1983 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1983 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 22 May 1983. It was the first Belgian Grand Prix to be held at Spa since 1970 and the first on the modern Spa circuit, and was also the sixth race of the 1983 FIA Formula One World Championship.

1983 Belgian Grand Prix
Race 6 of 15 in the 1983 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	22 May 1983
Official name	XL Grote Prijs van Belgie
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium[1]
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	6.940 km (4.312[1] miles)
Distance	40 laps, 280.16 km (174.08 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Alain Prost	Renault
Time	2:04.615
Fastest lap
Driver	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo
Time	2:07.493 on lap 17
Podium
First	Alain Prost	Renault
Second	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari
Third	Eddie Cheever	Renault
Lap leaders

The 40-lap race was won from pole position by Alain Prost, driving a factory Renault. Patrick Tambay finished second in a Ferrari, with Eddie Cheever third in the other Renault. The race marked the debut of local driver and future race winner Thierry Boutsen.

The first attempt to start the race was waved off. The field drove around the circuit and lined up again for the second attempt, which was successful.

Report

Race report

Andrea de Cesaris jumped from third to first at the start, overtaking Alain Prost and Patrick Tambay, and de Cesaris began to build up a lead on Prost who faced pressure from the Ferraris behind him. After initially challenging Tambay for the last podium place, Rene Arnoux began to fall back and was caught by Nelson Piquet with Keke Rosberg following a short distance back in 6th. Piquet got a good exit out of La Source, and powered down the hill to overtake Arnoux before Eau Rouge, leaving him in the attention of the non-turbo powered Williams cars who don't get a chance to pass before Arnoux's turbo failed, putting an end to his race a few laps later. De Cesaris pitted from the lead, but it was a slow stop, over 25 seconds, and the second stint got going with Prost leading by almost 10 seconds. Prost's mechanics did a 14.4 second stop in an era when the record was around 13.

Meanwhile Piquet and Tambay switched positions after their stops. Piquet's pit crew managing a 15.2 second stop, refueling included, for an overcut. De Cesaris's sluggish pit stop would come to be the prologue for his retirement when injection problems made him pull up on the side of the road on lap 25. Piquet inherited second place, with Tambay close on his trails, less than 3 seconds behind. Eddie Cheever who climbed his way from 8th emerged behind them eager to attack the podium positions. The last two points places were with the underpowered Williams cars who were running a lonely and quiet race at significant distance from each other and also from the rest of the field. In the latter stages Piquet lost 5th (highest) gear and went dramatically slower on the straights as his Brabham could not reach top speed. Tambay and Cheever swiftly profited from this, dropping the 1981 champion to fourth. From here on the first six places remain unchanged. Prost won and built a 4 point lead over Piquet in the championship.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	15	Alain Prost	Renault	2:04.615	2:34.212	—
2	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	2:04.626	2:35.036	+0.011
3	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	2:04.840	26:06.800	+0.225
4	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	2:05.628	3:01.465	+1.013
5	28	René Arnoux	Ferrari	2:05.737	2:30.961	+1.122
6	6	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	2:06.137	3:01.358	+1.522
7	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-BMW	2:06.264	2:44.663	+1.649
8	16	Eddie Cheever	Renault	2:07.294	2:25.700	+2.679
9	1	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Ford	2:07.975	2:30.151	+3.360
10	29	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	2:08.587	2:35.016	+3.972
11	2	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Ford	2:09.153	3:20.872	+4.538
12	23	Mauro Baldi	Alfa Romeo	2:09.225	18:49.960	+4.610
13	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	2:09.310	2:30.478	+4.695
14	33	Roberto Guerrero	Theodore-Ford	2:09.322	2:31.077	+4.707
15	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-Ford	2:09.475	3:00.356	+4.860
16	36	Bruno Giacomelli	Toleman-Hart	2:09.706	2:35.556	+5.091
17	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	2:09.739	2:31.533	+5.124
18	30	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-Ford	2:09.876	2:35.832	+5.261
19	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	2:09.924	no time	+5.309
20	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	2:10.318	no time	+5.703
21	25	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier-Ford	2:11.354	2:49.311	+6.739
22	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	2:11.474	2:30.477	+6.859
23	4	Danny Sullivan	Tyrrell-Ford	2:11.683	2:38.284	+7.068
24	31	Corrado Fabi	Osella-Ford	2:11.734	2:41.895	+7.119
25	34	Johnny Cecotto	Theodore-Ford	2:11.860	2:43.780	+7.245
26	26	Raul Boesel	Ligier-Ford	2:12.310	2:34.659	+7.695
27	32	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	2:13.738	no time	+9.123
28	17	Eliseo Salazar	RAM-Ford	2:18.696	no time	+14.081
Source: [2][3][4][5]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	15	Alain Prost	Renault	M	40	1:27:11.502	1	9
2	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	G	40	+ 23.182	2	6
3	16	Eddie Cheever	Renault	M	40	+ 39.869	8	4
4	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	M	40	+ 42.295	4	3
5	1	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Ford	G	40	+ 50.480	9	2
6	2	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Ford	G	40	+ 1:33.107	11	1
7	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	P	40	+ 1:58.539	22
8	36	Bruno Giacomelli	Toleman-Hart	P	40	+ 2:38.273	16
9	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	P	39	+ 1 Lap	13
10	34	Johnny Cecotto	Theodore-Ford	G	39	+ 1 Lap	25
11	29	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	G	39	+ 1 lap	10
12	4	Danny Sullivan	Tyrrell-Ford	G	39	+ 1 Lap	23
13	26	Raul Boesel	Ligier-Ford	M	39	+ 1 Lap	26
14	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	G	38	+ 2 Laps	17
Ret	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-Ford	M	33	Gearbox	15
Ret	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	P	30	Gearbox	19
Ret	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	M	25	Injection	3
Ret	33	Roberto Guerrero	Theodore-Ford	G	23	Engine	14
Ret	28	René Arnoux	Ferrari	G	22	Engine	5
Ret	31	Corrado Fabi	Osella-Ford	M	19	Wheel	24
Ret	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-BMW	G	18	Wheel[6]	7
Ret	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	M	8	Collision	20
Ret	25	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier-Ford	M	8	Collision	21
Ret	30	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-Ford	G	4	Suspension	18
Ret	23	Mauro Baldi	Alfa Romeo	M	3	Throttle	12
Ret	6	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	M	0	Engine	6
DNQ	32	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	M
DNQ	17	Eliseo Salazar	RAM-Ford	P
Source: [7][8]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 28 2 Nelson Piquet 24 3 Patrick Tambay 23 4 Keke Rosberg 16 5 John Watson 11 Source: [9]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Renault 36 2 Ferrari 31 3 Brabham-BMW 24 4 Williams-Ford 24 5 McLaren-Ford 21 Source: [9]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. "1983 Belgian GP". Motor Sport. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
2. "Grand Prix of Belgium - QUALIFYING 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
3. "Grand Prix of Belgium - QUALIFYING 2". formula1.com. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
4. "Grand Prix of Belgium - OVERALL QUALIFYING". formula1.com. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
5. Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1983). AUTOCOURSE 1983–84. Hazleton Publishing Ltd. p. 146. ISBN 0-905138-25-2.
6. In the downhill section, the rear right wheel came off, flying over the fence video
7. "1983 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
8. "1983 Belgian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 22 May 1983. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
9. "Belgium 1983 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.

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