1985 Detroit Grand Prix

The 1985 Detroit Grand Prix, otherwise known as the Detroit Grand Prix IV was the sixth race of the 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship, held on the 23 June 1985 on the Detroit Street Circuit.^[1] The race was won by Keke Rosberg in a Williams-Honda, almost a minute ahead of the Ferrari duo of Stefan Johansson and Michele Alboreto.^[1]

Regardless, the entry would be the same as it had been a week earlier in Canada, and would see Lotus-Renault claim pole position for the fifth straight race.^[1] This time it was Ayrton Senna who topped the time sheets, with Nigel Mansell in the #5 Williams-Honda alongside.^[1]

Senna would subsequently ace his start to sprint into the lead on raceday, while an equally impressive getaway saw Rosberg leap from fifth to second before the first corner.^[1] The rest of the field would thunder into the first corner behind Mansell, while Championship leader Alboreto dropped out of the top six after a sluggish getaway.^[1]

The opening laps suggested that the race would be dictated by tyres, with Senna's early pace soon deteriorating.^[1] That allowed Rosberg to pass with little resistance on lap eight, prompting Senna to pit at the end of the lap for fresher, and harder, Goodyears.^[1]

That left the two Williams-Hondas running one-two, while Alboreto moved through to third with an aggressive recovery drive.^[1] Yet, a few laps after moving into the top three the Italian would begin to suffer from tyre grip and wear concerns, allowing Elio de Angelis to sneak through to third.^[1]

A spin for Mansell on lap twenty would promote Alboreto back onto the podium, while de Angelis tried to catch the now out-of-sight Rosberg.^[1] Mansell, meanwhile, would rejoin just ahead of Stefan Johansson, but soon fell behind the Swede as his tyres continued to struggle.^[1]

Indeed, Mansell only lasted a few laps more until his race was ended by a spin, following Alain Prost's exit a few laps earlier.^[1] Alboreto, meanwhile, would lose more and more pace with his wearing tyres and so slipped down the order, with Martin Brundle in the lowly Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth briefly running in third after de Angelis abandoned second for a new nose after contact with a backmarker.^[1]

Unfortunately for Brundle he would be unable to escape Alboreto's attentions when the Italian finally found some pace, with the Ferrari easing past the Tyrrell without much issue.^[1] Indeed, Brundle's glory run was to come to an end a few laps later when he smacked into Philippe Alliot, promoting teammate Stefan Bellof into fourth.^[1]

The race looked to be settled from the that point, although Rosberg almost lost the lead when he pitted on lap 50 to have his radiators cleared.^[1] Yet, he would manage to rejoin ahead of second placed Johansson and duly blasted clear, leaving the Swede in a relatively lonely second.^[1]

With that the race was largely done, barring a late accident for Senna as he tried to challenge Alboreto for third, only to put himself into the wall.^[1] Regardless, Rosberg swept home to claim a comfortable victory from Johansson and Alboreto, with Bellof, de Angelis and Nelson Piquet claiming the remaining points.^[1]

BackgroundEdit

The Detroit Grand Prix of 1985 would be heralded by news of Ford agreeing to supply a new American entry with engines, namely the incoming Lola squad.^[1] This new engine was to be turbocharged, with Ford again commissioning Cosworth to develop the engine as a replacement for the now out-dated DFV.^[1] Indeed, while Ford had been heavily linked with the Zakspeed project, and had even reportedly supplied an L4 engine block, the American manufacturer were still reluctant to fully commit to an F1 project themselves, citing how expensive racing in F1 had become.^[2]

Into the Championship, and victory in Canada had propelled Michele Alboreto back into the lead, the Italian ace having moved five points clear of Alain Prost in second. Indeed, for the second weekend in succession the Frenchman had ended the afternoon level on points with the driver in third, Elio de Angelis, but was considered to be ahead having picked up two wins. A significant twelve point gap then separated them from fourth placed Patrick Tambay, while Ayrton Senna had remained in fifth.

In the Constructors Championship Ferrari had dethroned Lotus-Renault in Canada, with the Scuderia's one-two in Montreal leaving them on 37 points. The Norfolk based squad, meanwhile, had moved onto 31 points, keeping them six ahead of defending Champions McLaren-TAG Porsche in third. Elsewhere Renault had held station in fourth and Williams-Honda had moved into fifth, with eight of F1's sixteen registered teams on the score board.

