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The 1983 United States Grand Prix West was the second race of the 1983 Formula One Season.[1] John Watson claimed a memorable win, while the grid was surprised by the return of Alan Jones, racing for the first time since 1981.


Background[]

Nelson Piquet led the championship coming into the United States, with the paddock arriving at Long Beach for the final time.[2] The circuit had had modifications made to it once more, with the pitlane now on Shoreline Drive, and Ocean Blvd. no longer included on the circuit.

The entry list had remained unchanged in between Brazil and Long Beach, at least until Arrows had announced they had obtained the services of former champion Alan Jones.[1] They had gambled on the Aussie (whom came out of retirement just for the race) after failing to attract any sponsors over the winter, running completely white cars in Brazil.[1] For Jones, it would be the first race he had competed in since the 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix.


Entry List[]

The full entry list for the 1983 United States Grand Prix West 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 BT52 BMW M12/13 L4t 1.5 M
6 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Fila Sport Brabham BT52 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 93T Renault EF1 V6t 1.5 P
12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom John Player Team Lotus Lotus 92 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 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 RE30C Renault EF1 V6t 1.5 M
17 Chile Eliseo Salazar 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 126C2B 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 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Arrows Racing Team Arrows A6 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 G
31 Italy Corrado Fabi Italy Osella Squadra Corse Osella FA1D Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 M
32 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Italy Osella Squadra Corse Osella FA1D Ford Cosworth DFV V8 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

Practice Overview[]

Practice revealed that the new layout had problems, particularly where old circuit met new.[2] This was most noticable on the exit of Seaside Way, where two bumps were so severe that many teams felt their cars would suffer suspension failure during the race.[2] René Arnoux was the first to brave the bumps, setting a time good enough for provisional pole before the main qualifying session.[2]

The bumps were flattened overnight to reduce their impact on the cars.[2]

Qualifying[]

The reduced bumpiness of the circuit allowed Patrick Tambay to take pole position over his team mate, beating Arnoux by eight tenths.[1] Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite gave Williams a second row lock out, while Elio de Angelis was the best of the Renault powered cars in fifth.[1] Alain Prost debuted the new Renault RE40, although his pace was hampered by his Michelin tyres, a fate shared by all of those supplied by the French tyre manufacturer.[1]

Alan Jones pushed the Arrows into twelfth position in qualifying, while Roberto Guerrero had his best time disallowed for having a loose piece of body work.[1] It was a bad day for Osella , as both Corrado Fabi and Piercarlo Ghinzani were eliminated during qualifying.[1] McLaren were also in trouble, with Watson and Niki Lauda well down in 22nd and 23rd places respectively.[1]

Qualifying Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time[2]
Q1 Q2
1 27 France Patrick Tambay Ferrari 1:28.598 1:26.117
2 28 FranceRené Arnoux Ferrari 1:26.935 1:27.628
3 1 Finland Keke Rosberg Williams-Ford Cosworth 1:29.577 1:27.145
4 2 France Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford Cosworth 1:30.529 1:27.818
5 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:31.624 1:27.982
6 35 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart No Time 1:28.130
7 3 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 1:29.066 1:28.425
8 15 France Alain Prost Renault 1:28.558 1:29.765
9 4 United States Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 1:31.271 1:28.833
10 25 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Ford Cosworth 1:29.600 1:28.913
11 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 1:28.958 1:29.467
12 30 Australia Alan Jones Arrows-Ford Cosworth 1:30.451 1:29.112
13 12 United Kingdom NIgel Mansell Lotus-Ford Cosworth 1:31.728 1:29.167
14 36 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart No Time 1:29.266
15 16 United States Eddie Cheever Renault 1:30.597 1:29.422
16 29 Switzerland Marc Surer Arrows-Ford Cosworth 1:30.067 1:29.521
17 34 Venezuela Johnny Cecotto Theodore-Ford Cosworth 1:29.559 1:30.258
18 33 Colombia Roberto Guerrero Theodore-Ford Cosworth 1:29.585 1:28.528*
19 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 1:33.336 1:29.603
20 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:30.173 1:30.034
21 23 Italy Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo 1:31.924 1:30.070
22 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford Cosworth 1:32.439 1:30.100
23 8 Austria Niki Lauda McLaren-Ford Cosworth 1:30.262 1:30.188
24 9 Germany Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW 1:31.599 1:30.220
25 17 Chile Eliseo Salazar RAM-Ford Cosworth 1:32.597 1:31.126
26 26 Brazil Raul Boesel Ligier-Ford Cosworth 1:31.759 1:31.765
DNQ 31 Italy Corrado Fabi Osella-Ford Cosworth 1:33.869 1:31.901
DNQ 32 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford Cosworth No TIme 1:32.182
Bold indicates a driver's fastest time

* Guerrero's time was disallowed due to damaged bodywork.[1]

Race[]

Before the race rumours emerged that the 1983 Long Beach Grand Prix would be the last, although the man behind the event, Chris Pook, refused to comment until after the race.[2] Grid-wise, there were no changes before the race.

