The 1985 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Zandvoort on 25 August 1985. It was the eleventh round of the 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship and the 34th World Championship Grand Prix to be held in the Netherlands. The race was held over 70 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 298 kilometres. The race also proved to be the 25th and final Grand Prix victory for triple World Champion Niki Lauda, driving a McLaren-TAG. Lauda's teammate Alain Prost was second, with Brazilian racer Ayrton Senna third in his Lotus-Renault. However, it was also to be the last Dutch Grand Prix for 36 years. It was planned to be re-introduced in 2020, on a revised Zandvoort circuit, however the re-introduction was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which would be eventually cancelled. The first race back at Zandvoort eventually turned out to be in 2021, won by Max Verstappen, the nation's first World Champion.

It was also the last Grand Prix for West German Stefan Bellof, who was killed the following week at the 1000 km of Spa World Sportscar race.

Race summary

Renault's Patrick Tambay, who qualified sixth, had a huge crash at nearly in the Sunday morning warm-up following a suspension failure on the start-finish straight. Tambay escaped shaken but unhurt, and took the start in the spare car.

Nelson Piquet recorded his first and only pole position of the season, averaging , the first for tyre manufacturer Pirelli. However, he stalled his Brabham at the start and was eventually push-started, almost a lap behind the leaders. He eventually finished eighth.

Niki Lauda took his 25th and final Grand Prix win in his McLaren-TAG. His teammate Alain Prost finished second, only 0.232 seconds behind; the two had diced for the lead over the final twelve laps of the race. Ayrton Senna continued his late-season charge by finishing third in his Lotus, albeit 48 seconds behind the McLarens; he finished just ahead of Prost's Drivers' Championship rival Michele Alboreto in the Ferrari. Senna's teammate Elio de Angelis was fifth, with Williams's Nigel Mansell taking the final point for sixth.

Following his car destroying crash at the previous race in Austria, this was also the last time Andrea de Cesaris appeared in a Ligier. It would in fact be the Italian's last race of the season.

Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 7 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:11.074 — 2 6 Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:11.647 +0.573 3 2 Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:11.801 1:29.507 +0.727 4 12 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 1:11.837 +0.763 5 19 Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 1:12.310 +1.236 6 15 Patrick Tambay Renault 1:12.486 +1.412 7 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:12.614 1:32.740 +1.540 8 18 Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 1:12.746 +1.672 9 8 Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 1:12.856 +1.782 10 1 Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 1:13.059 +1.985 11 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:13.078 1:30.123 +2.004 12 16 Derek Warwick Renault 1:13.289 +2.215 13 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 1:13.435 1:28.393 +2.361 14 17 Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 1:13.680 1:34.857 +2.606 15 20 Piercarlo Ghinzani Toleman-Hart 1:13.705 +2.631 16 27 Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:13.725 +2.651 17 28 Stefan Johansson Ferrari 1:13.768 1:32.544 +2.694 18 25 Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault 1:13.797 1:34.638 +2.723 19 22 Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 1:14.240 +3.166 20 23 Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 1:14.912 1:32.572 +3.838 21 3 Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 1:14.920 1:32.003 +3.846 22 4 Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Renault 1:15.236 +4.162 23 30 Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed 1:16.257 1:34.316 +5.183 24 29 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:17.919 1:38.227 +6.845 25 10 Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 1:18.525 1:36.270 +7.451 26 24 Huub Rothengatter Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:19.410 1:38.149 +8.336 9 Kenny Acheson RAM-Hart 1:20.429 +9.355

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 70 1:32:29.263 10 9 2 2 Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 70 + 0.232 3 6 3 12 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 70 + 48.491 4 4 4 27 Michele Alboreto Ferrari 70 + 48.837 16 3 5 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 69 + 1 lap 11 2 6 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 69 + 1 lap 7 1 7 3 Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault 69 + 1 lap 21   8 7 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 69 + 1 lap 1   9 17 Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 68 + 2 laps 14   10 8 Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 65 Exhaust 9   24 Huub Rothengatter Osella-Alfa Romeo 56 + 14 laps 26   18 Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 54 Suspension 8   9 Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 52 Engine 25   4 Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Renault 39 Engine 22   16 Derek Warwick Renault 27 Gearbox 12   25 Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault 25 Turbo 18   15 Patrick Tambay Renault 22 Transmission 6   6 Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 20 Engine 2   19 Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 18 Wheel bearing 5   26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 17 Electrical 13   30 Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed 13 Oil pressure 23   20 Piercarlo Ghinzani Toleman-Hart 12 Engine 15   28 Stefan Johansson Ferrari 9 Engine 17   29 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 1 Accident 24   23 Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 1 Turbo 20   22 Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 1 Turbo 19  

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 56 2 Michele Alboreto 53 3 Elio de Angelis 30 4 Ayrton Senna 19 5 Stefan Johansson 19Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 75 2 McLaren-TAG 70 3 Lotus-Renault 49 4 Williams-Honda 25 5 Brabham-BMW 15Source:

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

References

External links

Grand Prix Archives Video