With FISA new regulations defined (flat underbodies) the teams have to
abandoned wing-cars. providing downforce with a perfect aerodynamic
body project. Also meny teams adopted turbocharged engines, but the
costs were getting higher and higher!
1 � BRAZIL In a year that would be dominated by turbocharged cars, at least in
the practices Rosberg surprised eveyone with the pole. But in the race,
he could lead only six laps, as Piquet overtook him exactly in front an
amazing crowd and went to victory. Rosberg had a big frightening
momentum during his refueling. His car was envolved in flames, but
immediately the marshals controled it. Rosberg, who had jumped out of
the car, decided to be back to race and was pushed by the marshals.
Because of that he would be desqualified of a brilliant 2nd place. But
the unimaginable happened: FIA decided there would be no 2nd place! So,
Piquet won, with a ghost in 2nd, Lauda (McLaren-Ford) 3rd, Laffite
(Williams-Ford) 4th, Tambey (Ferrari Turbo) 5th and Surer (Arrows-Ford)
6th. 2 � USA-WEST Tambay and Arnoux (now with Ferrari) dominated the qualifying,
followed by Williams team-mates. In the race, Tambay started in the
front and in the final of the back straight, Rosberg went inside,
blocking his tyres, making a 360�! Somehow he even did not collected
Tambay, as managed to stay in track, losing place only to Laffite. But
the finn was resolute to win, retaking his 2nd place and attacking
Tambay. In lap 25 he tried to pass in the hairpin, touching wheels with
the french, knoking him out. But in the end of the straight, himself
had to abandon with a broken suspension. Laffite led until slow, and
ceded the lead to...Watson! The irish started from 22nd and was driving
a incredible race, but not only him. Also his team-mate, Lauda, who
started 23rd and also took Laffite for 2nd. Arnoux , had changed tyres
three times, also passed Laffite, who finished 4th, with Surer
(Arrows-Ford) 5th and a surprising Cecotto (Theodore-Ford) 6th. Great
battles during the race between, like Arnoux-Cheever (Renault),
Laffite-Rosberg-Jarier (Ligier-Ford), besides Tambay-Rosberg.
3 � FRENCH A perfect week-end for Prost and Renault. Pole, with 2�312 ahead
his team-mate Cheever(!), led from the start and only lost it when came
to pit. Piquet led 3 laps, went to pit and Prost retook it, winning
with almost 30 seconds ahead of the brazilian. Cheever, Tambay and both
Williams completed the points.
4 � SAN MARINO What a great race for the tiffosi! Tambay won when it looks like he
wouldn�t, as Patrese recovering from a bad pti-stop, overtook him just
after Tosa curve. But immediately after Acqua-Minerale chicane he lost
control of his car and hit the barriers...the italian crowd got crazy
and celebrated, for his and everyone surprise!...but the crowd prefer a
Ferrari winning than an italian driver with another car! Great
recovering for Piquet, who let engine off in the start, getting 5th
place until had a broken engine. Prost 2nd and Arnoux 3rd.
5 � MONACO Running in the streets Rosberg could shown his class again and won.
In wet track, but with no rain, everyone besides Rosberg, Laffite,
Surer and Warwick (Toleman-Hart), started with grooved tyres. Even in
wet track, the finn overtook Prost and led to the end. Prost also lost
2nd place for Piquet. Warwick and Surer were fighting for 4th place,
when the british made a wrong manouvre, that put them out of race.
Tambay finished 4th, with Sullivan (Tyrrell-Ford) and Baldi (Alfa
Romeo) getting their first ever points in F1. A week-end to forget for
McLaren as both drivers failed to qualify for the race.
6 � BELGIUM Staring from second row, Andrea De Cesaris (Alfa Romeo V8-Turbo)
took the led immediately and pooled away, making all the team dream
with his victory. But when he came to refuel and tyres change, the team
made a very long pit, so Andrea lost 1st place to Prost. Back to the
track he was recovering very fast, when at six laps from the flag, his
engine failed. Piquet inherited second, but lost fifth gear and had to
slow, what allowed Tambay and Cheever to take advantage. But besides De
Cesaris briliant driving, another driver must be cited: Keke Rosberg.
