1984 British Grand Prix

The 1984 British Grand Prix (formally the XXXVII John Player British Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch, Kent, England on 22 July 1984. It was the tenth race of the 1984 Formula One World Championship.

1984 British Grand Prix
Race 10 of 16 in the 1984 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 22 July 1984
Official name XXXVII John Player British Grand Prix
Location Brands Hatch
Kent, Great Britain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.206[1][2] or 4.207[3] km (2.613 or 2.614 miles)
Distance 71 (aggregated: 11 + 60) laps, 298.626[1] or 298.633[2] or 298.697[3] km (185.558 or 185.562 or 185.602 miles)
Scheduled distance 75 laps, 315.450[4] or 315.457[5] or 315.525[6] km (196.012 or 196.016 or 196.058 miles)
Pole position
Driver Brabham-BMW
Time 1:10.869
Fastest lap
Driver Austria Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG
Time 1:13.191 on lap 57
Podium
First McLaren-TAG
Second Renault
Third Toleman-Hart
Lap leaders

The 71-lap race was won by Austrian Niki Lauda, driving a McLaren-TAG, with local driver Derek Warwick second in a Renault and Brazilian Ayrton Senna third in a Toleman-Hart. Lauda's teammate Alain Prost retired shortly after half distance with a gearbox failure, enabling Lauda to reduce the Frenchman's lead in the Drivers' Championship to 1.5 points.

Report edit

Background edit

Going into the race, McLaren driver Alain Prost led the Drivers' Championship with 34.5 points. Teammate Niki Lauda was second on 24, closely followed by Lotus's Elio de Angelis on 23.5, Ferrari's René Arnoux on 22.5, Williams' Keke Rosberg on 20 and Brabham's Nelson Piquet on 18. McLaren led the Constructors' Championship with 58.5 points, comfortably ahead of Ferrari on 31.5, Lotus on 29.5, Williams on 24 and Brabham on 21.

Prior to the event, the FIA announced that the Tyrrell team would be disqualified from the World Championship for the illegal use of fuel and ballast on their cars. The ruling resulted in Tyrrell losing the 13 points they had scored in the first nine races of the season.[7] Tyrrell owner Ken Tyrrell was granted a High Court order to allow their cars to compete in the Friday Qualifying session.[8] As a result of his crash in the previous race at Dallas in which he broke both of his ankles, Martin Brundle was replaced in the No. 4 Tyrrell by Swedish driver Stefan Johansson.

Qualifying edit

Johnny Cecotto broke both legs after a heavy crash during first practice.[9] He would never race in Formula One again. Nelson Piquet claimed pole position. Niki Lauda's win for McLaren saw him become the highest point scorer in Formula One history, passing Jackie Stewart's 360 points.

Renault driver Derek Warwick gave the British fans something to cheer when he finished 42 seconds behind Lauda in second place, while Cecotto's Toleman teammate Ayrton Senna finished 21 seconds behind Warwick in third. Lotus-Renault driver Elio de Angelis kept his championship hopes alive finishing a lap down in fourth place. He was followed by the two Ferraris of Michele Alboreto and René Arnoux in the final points positions.

Lauda's win saw him move to 33 points and with Prost failing to finish his championship lead was cut to just 1.5 points. With 67.5 points, McLaren had scored almost double the number of Constructors' points than second placed Ferrari who were on 34.5 points.

Eddie Cheever (Alfa Romeo), Philippe Alliot (RAM) and Jo Gartner (Osella) were all outed in a first lap crash which started when Riccardo Patrese lost his Alfa going into the Graham Hill Bend. The race was stopped after 11 laps to clear Jonathan Palmer's RAM.