Entry ListEdit

The full entry list for the 1985 Detroit Grand Prix is outlined below:

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
1	Niki Lauda	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren	MP4/2B	TAG Porsche	TTE PO1 1.5 V6t	G
2	Alain Prost	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren	MP4/2B	TAG Porsche	TTE PO1 1.5 V6t	G
3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell Racing Organisation	Tyrrell	012	Ford Cosworth	DFY 3.0 V8	G
4	Stefan Bellof	Tyrrell Racing Organisation	Tyrrell	012	Ford Cosworth	DFY 3.0 V8	G
5	Nigel Mansell	Canon Williams Honda Team	Williams	FW10	Honda	RA165E 1.5 V6t	G
6	Keke Rosberg	Canon Williams Honda Team	Williams	FW10	Honda	RA165E 1.5 V6t	G
7	Nelson Piquet	Motor Racing Developments Ltd.	Brabham	BT54	BMW	M12/13 1.5 L4t	P
8	Marc Surer	Motor Racing Developments Ltd.	Brabham	BT54	BMW	M12/13 1.5 L4t	P
9	Manfred Winkelhock	Skoal Bandit F1 Team	RAM	03	Hart	415T 1.5 L4t	P
10	Philippe Alliot	Skoal Bandit F1 Team	RAM	03	Hart	415T 1.5 L4t	P
11	Elio de Angelis	John Player Special Team Lotus	Lotus	97T	Renault	EF4 1.5 V6t	G
12	Ayrton Senna	John Player Special Team Lotus	Lotus	97T	Renault	EF4 1.5 V6t	G
15	Patrick Tambay	Equipe Renault Elf	Renault	RE60	Renault	EF4B 1.5 V6t	G
16	Derek Warwick	Equipe Renault Elf	Renault	RE60	Renault	EF4B 1.5 V6t	G
17	Gerhard Berger	Barclay Arrows BMW	Arrows	A8	BMW	M12/13 1.5 L4t	G
18	Thierry Boutsen	Barclay Arrows BMW	Arrows	A8	BMW	M12/13 1.5 L4t	G
19	Teo Fabi	Toleman Group Motorsport	Toleman	TG185	Hart	415T 1.5 L4t	P
21	Allen Berg	Spirit Enterprises Ltd.	Spirit	101D	Hart	415T 1.5 L4t	P
22	Riccardo Patrese	Benetton Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo	185T	Alfa Romeo	890T 1.5 V8t	G
23	Eddie Cheever	Benetton Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo	185T	Alfa Romeo	890T 1.5 V8t	G
24	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella Squadra Corse	Osella	FA1F	Alfa Romeo	890T 1.5 V8t	P
25	Andrea de Cesaris	Equipe Ligier Gitanes	Ligier	JS25	Renault	EF4B 1.5 V6t	P
26	Jacques Laffite	Equipe Ligier Gitanes	Ligier	JS25	Renault	EF4B 1.5 V6t	P
27	Michele Alboreto	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari	156/85	Ferrari	031 1.5 V6t	G
28	Stefan Johansson	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari	156/85	Ferrari	031 1.5 V6t	G
29	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Team SpA	Minardi	M185	Motori Moderni	615-90 1.5 V6t	P
Source:[3]

Practice OverviewEdit

QualifyingEdit

Friday QualifyingEdit

Saturday QualifyingEdit

Qualifying ResultsEdit

The full qualifying results for the 1985 Detroit Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time		Gap
				Q1	Q2
1	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	1:42.051	—	—
2	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	1:43.249	—	+1.198s
3	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:43.748	—	+1.697s
4	2	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG Porsche	1:44.088	—	+2.037s
5	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda	1:44.156	—	+2.105s
6	16	Derek Warwick	Renault	1:44.163	—	+2.112s
7	23	Eddie Cheever	Alfa Romeo	1:44.231	2:05.540	+2.180s
8	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	1:44.769	—	+2.718s
9	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	1:44.921	—	+2.870s
10	7	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	1:45.194	—	+3.143s
11	8	Marc Surer	Brabham-BMW	1:45.979	—	+3.928s
12	1	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG Porsche	1:46.266	—	+4.215s
13	19	Teo Fabi	Toleman-Hart	1:46.546	—	+4.495s
14	22	Riccardo Patrese	Alfa Romeo	1:46.592	—	+4.541s
15	15	Patrick Tambay	Renault	1:47.028	—	+4.977s
16	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	1:47.267	—	+5.216s
17	25	Andrea de Cesaris	Ligier-Renault	1:47.393	2:12.268	+5.342s
18	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth	1:47.563	—	+5.512s
19	4	Stefan Bellof	Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth	1:47.911	—	+5.860s
20	9	Manfred Winkelhock	RAM-Hart	1:47.926	—	+5.875s
21	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	1:48.023	—	+5.978s
22	24	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:48.546	2:11.268	+6.495s
23	10	Philippe Alliot	RAM-Hart	1:50.455	2:24.814	+8.404s
24	17	Gerhard Berger	Arrows-BMW	—	2:05.387	+23.336s
25	29	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	3:04.446	—	+1:22.395
WD*	21	Allen Berg	Spirit-Hart	Withdrawn
Source:[4][5][6]

