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 The XXXVI Marlboro British Grand Prix, held at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England, was the ninth race of the 1983 Formula One World Championship.[1] The race saw the debut of Spirit Racing, whom were developing the Honda engine which Williams had pushed the Japanese company to produce for them.[2]

After a one-two for Ferrari in qualifying, Alain Prost took victory for Renault, after he and second placed Nelson Piquet passed the scarlet car of Patrick Tambay during the race.[2] Tambay himself finished third, while Nigel Mansell scored three points by finishing fourth, instantly making a name for himself despite having started in eighteenth at his home race.[2]

Background[]

In the month between Canada and Britain, several teams had made changes to their cars and personel.[2] At RAM, Kenny Acheson was announced as their new driver, replacing Eliseo Salazar whom had left before the Detroit Grand Prix.[2] The other new(ish) face on the grid was that of Stefan Johansson, whom returned to the championship as the face of the debuting Spirit Racing team.[2] Johansson and Spirit had already appeared at the 1983 Race of Champions earlier in the year, and opted to compete in the British Grand Prix to showcase the Honda engine they had been drafted into developing.[2] 

It was not just new faces on the grid either. A pair of freshly built Lotus 94Ts were being held in the Team Lotus stable, with both Elio de Angelis and Nigel Mansell now powered by Renault turbos for the first time.[2] Osella had also been hard at work, building a second Alfa Romeo V12 equipped FA1E for Corrado Fabi, while Alfa Romeo themselves (along with Brabham and Toleman) had modified chassis for their cars.[2] Ferrari were the other team to bring new equipment to the grid, with Patrick Tambay and René Arnoux handed a pair of 126 C3s for the weekend.[2] McLaren were also expected to have made changes, particularly after news emerged of their testing of TAG turbo engines in the break, but arrived with their usual compliment of Ford Cosworth DFVs.[2]

In the championship, Alain Prost was leading the charge from Nelson Piquet and Tambay (the pair tied on 27). Keke Rosberg was sitting five points behind the leader in fourth, while Arnoux had climbed into the top five with victory in Canada. The Constructor's Championship also witnessed a Ferrari/Renault struggle, with the pair tied on 44 points (Renault deemed ahead by virtue of Prost's position in the Driver's battle). Williams had slipped to third, now nine points behind, while McLaren were beginning to fall away after their recent run of poor qualifying performances hampered the results of John Watson and Niki Lauda.

Entry List[]

The full entry list for the 1983 British Grand Prix is shown below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Finland Keke Rosberg United Kingdom TAG Williams Racing Team Williams FW08C Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
2 France Jacques Laffite United Kingdom TAG Williams Racing Team Williams FW08C Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
3 Italy Michele Alboreto United Kingdom Benetton Tyrrell Team Tyrrell 011B Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
4 United States Danny Sullivan United Kingdom Benetton Tyrrell Team Tyrrell 011B Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
5 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Fila Sport Brabham BT52B BMW M12/13 L4t 1.5 M
6 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Fila Sport Brabham BT52B BMW M12/13 L4t 1.5 M
7 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom Marlboro McLaren International McLaren MP4/1C Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 M
8 Austria Niki Lauda United Kingdom Marlboro McLaren International McLaren MP4/1C Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 M
9 Germany Manfred Winkelhock Germany Team ATS ATS D6 BMW M12/13 L4t 1.5 G
11 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom John Player Team Lotus Lotus 94T Renault EF1 V6t 1.5 P
12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom John Player Team Lotus Lotus 94T Renault EF1 V6t 1.5 P
15 France Alain Prost France Equipe Renault Elf Renault RE40 Renault EF1 V6t 1.5 M
16 United States Eddie Cheever France Equipe Renault Elf Renault RE40 Renault EF1 V6t 1.5 M
17 United Kingdom Kenny Acheson United Kingdom RAM Racing Team March RAM 01 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 P
22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Italy Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 183T Alfa Romeo 890T V8t 1.5 M
23 Italy Mauro Baldi Italy Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 183T Alfa Romeo 890T V8t 1.5 M
25 France Jean-Pierre Jarier France Equipe Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS21 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 M
26 Brazil Raul Boesel France Equipe Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS21 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 M
27 France Patrick Tambay Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 126C3 Ferrari 021 V6t 1.5 G
28 France René Arnoux Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 126C2B Ferrari 021 V6t 1.5 G
29 Switzerland Marc Surer United Kingdom Arrows Racing Team Arrows A6 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
30 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Arrows Racing Team Arrows A6 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
31 Italy Corrado Fabi Italy Osella Squadra Corse Osella FA1E Alfa Romeo 1260 V12 3.0 M
32 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Italy Osella Squadra Corse Osella FA1E Alfa Romeo 1260 V12 3.0 M
33 Colombia Roberto Guerrero United Kingdom Theodore Racing Team Theodore N183 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
34 Venezuela Johnny Cecotto United Kingdom Theodore Racing Team Theodore N183 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
35 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Candy Toleman Motorsport Toleman TG183B Hart 415T L4t 1.5 P
36 Italy Bruno Giacomelli United Kingdom Candy Toleman Motorsport Toleman TG183B Hart 415T L4t 1.5 P
40 Sweden Stefan Johansson United Kingdom Spirit Racing Spirit 201 Honda RA163-E V6t 1.5 G