Report[]

The race got under way with Rosberg immediately passing Arnoux off the line (sliding into the Frenchman through the torque of the Cosworth engine), before attempting to take Tambay later in the lap.[1] Arnoux, meanwhile fell to fifth over the remainder of the lap, while Riccardo Patrese jumped to sixth off the line.[1] By the second lap, however, Rosberg had a spin (fortunate not to tap the wall) and fell behind his team mate Jacques Laffite.[1] It was not long, however, before Rosberg was back up to second.[1]

Derek Warwick was the first of the leaders to fall, a spin causing too much damage to the cooling system of the Hart engined Toleman.[3] At the front, meanwhile, Rosberg was all over the back of Tambay, the Williams not suffering from the turbo lag that plagued the Ferrari.[3] Behind them, Jean-Pierre Jarier had climbed into the top six, taking Patrese quickly.[3] Jarier then locked up going into the next corner, sliding into the front of Michele Alboreto, causing Alboreto to pit and allowing Patrese into fourth.[3]

The battle for the lead was then decided by Rosberg, who had a forced his way up the inside of Tambay going into the hairpin.[3] Rosberg slammed on the brakes in an attempt to make the corner, although Tambay drove across the front of the Finn, launching the Ferrari into the air.[3] Tambay retired there and then, with Rosberg seemingly unaffected, until he pulled off with suspension damage.[3] The lead was handed to Laffite, although the initative was with the charging McLarens.[3]

Although they had qualified 22nd and 23rd, and shod with Michelin tyres, Niki Lauda and John Watson had worked together to get into the points, and by the time of the Tambay/Rosberg incident were only 20 seconds behind.[2] Lauda had got the better start and led the pair through the field, until Watson used his skill in overtaking to take his Austrian team mate on lap 33.[3] Lauda then stuck onto the wing of Watson, as they drew in the leaders.[1] On lap 44, Watson and Lauda both slid past Patrese at the hairpin, and then were on the back of Laffite.[1] A feint by Watson gave him the lead on the 45th lap at the hairpin, with Lauda soon battling past the Williams for second.[1]

Watson and Lauda streaked away at the front, as Laffite fell away, falling behind Patrese soon after.[3] Eddie Cheever and Arnoux had an exciting duel for a time, with Cheever giving room to Arnoux when needed.[3] The pair came across the slowing Laffite, with Arnoux using the tow of both cars to take fourth, with Cheever also getting past the Williams for sixth.[1] Cheever then gave Arnoux a taste of his own medicine by taking fourth from the Ferrari, before again defending from the Ferrari.[3]

Cheever then suffered a gear box failure just 7 laps from the end, while Patrese developed a fault on his distributor, costing him a significant amount of time each lap.[1] Their demise (although Patrese continued) promoted Laffite back to fourth, Marc Surer (whose team mate Jones retired with fatigue on lap 59) into fifth and the young Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto into sixth.[3] At the front, however, Watson proved unstoppable, taking his fifth and final victory ahead of Lauda and Arnoux.[1]

Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford Cosworth 75 1:53:34.889 22 9
2 8 Austria Niki Lauda McLaren-Ford Cosworth 75 +27.993 23 6
3 28 FranceRené Arnoux Ferrari 75 +1:13.638 2 4
4 2 France Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford Cosworth 74 +1 lap 4 3
5 29 Switzerland Marc Surer Arrows-Ford Cosworth 74 +1 lap 16 2
6 34 Venezuela Johnny Cecotto Theodore-Ford Cosworth 74 +1 lap 17 1
7 26 Brazil Raul Boesel Ligier-Ford Cosworth 73 +2 laps 26
8 4 United States Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 73 +2 laps 9
9 3 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 73 +2 laps 7
10 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 72 Distributor 11
11 15 France Alain Prost Renault 72 +3 laps 8
12 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford Cosworth 72 +3 laps 13
13 16 United States Eddie Cheever* Renault 67 Gearbox 15
Ret 30 Australia Alan Jones Arrows-Ford Cosworth 58 Fatigue 12
Ret 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 51 Throttle 20
Ret 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 48 Gearbox 19
Ret 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 29 Handling 5
Ret 33 Colombia Roberto Guerrero Theodore-Ford Cosworth 27 Gearbox 18
Ret 25 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Ford Cosworth 26 Accident 10
Ret 36 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart 26 Battery 14
Ret 23 Italy Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo 26 Spin 21
Ret 27 France Patrick Tambay Ferrari 25 Accident 1
Ret 1 Finland Keke Rosberg Williams-Ford Cosworth 25 Accident 3
Ret 17 Chile Eliseo Salazar RAM-Ford Cosworth 25 Gearbox 25
Ret 35 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 11 Spin 6
Ret 9 Germany Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW 3 Spin 24

* Cheever retired but was still classified for completing more the 90% of the race distance.

Milestones[]

Standings after race[]

1983 Drivers' World Championship
Pos. Driver Pts
1 Austria Niki Lauda 10
2= Brazil Nelson Piquet 9
2= United Kingdom John Watson 9
4 France Jacques Laffite 6
5 France Rene Arnoux 4

Only the top 5 drivers are displayed.

1983 Constructors' World Championship
Pos. Team Pts
1 United Kingdom McLaren-Ford Cosworth 19
2 United Kingdom Brabham-BMW 9
3= Italy Ferrari 6
3= United Kingdom Williams-Ford Cosworth 6
5 United Kingdom Arrows-Ford Cosworth 3

Only the top 5 constructors are displayed.

References[]

v·d·e Nominate this page for Featured Article
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
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