• ^T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
• Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
• * Berg's entry was withdrawn after an issue with his registration.^[7]

GridEdit

RaceEdit

ReportEdit

ResultsEdit

The full results for the 1985 Detroit Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda	63	1:55:39.851	5	9
2	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	63	+ 57.549s	9	6
3	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	63	+ 1:03.170	3	4
4	4	Stefan Bellof	Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth	63	+ 1:06.225	19	3
5	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	63	+ 1:26.966	8	2
6	7	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	62	+ 1 Lap	10	1
7	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	62	+ 1 Lap	21
8	8	Marc Surer	Brabham-BMW	62	+ 1 Lap	11
9	23	Eddie Cheever	Alfa Romeo	61	+ 2 Laps	7
10	25	Andrea de Cesaris	Ligier-Renault	61	+ 2 Laps	17
11	17	Gerhard Berger	Arrows-BMW	60	+ 3 Laps	24
12	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	58	+ 5 Laps	16
Ret	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	51	Accident	1
Ret	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth	30	Collision	18
Ret	10	Philippe Alliot	RAM-Hart	27	Collision	23
Ret	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	26	Accident	2
Ret	2	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG Porsche	19	Brakes	4
Ret	22	Riccardo Patrese	Alfa Romeo	19	Electrical	14
Ret	16	Derek Warwick	Renault	18	Transmission	6
Ret	15	Patrick Tambay	Renault	15	Accident	15
Ret	29	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	11	Engine	25
Ret	1	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG Porsche	10	Brakes	12
Ret	19	Teo Fabi	Toleman-Hart	4	Clutch	13
Ret	9	Manfred Winkelhock	RAM-Hart	3	Turbo	20
Ret	24	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	0	Accident	22
WD	21	Allen Berg	Spirit-Hart
Source:[7]

• ^T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.

MilestonesEdit

• Alfa Romeo made their 100th Grand Prix start as a constructor.^[2]
• Nelson Piquet made his 100th start.^[2]
• Hart competed at their 50th Grand Prix.^[2]
• 200th race entry for Castrol as a lubricant supplier.^[8]
• Fourth career victory for Keke Rosberg.^[2]
• Williams secured their nineteenth victory.^[2]
  • Engine partners Honda claimed their fourth triumph.^[2]
• Elio de Angelis set a new record for most career fifth place finishes - 13.^[8]

StandingsEdit

Michele Alboreto retained the lead in the Championship as a result of the Detroit Grand Prix, and even managed to grow his advantage to seven points. Elio de Angelis, meanwhile, had moved into a clear second ahead of Alain Prost, while Stefan Johansson moved into fourth after his second second place in two races. Keke Rosberg, meanwhile, would leap into the top five after claiming victory, while double World Champion Nelson Piquet was finally on the board, albeit down in sixteenth.

In the Constructors' Championship it was still Ferrari who led the charge, ending the weekend on 47 points. Indeed, the Scuderia had managed to extend their lead over Lotus-Renault with a double podium finish, opening a fourteen point gap between themselves and their Norfolk based challengers. Behind, McLaren-TAG Porsche had retained third ahead of Williams-Honda, while Brabham-BMW appeared at the foot of the scorers' list in ninth.

World Championship for Drivers Pos. Driver Pts. +/- 1 Michele Alboreto 31 — 2 Elio de Angelis 24 ▲1 3 Alain Prost 22 ▼1 4 Stefan Johansson 13 ▲2 5 Keke Rosberg 12 ▲4 6 Patrick Tambay 10 ▼2 7 Ayrton Senna 9 ▼2 8 Thierry Boutsen 6 ▼1 9 Nigel Mansell 5 ▼1 10 Stefan Bellof 4 ▲5 11 Niki Lauda 3 ▼1 12 Andrea de Cesaris 3 ▼1 13 René Arnoux 3 ▼1 14 Derek Warwick 2 ▼1 15 Jacques Laffite 2 ▼1 16 Nelson Piquet 1 —

World Championship for Manufacturers Pos. Team Pts. +/- 1 Ferrari 47 — 2 Lotus-Renault 33 — 3 McLaren-TAG Porsche 25 — 4 Williams-Honda 17 ▲1 5 Renault 12 ▼1 6 Arrows-BMW 6 — 7 Ligier-Renault 5 — 8 Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 4 — 9 Brabham-BMW 1 —

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

ReferencesEdit

Images and Videos:

References:

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