Classification edit

Qualifying edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 1   Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:14.568 1:10.869
2 7   Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:11.494 1:11.076 +0.207
3 8   Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 1:11.598 1:11.344 +0.475
4 11   Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:11.734 1:11.573 +0.704
5 6   Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:13.740 1:11.603 +0.734
6 16   Derek Warwick Renault 1:12.278 1:11.703 +0.834
7 19   Ayrton Senna Toleman-Hart 1:11.890 1:13.991 +1.021
8 12   Nigel Mansell Lotus-Renault 1:13.184 1:12.435 +1.566
9 27   Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:13.645 1:13.122 +2.253
10 15   Patrick Tambay Renault 1:14.106 1:13.138 +2.269
11 14   Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW 1:13.713 1:13.374 +2.505
12 18   Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 1:15.355 1:13.528 +2.659
13 28   René Arnoux Ferrari 1:14.281 1:13.934 +3.065
14 2   Teo Fabi Brabham-BMW 1:17.731 1:14.040 +3.171
15 17   Marc Surer Arrows-BMW 1:17.040 1:14.336 +3.467
16 5   Jacques Laffite Williams-Honda 1:14.568 1:26.939 +3.699
17 22   Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 1:14.871 1:14.568 +3.699
18 23   Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 1:15.113 1:14.609 +3.740
19 26   Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault 1:16.116 1:15.112 +4.243
20 25   François Hesnault Ligier-Renault 1:17.384 1:15.837 +4.968
21 24   Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:16.466 1:16.829 +5.597
22 21   Huub Rothengatter Spirit-Hart 1:17.665 1:16.759 +5.890
23 10   Jonathan Palmer RAM-Hart 1:18.244 1:17.265 +6.396
24 9   Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 1:24.043 1:17.517 +6.648
25 3   Stefan Johansson Tyrrell-Ford 1:18.450 1:17.777 +6.908
26 4   Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Ford 1:17.893 1:17.912 +7.024
27 30   Jo Gartner Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:18.347 1:18.121 +7.252
Source:[10][11][12]

Race edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 8   Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG M 71 1:29:28.532 3 9
2 16   Derek Warwick Renault M 71 + 42.123 6 6
3 19   Ayrton Senna Toleman-Hart M 71 + 1:03.328 7 4
4 11   Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault G 70 + 1 lap 4 3
5 27   Michele Alboreto Ferrari G 70 + 1 lap 9 2
6 28   René Arnoux Ferrari G 70 + 1 lap 13 1
7 1   Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW M 70 + 1 lap 1  
8 15   Patrick Tambay Renault M 69 Turbo 10  
9 24   Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo P 68 + 3 laps 21  
10 26   Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault M 68 + 3 laps 19  
11 17   Marc Surer Arrows-BMW G 67 + 4 laps 15  
12 22   Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo G 66 + 5 laps 17  
DSQ 4   Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Ford G 68 Disqualified 26  
NC 21   Huub Rothengatter Spirit-Hart P 62 + 9 laps 22  
Ret 25   François Hesnault Ligier-Renault M 43 Electrical 20  
Ret 7   Alain Prost McLaren-TAG M 37 Gearbox 2  
Ret 12   Nigel Mansell Lotus-Renault G 24 Gearbox 8  
Ret 18   Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW G 24 Electrical 12  
Ret 5   Jacques Laffite Williams-Honda G 14 Water pump 16  
Ret 10   Jonathan Palmer RAM-Hart P 10 Accident 23  
Ret 2   Teo Fabi Brabham-BMW M 9 Electrical 14  
Ret 14   Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW P 8 Spun off 11  
Ret 6   Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda G 5 Engine 5  
DSQ 3   Stefan Johansson Tyrrell-Ford G 1 Disqualified 25  
Ret 23   Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo G 0 Accident 18  
Ret 9   Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart P 0 Accident 24  
Ret 30   Jo Gartner Osella-Alfa Romeo P 0 Accident 27  
DNQ 20   Johnny Cecotto Toleman-Hart M   Injury    
Source:[13][14]

Championship standings after the race edit

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Points accurate at final declaration of results. Tyrrell's points were subsequently reallocated.

References edit

  • Jenkinson, Denis (August 1984). "1984 British Grand Prix race report – A four-ring circus". MotorSport. LX (8): 960.
  • "1984 British Grand Prix". wildsoft.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  • "Britain 1984". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  1. ^ a b MotorSport
  2. ^ a b Wildsoft
  3. ^ a b StatsF1
  4. ^ Derived from MotorSport
  5. ^ Derived from Wildsoft
  6. ^ Derived from StatsF1
  7. ^ "Tyrrell are banned for rest of season". The Glasgow Herald. 19 July 1984. p. 16.
  8. ^ "Tyrrell wins ruiling, to be in British Grand Prix". The Tuscaloosa News. 20 July 1984. p. 15.
  9. ^ "Großbritannien 1984". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  10. ^ "John Player Special British Grand Prix – QUALIFYING 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  11. ^ "John Player Special British Grand Prix – QUALIFYING 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  12. ^ "John Player Special British Grand Prix – OVERALL QUALIFYING". Formula1.com. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  13. ^ "1984 British Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  14. ^ "1984 British Grand Prix – Race Results & History". GPArchive.com. 22 July 1984. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Britain 1984 – Championship". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.


Previous race:
1984 Dallas Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1984 season
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1984 German Grand Prix
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1983 British Grand Prix
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1985 British Grand Prix