It was absolutely amazing the way he crossed �Eau the Rouge�, sliding
the car demonstrating all his incredible talent.
7 � USA-EST Nine laps! Only nine laps to the end, when a puncture in left tyre
annihilated Piquet tatics to victory! He and Murray decided for a
non-stopping race, but...At the light, Tambay�s engine went off and he
abandoned. Piquet led until Arnoux overtook him, but when the french
went to pit, the brazilian restored the order until tyre problem.
Alboreto, who started from 6th place, received a well deserved gift and
won the race. Detroit is Ford headquarter, so what could be better than
have nine cars into twelve who finished the race? Only what Ford
achieved! They equiped all drivers in the podium: Alboreto, Roberg,
Watson! The others to finish were: Piquet 4th, Laffite 5th, Mansell
6th.
Points standings until here: Prost, 28 where group by Piquet, 27
where group by Tambay 23 where group by Rosberg, 22 and Arnoux, 8.
8 � CANADA Almost from lights to flag, Arnoux took his first victory driving
for Maranello team. He only lost place when in refuel. Besides that,
Patrese and Piquet put some pressure over him, but the french driver
was perfect. Both Brabham-BMW broken, so Prost extended his
championship lead with his poor, but valiable 5th place. Excelent 2nd
for Cheever, Tambay 3rd.
9 - GREAT-BRITAIN New things on the grid: Lotus 94T-Renault, Ferrari 126C3 and many
evolutions in Brabham, Renault and Alfa Romeo. But Maranello team
dominated all the practices and Arnoux marked a new pole record for
Silverstone: more than 151mph (almost 245kmh)! In the race, otherwise,
his team-mate, Tambay dominated until Prost and Piquet passed him.
Mansell made the crowd happiness coming from 18th to 4th in the final.
Arnoux finished only 5th and Lauda 6th. Debut for Spirit-Honda with
Johansson, getting a strong 14th place on the grid, but had pump
failure with 5 laps in race.
10 � GERMANY Tambay and Arnoux took the front row again. Tambay led the first
lap, but Arnoux drove another strong race and took the front until the
end. It seemed that Piquet was following Arnoux to make a final attack.
But when he smashed Arnoux�s advantage, his engine blew-up with just
three laps remainning. So, De Cesaris found himself in second and hold
it to the final. With Piquet and Tambay (broken engine) out, fourth
place was a good result for Prost. Lauda was desqualified because when
he came to pit, he overshooted his garage and reversed the car, what is
prohibited by rules.
11 � AUSTRIA Again Ferrari were in the front row. Tambay led until that a
latecomer Jarier simply ignored him. First Arnoux and immediately after
Piquet passed him, who became furious with his country man, but some
laps later his engine blew-up again...Arnoux and Piquet fight for the
lead, following not far from Prost. After the pits, Piquet led and
managed Arnoux�s attack, when he came from boxes with cool tyres. But
soon his engine began to lose power and he had to slow. Arnoux took the
lead, but missed 5th gear, what gave Prost the victory, extending his
points leadership.
12 � NETHERLANDS What is this, Prost? That probably was the thinking of Nelson
Piquet after being eliminated by the french in a unpropicious manouvre
at Tarzan curve. Piquet started from pole and led until Prost getting
closer. But the brazilian sustained the front, because he was a little
quicker than Prost in the last two corners just before the main
straight. It seemed that Prost missjudged the braking point, colliding
heavily the brazilian, knocking him out. But he also payed for this, as
in the same lap, he crashed the barriers. Better for Ferrari team,
because Arnoux inherited the lead, with Tambay in 2nd, marking the
first one-two since San Marino�82. This race also marked: debut for new
McLaren Porsche Turbo V6 (Lauda), the first points for Toleman-Hart
team, with Warwick in 4th and also the first race that Spirit-Honda
completed, with Johansson in 7th. 13 � ITALY Patrese marked the pole and led the first two laps. Then his engine
blew-up, letting Piquet free for an easy win. Arnoux made his best, but
it was impossible to catch Brabham. Tambay had some engine problems and
arrived in 4th, but the good news for the brazilian was the abandon of
Prost. Championship standings: Prost, 51 where group by Arnoux, 49
where group by Piquet, 46 where group by Tambay, 40.
