1985-south-african-grand-prix/ 1985 South African Grand Prix flashback 5 February 2008 19 December 2014 Some governments tried to keep their drivers from entering the race. Brazil's sanctions on South Africa nearly prevented Nelson Piquet or Ayrton Senna from racing. Martin Gordon 1985-09-17 The Apartheid Controversy Reaches Formula 1 Racing San Francisco Chronicle 63 Final Edition Hearst Communications San Francisco, California, United States Finland and Sweden held similar reservations regarding Finn Keke Rosberg and Swede Stefan Johansson competing. Sweden's National Automobile Federation had announced Johansson could not race in South Africa before the event, but he did race. Ayrton Senna initially said he would race if Lotus raced. However, he later said he would boycott the race.Injury shelves Lauda The Gazette C-12 27 September 1985 5 November 2020 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62628855/ Newspapers.com Multiple sponsors also ordered teams to remove their branding from cars they backed, most notably Marlboro and Beatrice Foods. The latter held an equity interest in the single car Haas Lola team. While Alan Jones qualified 18th for that team, his car was not on the starting grid. Officially Jones cited illness as to why he did not race, but it was widely rumored at the time that Beatrice ordered the team to boycott. In 2017, Jones described a meeting with Bernie Ecclestone the night before the race, who suggested that Jones feign illness the next morning and not show up. Ecclestone described how Beatrice were under pressure in the US from activists such as Jesse Jackson not to race, under threats including strike action by African Americans working in their businesses. Only Jones and team management Teddy Mayer and Carl Haas were aware of this plan. Jones said "And so, on the Saturday morning I was gone. I just didn’t turn up. They had the car out ready to go, when they were told, "AJ’s been struck down by a virus and we are not racing"."Jones, Clarke AJ: How Alan Jones Climbed to the Top of Formula One Penguin Random House AustraliaAustralian F1 legend Alan Jones reveals untold story about his unusual absence from a grand prix http://www.news.com.au/sport/motorsport/formula-one/australian-f1-legend-alan-jones-reveals-untold-story-about-his-unusual-absence-from-a-grand-prix/news-story/8c073066d28aee58b08a27fe394d54d0 5 August 2017 news.com.au It was the final South African Grand Prix until apartheid ended, with FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre announcing days after the race that the Grand Prix would not return to the nation for 1986 because of apartheid. Even without the political pressures, this might well have been the final Formula One race held at Kyalami in its then form: FISA had long since deemed that circuits where lap times were under 60 seconds were considered too small for Grand Prix racingApril 2026April 2026 and with car speeds increasing all the time, it was reasonable to conclude that lap times from 1986 would be under 60 seconds. Kyalami's pole position time had actually fallen by over 10 seconds since the 1981 race, and Mansell's 1985 pole time of 1:02.366, at an average speed of 237 km/h on, was over two and a half seconds faster than Nelson Piquet's 1984 pole time of 1:04.871. During qualifying, the Brabham BMWs reached 332 km/h mph 0 on on the 1.65 km (1.0 mi) long front straight, just 3 km/h mph 0 on shy of their season's best at Paul Ricard in France some 3 months earlier. The South African Grand Prix would only return in 1992, after apartheid ended, in a new configuration of the Kyalami circuit. Mansell would also win the 1992 race driving a Williams, albeit with a naturally-aspirated Renault engine.http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr517.html Grand Prix Results: South African GP, 1992 Grandprix.com 19 December 2014 Classification Qualifying Pole position went to Nigel Mansell, averaging 236.898 km/h (147.201 mph). Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 5 GBR Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:03.188 1:02.366 — 2 7 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:03.844 1:02.490 +0.124 3 6 FIN Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:03.073 1:02.504 +0.138 4 12 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 1:04.517 1:02.825 +0.459 5 8 SWI Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 1:05.411 1:04.088 +1.722 6 11 ITA Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:04.611 1:04.129 +1.763 7 19 ITA Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 1:06.083 1:04.215 +1.849 8 1 AUT Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 1:05.357 1:04.283 +1.917 9 2 FRA Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:05.757 1:04.376 +2.010 10 18 BEL Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 1:05.079 1:04.518 +2.152 11 17 AUT Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 1:06.546 1:04.780 +2.414 12 22 ITA Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 1:06.386 1:04.948 +2.582 13 20 ITA Piercarlo Ghinzani Toleman-Hart 1:07.800 1:05.114 +2.748 14 23 USA Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 1:07.159 1:05.260 +2.894 15 27 ITA Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:05.268 1:05.757 +2.902 16 28 SWE Stefan Johansson Ferrari 1:05.406 1:05.388 +3.022 17 3 GBR Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 1:06.709 1:05.649 +3.283 18 33 AUS Alan Jones Lola-Hart 1:07.144 1:05.731 +3.365 19 4 FRA Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Renault 1:07.935 1:06.205 +3.839 20 29 ITA Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:10.025 1:08.658 +6.292 21 24 NED Huub Rothengatter Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:09.904 1:09.873 +7.507 Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 5 GBR Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 75 1:28:22.866 1 9 2 6 FIN Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 75 + 7.572 3 6 3 2 FRA Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 74 + 1 Lap 9 4 4 28 SWE Stefan Johansson Ferrari 74 + 1 Lap 16 3 5 17 AUT Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 74 + 1 Lap 11 2 6 18 BEL Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 74 + 1 Lap 10 1 7 3 GBR Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 73 + 2 Laps 17   Ret Retired 11 ITA Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 52 Engine 6   Ret Retired 29 ITA Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 45 Radiator 20   Ret Retired 1 AUT Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 37 Turbo 8   Ret Retired 4 FRA Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Renault 16 Accident 19   Ret Retired 12 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 8 Engine 4   Ret Retired 27 ITA Michele Alboreto Ferrari 8 Turbo 15   Ret Retired 7 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 6 Engine 2   Ret Retired 20 ITA Piercarlo Ghinzani Toleman-Hart 4 Engine 13   Ret Retired 19 ITA Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 3 Engine 7   Ret Retired 8 SWI Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 3 Engine 5   Ret Retired 24 NED Huub Rothengatter Osella-Alfa Romeo 1 Electrical 21   Ret Retired 22 ITA Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 0 Collision 12   Ret Retired 23 USA Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 0 Collision 14   DNS Did not start 33 AUS Alan Jones Lola-Hart Withdrew 18  Source:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1985/308/ 1985 South African Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20140218002439/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1985/308/ 18 February 2014 Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 FRA Alain Prost 73 (76) 2 ITA Michele Alboreto 53 3 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna 38 4 ITA Elio de Angelis 33 5 GBR Nigel Mansell 31Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1985/afrique-du-sud/championnat.aspx South Africa 1985 - Championship • STATS F1 statsf1.com 20 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 GBR McLaren-TAG 90 2 ITA Ferrari 80 3 GBR Lotus-Renault 71 4 GBR Williams-Honda 62 5 GBR Brabham-BMW 26Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 11 results counted towards the Drivers' Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. References 30em South African Grand Prix 1985 1985 European Grand Prix 1985 Australian Grand Prix 1984 South African Grand Prix 1992 South African Grand Prix Category:South African Grand Prix South African Grand Prix Category:Sport and apartheid in South Africa Grand Prix, 1985 South African Grand Prix Category:Politics and sports Category:Formula One controversies