Practice Overview[]

Ferrari were topping the times almost constantly during the practice session, although Renault were on top with Prost setting the fastest time of the day.[1] The work of Gerard Ducarouge was also being appreciated at Team Lotus, with Elio de Angelis on the pace of the leading teams.[1] Corrado Fabi and Kenny Acheson were off the pace, while Stefan Johansson broke in the Spirit Honda, setting times good enough for mid table.[1]

Qualifying[]

Ferrari siezed the advantage in qualifying, however, with Arnoux taking pole position after finding a second in pace overnight. Tambay joined him on the front row, with Prost sharing the second row with the impressive Elio de Angelis.[2] Manfred Winkelhock was another to stand out, taking eighth in the ATS, while Derek Warwick was the best of the Brits, taking tenth at his home race.[2] Keke Rosberg was the highest placed of the normally aspirated cars in thirteenth, just one place ahead of the Spirit-Honda of Stefan Johansson in fourteenth.[2]

Out of qualifying went Kenny Acheson (almost two seconds off the final qualifyer), Corrado Fabi and Johnny Cecotto.[1] Piercarlo Ghinzani was the last man to qualify in 26th, seven seconds slower than Arnoux, after Jean-Pierre Jarier almost failed to qualify after his time from practice was disallowed.[1] 

Qualifying Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time[1]
Q1 Q2
1 28 FranceRené Arnoux Ferrari 1:10.436 1:09.462
2 27 France Patrick Tambay Ferrari 1:10.874 1:10.104
3 15 France Alain Prost Renault 1:10.170 1:10.808
4 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:10.771 1:11.114
5 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 1:11.246 1:10.881
6 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:11.098 1:10.933
7 16 United States Eddie Cheever Renault 1:11.055 1:11.520
8 9 Germany Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW 1:13.493 1:11.687
9 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 1:13.163 1:12.150
10 35 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:12.528 1:12.541
11 23 Italy Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo 1:14.006 1:12.860
12 36 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart 1:13.792 1:13.422
13 1 Finland Keke Rosberg Williams-Ford Cosworth 1:13.755 No TIme
14 40 Sweden Stefan Johansson Spirit-Honda 1:15.535 1:13.962
15 8 Austria Niki Lauda McLaren-Ford Cosworth 1:14.267 1:15.118
16 3 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 1:14.651 1:14.970
17 30 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Arrows-Ford Cosworth 1:14.964 1:15.686
18 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Lotus-Renault 1:16.377 1:15.133
19 29 Switzerland Marc Surer Arrows-Ford Cosworth 1:15.135 1:15.350
20 2 France Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford Cosworth 1:15.234 1:16.762
21 33 Colombia Roberto Guerrero Theodore-Ford Cosworth 1:15.441 1:15.317
22 26 Brazil Raul Boesel Ligier-Ford Cosworth 1:15.386 1:16.134
23 4 United States Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 1:15.449 1:16.347
24 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford Cosworth 1:15.609 1:16.091
25 25 France Jean-PIerre Jarier Ligier-Ford Cosworth 1:15.383* 1:15.767
26 32 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:17.162 1:16.544
DNQ 34 Venezuela Johnny Cecotto Theodore-Ford Cosworth 1:16.714 1:16.786
DNQ 31 Italy Corrado Fabi Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:20.400 1:17.594
DNQ 17 United Kingdom Kenny Acheson RAM-Ford Cosworth 1:19.267 1:18.103
Bold inicates a driver's fastest lap

* Jean-Pierre Jarier's time was disallowed from the practice/qualifying session.


Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 ______________ 1
2 René Arnoux
Patrick Tambay ______________
Row 2 ______________ 3
4 Alain Prost
Elio de Angelis ______________
Row 3 ______________ 5
6 Riccardo Patrese
Nelson Piquet ______________
Row 4 ______________ 7
8 Eddie Cheever
Manfred Winkelhock ______________
Row 5 ______________ 9
10 Andrea de Cesaris
Derek Warwick ______________
Row 6 ______________ 11
12 Mauro Baldi
Bruno Giacomelli ______________
Row 7 ______________ 13
14 Keke Rosberg
Stefan Johansson ______________
Row 8 ______________ 15
16 Niki Lauda
Michele Alboreto ______________
Row 9 ______________ 17
18 Thierry Boutsen
Nigel Mansell ______________
Row 10 ______________ 19
20 Marc Surer
Jacques Laffite ______________
Row 11 ______________ 21
22 Roberto Guerrero
Raul Boesel ______________
Row 12 ______________ 23
24 Danny Sullivan
John Watson ______________
Row 13 ______________ 25
26 Jean-Pierre Jarier
Piercarlo Ghinzani ______________

Race[]

No changes were made to the grid order before the race, with many asking if René Arnoux could do as had done in Canada a month before and win without any major challenge. Williams, meanwhile were closely analysing the performance of Spirit Racing, hoping that the engine that Honda had built for them lasted the distance, or was at least competitive in the time that it ran. All would be revealed when the lights went out at the start of the race.

Report[]

Arnoux got away cleanly, but was beaten into the first corner by team mate Patrick Tambay before the pair opened a small lead over the rest, with Elio de Angelis barely making it round the first lap with a distributor failure.[2] Alain Prost sat in third followed by Riccardo Patrese, with Eddie Cheever beating Nelson Piquet off the line, while the Brazilian slipped down the order.[2]

Cheever's race came to an end on lap three, with Stefan Johansson's Honda engine shredding the belt to the fuel pump ending his race on lap six.[2] Patrese was the next of the leaders to fall, a turbo issue ending his BMW engine, promoting Andrea de Cesaris and Manfred Winkelhock into fifth and sixth.[2] The momentum, however, was with the two title contenders: Prost and Piquet, whom were slowly catching the Ferraris.[2]

On lap 14, Prost was on the gearbox of Arnoux, and duly grabbed second from his former team mate before setting off after Tambay.[2] Piquent man-handled the Brabham around the scarlet car five laps later, as Prost came up to the back of Tambay.[2] As the Frenchmen came up to the line to start lap 20, Prost moved to overtake the number 27 Ferrari, taking the lead after a swift manoeuvre into Becketts.[2]

Eleven laps later, Piquet moved into second with Tambay struggling on his tyres, although the pitstops did little to recover his lead, with the order unchanged.[2] The only man to move up was Nigel Mansell, whom pitted late and emerged in fifth, despite starting in eighteenth.[2] On lap 48, as Raul Boesel came in to retired his Ligier with a suspension issue, Mansell made his moved on Arnoux, taking fourth place from the second Ferrari.[2] For the next 19 laps, Mansell chased down Tambay to give the home crowd a podium.[2]

Time, and pace, were against him, however, as the Brit in the Lotus 94T missed out on the podium by a matter of seconds.[2] Prost took victory with ease, having never been challenged by Piquet since the latter had passed Tambay, while Tambay himself completed the podium.[2] Arnoux was left in a visibily disappointing fifth, while a late charge by Niki Lauda gave him sixth place, after de Cesaris began to struggle with tyre wear (also losing out to team mate Mauro Baldi).[2]

Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 15 France Alain Prost Renault 67 1:24:39.780 3 9
2 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 67 +19.161s 6 6
3 27 France Patrick Tambay Ferrari 67 +26.246s 2 4
4 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Lotus-Renault 67 +38.952s 18 3
5 28 France René Arnoux Ferrari 67 +58.874s 1 2
6 8 Austria Niki Lauda McLaren-Ford Cosworth 66 +1 lap 15 1
7 23 Italy Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo 66 +1 lap 11
8 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 66 +1 lap 9
9 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford Cosworth 66 +1 lap 24
10 25 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Ford Cosworth 65 +2 laps 25
11 1 Finland Keke Rosberg Williams-Ford Cosworth 65 +2 laps 13
12 2 France Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford Cosworth 65 +2 laps 20
13 3 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 65 +2 laps 16
14 4 United States Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 65 +2 laps 23
15 30 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Arrows-Ford Cosworth 65 +2 laps 17
16 33 Colombia Roberto Guerrero Theodore-Ford Cosworth 64 +3 laps 21
17 29 Switzerland Marc Surer Arrows-Ford Cosworth 64 +3 laps 19
Ret 9 Germany Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW 49 Engine 8
Ret 26 Brazil Raul Boesel Ligier-Ford Cosworth 48 Suspension 22
Ret 32 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo 46 Fuel 16
Ret 35 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 27 Gearbox 10
Ret 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 9 Turbo 5
Ret 40 Sweden Stefan Johansson Spirit-Honda 5 Fuel 14
Ret 16 United States Eddie Cheever Renault 3 Engine 7
Ret 36 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart 3 Turbo 12
Ret 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1 Distributor 4