14 � EUROPE Big surprise on the practice: De Angelis (pole), Mansell (3rd),
both with Lotus-Renault and Pirelli tyres. Patrese, 2nd, Piquet 4th,
Arnoux 5th, Tambay 6th and Prost 8th. In the race, De Angelis started
in the lead, but Patrese overtook him yet in the first lap. The Lotus
driver did not give up and in the 10th lap forced to pass and touched
wheels with Patrese. Both went off track, what gave the lead to Piquet.
He would lead to the final without any pressure. Even a bad pit
team-work with 19�6 seconds, did not put his victory in risk. Prost got
2nd place, but Tambay had brake failure and hit the barriers at Druids,
not only getting him out of the race, but also for the championship
battle! Worst then Tambay, team-mate Arnoux made a mistake and spun off
in Southbank corner, dropping to 19th place! He recovered to finished
9th. Now Prost had 57 points, Piquet 55 and Arnoux 49.
15 � SOUTH AFRICA Tambay made another pole, but Piquet 2nd, Arnoux 4th and Prost 5th
had all the atentions. Immediatly from the start Piquet jumped to the
front, with Patrese in 2nd. Arnoux couldn�t run more than nine laps to
have a broken engine. Prost at least could run more. He sustained some
laps in 4th place, behind Piquet, Patrese and De Cesaris, but lost it
to Lauda. At 28th lap, Piquet came to pit to refuel, unveilling their
strategy of starting with less fuel. He came back still leading. Then
at 35 lap Prost went to the pit and pulled out of the car. He had a
turbo broken. Now, all french team would be cheering for some kind of
problems with Piquet. But he just reduced the turbo pressure, let
Patrese take the lead. Also some laps ahead, Lauda overtook him, but
had his engine blew-up. Piquet, now saw De Cesaris arriving and let the
italian pass, just to guarantee the points he needed to be champion for
the second time. Big party for Brabham-BMW-Michelin. The first title
for a turbocharged car.
Curious facts * In Netherlands, after being knocked out by Prost�s mistake,
Piquet joked each time Patrese passed in front of the pits. Patrese was
in trouble and in a very slow speed, so Piquet was �showing his legs
asking for a ride...�. When asked if he was not angry with Prost, he
declared: �Well, he made a big mistake, he also lost points, so...�.
Prost confirmed: �It was absolutly my fault!�.
* After won Europe GP, Piquet said: �I�m telling, if we won�t have any problems, nobody can stop us!�. What a confidence!
* Bu a very unsure Prost: �We are still in the lead...�.
* In South Africa, Williams debuted new FW09 with Honda turbo engine, and finished 5th place with Rosberg.
* After winning his second title, Piquet: �I wanted this
championship for me, not for the team, not for the mechanics, but for
me!...And I still young, I want to race many years yet, so I want to
win more...�
* Ferrari team won their second consecutive constructors championship, ahead Renault and Brabham.
First appearance * Drivers: D.Sullivan, M.Baldi, T.Boutsen.
* Constructors/Teams:.
The 1983 Formula One season included the 34th FIAFormula One World Championship which commenced on March 13, and ended on October 15 after fifteen races. Nelson Piquet won the World Drivers' Championship, his second Formula One title and the first one ever won by a driver using a turbocharged engine. 1983 was notable as the last season in which a non-Championship Formula One race was held: the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, won by Keke Rosberg in a Williams.
