1984 South African Grand Prix

The 1984 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 7 April 1984. It was race 2 of 16 in the 1984 Formula One World Championship. The 75-lap race was won by Niki Lauda, driving a McLaren-TAG, with teammate Alain Prost second and Derek Warwick third in a Renault.

1984 South African Grand Prix
Race 2 of 16 in the 1984 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 7 April 1984
Official name XVIII National Panasonic Grand Prix of South Africa
Location Kyalami
Midrand, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.104 km (2.550 miles)
Distance 75 laps, 307.800 km (191.258 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Brabham-BMW
Time 1:04.871
Fastest lap
Driver France Patrick Tambay Renault
Time 1:08.877 on lap 64
Podium
First McLaren-TAG
Second McLaren-TAG
Third Renault
Lap leaders

Report edit

Qualifying edit

Qualifying saw reigning World Champion Nelson Piquet take the first of an eventual nine pole positions for 1984 in his Brabham-BMW, with Keke Rosberg alongside him on the front row in his Williams-Honda. On the second row were Nigel Mansell in the Lotus and Patrick Tambay in the factory Renault, while on the third row were Alain Prost in the McLaren and Teo Fabi in the second Brabham. The top ten was completed by Elio de Angelis in the second Lotus, Niki Lauda in the second McLaren, Derek Warwick in the second Renault and Michele Alboreto in the Ferrari. The Cosworth-powered Tyrrells and Arrows struggled, with Thierry Boutsen coming 27th and last in his Arrows and thus failing to qualify.

Race edit

In the Sunday morning warm-up session Piercarlo Ghinzani, who had qualified 20th in his Osella, crashed heavily at the fast left-hand Jukskei Sweep, the car bursting into flames. Ghinzani escaped with minor burns on his hands, and subsequently withdrew from the race, thus promoting Boutsen to the last grid spot.

Before the start of the race, Prost's McLaren refused to fire up, so he started from the pitlane in the spare car.[1]

At the start, Piquet almost stalled on the grid and was passed by Rosberg and Mansell. The Lotus then faltered and Mansell fell down the order, putting Piquet back up to second by the first corner. At the end of lap 1, Piquet passed Rosberg for the lead, before teammate Fabi moved into second on lap 2. Lauda had made a good start to run fourth; he then overtook Rosberg on lap 4 and Fabi on lap 10. Both Brabhams then hit trouble, needing new tyres before retiring with turbo failures, Fabi on lap 19 and Piquet on lap 30.

From there, Lauda controlled the race and went on to win easily, with Prost over a minute behind in second and the only other driver on the lead lap. Warwick gained his first Formula One podium by finishing third, while completing the top six were Riccardo Patrese (Alfa Romeo), Andrea de Cesaris (Ligier-Renault) and, gaining his first ever World Championship point, Ayrton Senna in his Toleman-Hart.

Classification edit

Qualifying edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 1   Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:05.280 1:04.871
2 6   Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:05.127 1:05.058 +0.187
3 12   Nigel Mansell Lotus-Renault 1:05.792 1:05.125 +0.254
4 15   Patrick Tambay Renault 1:05.588 1:05.339 +0.468
5 7   Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:06.576 1:05.354 +0.483
6 2   Teo Fabi Brabham-BMW 1:05.923 1:07.236 +1.052
7 11   Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:06.305 1:05.953 +1.082
8 8   Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 1:06.238 1:06.043 +1.172
9 16   Derek Warwick Renault 1:06.056 1:06.491 +1.185
10 27   Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:07.404 1:06.323 +1.452
11 5   Jacques Laffite Williams-Honda 1:07.142 1:06.762 +1.891
12 14   Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW 1:06.974 1:07.417 +2.103
13 19   Ayrton Senna Toleman-Hart 1:07.657 1:06.981 +2.110
14 26   Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault 1:09.132 1:07.245 +2.374
15 28   René Arnoux Ferrari 1:07.514 1:07.345 +2.474
16 23   Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 1:07.704 1:07.993 +2.833
17 25   François Hesnault Ligier-Renault 1:09.909 1:07.787 +2.916
18 22   Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 1:08.399 1:08.042 +3.171
19 20   Johnny Cecotto Toleman-Hart 1:09.892 1:08.298 +3.427
20 24   Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:10.829 1:09.609 +4.738
21 21   Mauro Baldi Spirit-Hart 1:10.450 1:09.923 +5.052
22 10   Jonathan Palmer RAM-Hart no time 1:10.383 +5.512
23 9   Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart no time 1:10.619 +5.748
24 17   Marc Surer Arrows-Ford 1:12.227 1:11.808 +6.937
25 4   Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Ford 1:12.322 1:12.022 +7.151
26 3   Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Ford 1:12.233 1:12.453 +7.362
27 18   Thierry Boutsen Arrows-Ford 1:12.326 1:12.274 +7.403
Source: [2][3][4]

Race edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 8   Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 75 1:29:23.430 8 9
2 7   Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 75 + 1:05.950 5 6
3 16   Derek Warwick Renault 74 + 1 Lap 9 4
4 22   Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 73 + 2 Laps 18 3
5 26   Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault 73 + 2 Laps 14 2
6 19   Ayrton Senna Toleman-Hart 72 + 3 Laps 13 1
7 11   Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 71 + 4 Laps 7  
8 21   Mauro Baldi Spirit-Hart 71 + 4 Laps 20  
9 17   Marc Surer Arrows-Ford 71 + 4 Laps 23  
10 25   François Hesnault Ligier-Renault 71 + 4 Laps 17  
11 27   Michele Alboreto Ferrari 70 Ignition 10  
12 18   Thierry Boutsen Arrows-Ford 70 + 5 Laps 26  
DSQ 3   Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Ford 71 Disqualified 25  
Ret 15   Patrick Tambay Renault 66 Out of Fuel 4  
DSQ 4   Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Ford 60 Disqualified 24  
Ret 5   Jacques Laffite Williams-Honda 60 Transmission 11  
Ret 14   Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW 53 Engine 12  
Ret 6   Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 51 Wheel 2  
Ret 12   Nigel Mansell Lotus-Renault 51 Turbo 3  
Ret 28   René Arnoux Ferrari 40 Injection 15  
Ret 1   Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 29 Turbo 1  
Ret 20   Johnny Cecotto Toleman-Hart 26 Tyre 19  
Ret 9   Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 24 Engine 22  
Ret 10   Jonathan Palmer RAM-Hart 22 Gearbox 21  
Ret 2   Teo Fabi Brabham-BMW 18 Turbo 6  
Ret 23   Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 4 Radiator 16  
DNS 24   Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo Practice Accident  
Source:[5]

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 and its drivers were subsequently disqualified and their points reallocated.

References edit

  1. ^ "South African GP, 1984". grandprix.com. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  2. ^ "National Panasonic Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  3. ^ "National Panasonic Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2". formula1.com. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  4. ^ "National Panasonic Grand Prix - OVERALL QUALIFYING". formula1.com. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  5. ^ "1984 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. ^ a b "South Africa 1984 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.


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1984 Brazilian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1984 season
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1984 Belgian Grand Prix
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