Milestones[]

Standings after race[]

Victory for Prost now meant he held a six point lead over Piquet leaving Britain, while Patrick Tambay remained in contention in third, eight behind. A poor weekend for Keke Rosberg, well off the pace in every session, meant he failed to score at all, leaving him fourteen points behind, while Arnoux's disappointing display left him six behind the Finn in fifth.

Prost's victory also allowed Renault to pull three clear of Ferrari in the Constructor's battle, while Piquet's second place closed the gap between Williams and Brabham to two points. Niki Lauda's late charge ensured that McLaren continued to score points, but they were continuing to fall back from the others, leaving their home race six points behind Brabham.

1983 Drivers' World Championship
Pos. Driver Pts
1 France Alain Prost 39
2 Brazil Nelson Piquet 33
3 France Patrick Tambay 31
4 Finland Keke Rosberg 25
5 France René Arnoux 19

Only the top 5 drivers are displayed.

1983 Constructors' World Championship
Pos. Team Pts
1 France Renault 53
2 Italy Ferrari 50
3 United Kingdom Williams-Ford Cosworth 35
4 United Kingdom Brabham-BMW 33
5 United Kingdom McLaren-Ford Cosworth 27

Only the top 5 constructors are displayed.

References[]

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V T E 1983 Formula One Season
Teams Williams • Tyrrell • Brabham • McLaren • ATS • Lotus • Renault • RAM • Alfa Romeo • Ligier • Ferrari • Arrows • Osella • Theodore • Toleman • Spirit
Engines Alfa Romeo • BMW • Ferrari • Ford • Hart • Honda • Renault • TAG
Drivers alphabetically Acheson • Alboreto • De Angelis • Arnoux • Baldi • Boesel • Boutsen • Cecotto • De Cesaris • Cheever • Fabi • Ghinzani • Giacomelli • Guerrero • Jarier • Johansson • Jones • Laffite • Lauda • Mansell • Palmer • Patrese • Piquet • Prost • Rosberg • Salazar • Schlesser • Serra • Sullivan • Surer • Tambay • Villeneuve • Warwick • Watson • Winkelhock
Drivers by number Rosberg • 2 Laffite • 42 Palmer • 3 Alboreto • 4 Sullivan • 5 Piquet • 6 Patrese • 7 Watson • 8 Lauda • 9 Winkelhock • 11 De Angelis • 12 Mansell • 15 Prost • 16 Cheever • 17 Salazar • 17 Villeneuve • 17 Acheson • 18 Schlesser • 22 De Cesaris • 23 Baldi • 25 Jarier • 26 Boesel • 27 Tambay • 28 Arnoux • 29 Surer • 30 Serra • 30 Jones • 30 Boutsen • 31 Fabi • 32 Ghinzani • 33 Guerrero • 34 Cecotto • 35 Warwick • 36 Giacomelli • 40 Johansson
Cars Ferrari 126C2B • Ferrari 126C3 • Renault RE30C • Renault RE40 • Brabham BT52 • Brabham BT52B • Williams FW08C • Williams FW09 • McLaren MP4/1C • McLaren MP4/1E • Alfa Romeo 183T • Tyrrell 011B • Tyrrell 012 • Lotus 92 • Lotus 93T • Lotus 94T • Toleman TG183 • Arrows A6 • Theodore N183 • Ligier JS21 • Spirit 201 • ATS D6 • Osella FA1D • Osella FA1E • RAM 01
Tyres Goodyear • Michelin • Pirelli
Races Brazil • U.S. West • France • San Marino • Monaco • Belgium • Detroit • Canada • Britain • Germany • Austria • Netherlands • Italy • Europe • South Africa
Non-championship races Race of Champions
See also 1982 Formula One Season • 1984 Formula One Season • Category
V T E United Kingdom British Grand Prix
Circuits Brooklands (1926 - 1927), Silverstone (1948 - Present), Aintree (1955 - 1962), Brands Hatch (1963 - 1986)
SilverstoneArena2010
Races 195019511952195319541955195619571958195919601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Non-Championship Races 1926192719481949
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