The 1983 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 15 October 1983. It was the fifteenth and final race of the 1983 Formula One season. The 77 lap race was won by Riccardo Patrese driving for Brabham. This would be Patrese's last win for nearly seven years until he won for Williams at the 1990 San Marino Grand Prix. This was also Williams' first race with the new Honda turbo engine.
He won ahead of Andrea de Cesaris and Nelson Piquet, with the latter scoring enough points to overtake Alain Prost in the standings to become world champion for the second time in his career by just two points. This was also the first title decider occurring in South Africa in 21 years.
Background Championship permutations At the preceding 1983 European Grand Prix, runner-up Nelson Piquet outscored championship leader Alain Prost by three points after winning the race, meaning that three drivers were still in a position to win the World Drivers' Championship: Alain Prost (Renault) led the championship with 57 points, followed by Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW) with 55 and René Arnoux (Ferrari) with 49. It was the first time in two years that Formula One saw a three-way-fight for the title and the fourth consecutive season with the championship battle going down to the wire, with Piquet in his second title fight in three years after he became victorious two years prior and his subsequent underwhelming title defense at the infamous 1982 season. While both Prost and Arnoux had the opportunity to win their respective maiden title and to become France's first ever Formula One World Champion, Piquet would have equalized Emerson Fittipaldi's record of two world championship titles as Brazil's most successful driver by that metric, if he won the title. Piquet also would have become the second driver in succession after Keke Rosberg to win the Drivers' Championship by driving for a team that finished third or lower in the Constructors' Championship.
The championship would have been won by either of the top three drivers in the following manner:
Prost would have won if: Alain Prost Nelson Piquet René Arnoux1stAny position Any position2nd3rd or lower3rd2nd or lower4th or 5th3rd or lower6th4th or lower 2nd or lowerlower than 6th5th or lower
Piquet would have won if: Nelson Piquet Alain Prost René Arnoux1stAny position Any position2nd4th or lower3rd6th or lower4th7th or lower2nd or lower
Arnoux would have won if: René Arnoux Alain Prost Nelson Piquet1st6th or lower4th or lower
Ferrari and Renault were also fighting for the Constructor's Championship Ferrari (89pts) needed either To score 5pts or better 4th, or 5th and 6th, or higher, with the Renaults 1st and 3rd or lower 5th or better, with the Renaults 1st and 4th or lower 6th or better, with the Renaults 1st and 5th or lower The Renaults scoring fewer than 11pts Renault (78pts) needed either 1st and 2nd with the Ferraris scoring fewer than 5pts 1st and 3rd with the Ferraris scoring fewer than 3pts 1st and 4th with the Ferraris 6th or lower 1st and 5th with the Ferraris 7th or lower.
Race summary Piquet qualified second, behind Patrick Tambay (Ferrari) in pole position and ahead of Riccardo Patrese (Brabham), Arnoux and Prost in third, fourth and fifth. At the start Piquet passed Tambay to take the lead, with Patrese moving into second place. Arnoux retired with engine failure on lap 9. Prost fought his way up to third place, but he also retired on lap 35 with turbo failure. Needing only to finish fourth or higher, Piquet slowed and was overtaken by Patrese, Niki Lauda (McLaren) and Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo). Lauda's engine failed on lap 71. The race finished with Patrese in first place, de Cesaris in second and Piquet in third, and Piquet won the championship by two points. Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship despite not finishing in the points in the last race for the second consecutive year. John Watson, completing his last full Formula One season, was disqualified for overtaking other cars on the parade lap. This was also the last F1 race for Jean-Pierre Jarier.
Classification
Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 27 Patrick Tambay Ferrari1:06.5541:07.029 — 2 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW1:06.7921:06.821 +0.238 3 6 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW1:08.1811:07.001 +0.447 4 28 René Arnoux Ferrari1:07.2221:07.105 +0.551 5 15 Alain Prost Renault1:07.1861:08.136 +0.632 6 1 Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda1:07.2561:07.344 +0.702 7 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Renault1:09.4431:07.643 +1.089 8 9 Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW1:07.7261:07.682 +1.128 9 22 Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo1:08.9701:07.759 +1.205 10 2 Jacques Laffite Williams-Honda1:07.9311:08.652 +1.377 11 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault1:07.9371:07.980 +1.383 12 8 Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG1:07.9741:08.587 +1.420 13 35 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart1:08.0611:08.301 +1.507 14 16 Eddie Cheever Renault1:08.0691:08.360 +1.515 15 7 John Watson McLaren-TAG1:08.3281:10.635 +1.774 16 36 Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart1:08.3501:08.439 +1.796 17 23 Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo1:09.3641:08.628 +2.074 18 3 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford1:11.0961:11.284 +4.542 19 4 Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Ford1:11.7501:11.382 +4.828 20 30 Thierry Boutsen Arrows-Ford1:11.9881:11.658 +5.104 21 25 Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Ford1:12.0171:12.538 +5.463 22 29 Marc Surer Arrows-Ford1:12.3091:12.049 +5.495 23 26 Raul Boesel Ligier-Ford1:12.7451:13.330 +6.191 24 17 Kenny Acheson RAM-Ford1:13.352 no time +6.798 25 31 Corrado Fabi Osella-Alfa Romeo1:14.4831:13.656 +7.102 26 32 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo1:14.9031:15.503 +8.349Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 6 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 77 1:33:25.708 3 9 2 22 Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 77 + 9.319 9 6 3 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 77 + 21.969 2 4 4 35 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 76 + 1 Lap 13 3 5 1 Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 76 + 1 Lap 6 2 6 16 Eddie Cheever Renault 76 + 1 Lap 14 1 7 4 Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Ford 75 + 2 Laps 19 8 29 Marc Surer Arrows-Ford 75 + 2 Laps 22 9 30 Thierry Boutsen Arrows-Ford 74 + 3 Laps 20 10 25 Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Ford 73 + 4 Laps 21 11 8 Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 71 Electrical 12 12 17 Kenny Acheson RAM-Ford 71 + 6 Laps 24 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Renault 68 + 9 Laps 7 26 Raul Boesel Ligier-Ford 66 + 11 Laps 23 3 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 60 Engine 18 27 Patrick Tambay Ferrari 56 Turbo 1 36 Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart 56 Turbo 16 15 Alain Prost Renault 35 Turbo 5 31 Corrado Fabi Osella-Alfa Romeo 28 Engine 25 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 20 Engine 11 7 John Watson McLaren-TAG 18 Overtaking on Formation Lap 15 28 René Arnoux Ferrari 9 Engine 4 23 Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo 5 Engine 17 9 Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW 1 Engine 8 2 Jacques Laffite Williams-Honda 1 Spun Off 10 32 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo 1 Engine 26 Source:
Championship standings after the race Bold text indicates the World Champions.
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Nelson Piquet 59 2 Alain Prost 57 3 René Arnoux 49 4 Patrick Tambay 40 5 Keke Rosberg 27Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 89 2 Renault 79 3 Brabham-BMW 72 4 Williams-Ford 36 5 McLaren-Ford 34Source:
References
External links 1983 South African Grand Prix at Grandprix.com