The 1983 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 37th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1983 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1983 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently over a fifteen-race series that commenced on 13 March and ended on 15 October.
Nelson Piquet, driving for Brabham, won the Drivers' Championship,1983 F1 World Championship for Drivers, 1984 FIA Yearbook, grey section, page 76 for the second time. Renault driver Alain Prost led the championship from the Belgian Grand Prix in May until the final race in South Africa, where he retired and enabled the Brazilian to snatch the title. It was the first title by a driver using a turbocharged engine and the last title by a Brabham driver. Piquet won the title despite his team only finishing third in the World Constructors Championship; he would be the last Drivers' Champion for a constructor that was placed third or lower until 2024.
Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship,1983 F1 Manufacturers World Championship, 1984 FIA Yearbook, grey section, page 77 despite neither of its drivers finishing in the top two positions of the Drivers' Championship with the Maranello team's highest placing driver, René Arnoux, finishing only third in the drivers' standings overall – a unique feat in Formula One history.
The season also included a non-championship Formula One race for the last time: the Race of Champions, held at Brands Hatch early April and won by defending World Champion Keke Rosberg. Brands Hatch would also host a championship round later that year under the European Grand Prix title, the first time that race title had been used as an official race title for a standalone championship event rather than being used as an honorary designation for pre-existing national Grands Prix as had been the case in previous seasons.
Drivers and constructors Avon exited as a tyre supplier after two seasons.
The following drivers and constructors contested the 1983 FIA Formula One World Championship. Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyres No Driver Rounds TAG Williams Team Williams-Ford FW08C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 1 Keke Rosberg 1–14 2 Jacques Laffite 1–14 42 Jonathan Palmer 14 Williams-Honda FW09 Honda RA163-E 1.5 V6 t 1 Keke Rosberg 15 2 Jacques Laffite 15 Benetton Tyrrell Team Tyrrell-Ford 011B012 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 3 Michele Alboreto All 4 Danny Sullivan All Fila Sport Brabham-BMW BT52BT52B BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t 5 Nelson Piquet All 6 Riccardo Patrese All Marlboro McLaren International Team McLaren-Ford MP4/1C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 7 John Watson 1–12 8 Niki Lauda 1–11 McLaren-TAG MP4/1E TAG TTE PO1 1.5 V6 t 7 John Watson 13–15 8 Niki Lauda 12–15 Team ATS ATS-BMW D6 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t 9 Manfred Winkelhock All John Player Special Team Lotus Lotus-Ford 92 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 11 Elio de Angelis 1 12 Nigel Mansell 1–8 Lotus-Renault 93T94T Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t 11 Elio de Angelis 2–15 12 Nigel Mansell 9–15 Équipe Renault Elf Renault RE30CRE40 Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t 15 Alain Prost All 16 Eddie Cheever All RAM Racing Team March RAM-Ford 01 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 17 Eliseo Salazar 1–6 Jacques Villeneuve Sr. 8 Kenny Acheson 9–15 18 Jean-Louis Schlesser 3 Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 183T Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 V8 t 22 Andrea de Cesaris All 23 Mauro Baldi All Équipe Ligier Gitanes Ligier-Ford JS21 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 25 Jean-Pierre Jarier All 26 Raul Boesel All Ferrari Ferrari 126C2B126C3 Ferrari 021 1.5 V6 t 27 Patrick Tambay All 28 René Arnoux All Arrows Racing Team Arrows-Ford A6 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 29 Marc Surer All 30 Chico Serra 1, 3–5 Alan Jones 2 Thierry Boutsen 6–15 Kelémata Osella Osella-Ford FA1D Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 31 Corrado Fabi 1–8 32 Piercarlo Ghinzani 1–3 Osella-Alfa Romeo FA1E Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12 31 Corrado Fabi 9–15 32 Piercarlo Ghinzani 4–15 Theodore Racing Team Theodore-Ford N183 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 33 Roberto Guerrero 1–14 34 Johnny Cecotto 1–13 Candy Toleman Motorsport Toleman-Hart TG183B Hart 415T 1.5 L4 t 35 Derek Warwick All 36 Bruno Giacomelli All Spirit Racing Spirit-Honda 201201C Honda RA163-E 1.5 V6 t 40 Stefan Johansson 9–14
Team changes Lotus would be without team founder Colin Chapman after the legendary team boss's sudden death from a heart attack on 16 December 1982 at the age of 54. Chapman's right-hand man Peter Warr took over as team manager. Fittipaldi closed its doors due to insufficient funds. Ensign was merged into the existing Theodore team. March Engineering had been building cars for RAM Racing from . From 1983 on, the chassis was labeled RAM and the March name was only seen in the official entry list. ATS switched from Ford-Cosworth V8s in 1982 to BMW 1.5 litre turbo engines for this season. Likewise, Alfa Romeo traded their V12 engine for freshly developed V8 turbos called the 890T. Ligier lost their Talbot sponsorship and, with that, the use of the Matra V12s. They managed to buy a supply of Cosworth V8 engines.
Mid-season changes
There was a clear trend of manufacturers switching from naturally aspirated engines to turbocharged engines, attracted by their power output. Most teams were careful in their approach, running the old and new cars simultaneously, before finally stepping over to turbo. After the opening race in Brazil, Lotus switched Elio de Angelis from the Ford-Cosworth V8 powered car to the Renault V6 turbo, the same as used by the factory Renault team. Nigel Mansell continued with the Cosworth powered car until the British Grand Prix. At the Dutch Grand Prix, McLaren went from Cosworth V8s to the Porsche built V6 TAG turbo engine for Niki Lauda while John Watson had to wait until the next race in Italy before he also got turbo power. The engine was labelled as the TAG turbo after sponsor Techniques d'Avant Garde. At the final round of the season in South Africa, Williams also made the switch from Cosworth V8s to Honda V6 turbos. Williams got exclusive use of the Honda engines at the expense of the Spirit team. Osella, too, stopped using Cosworth V8s, but then went a different way from their rivals: they bought one-year-old Alfa Romeo V12 engines. Spirit Racing debuted in Formula One with factory backing from Honda. They entered the 1982 European Formula Two Championship with Marlboro sponsorship and were immediately successful. Before the end of the year, they had developed a F1-ready chassis powered by a Honda turbo engine and begin a testing programme. The team's first championship race was the British Grand Prix with Swede Stefan Johansson at the wheel. The team lost their Honda engines to Williams before the final race of the season.
Driver changes
After four years with Renault, René Arnoux was attracted by Manufacturers' Champion Ferrari, as teammate to Patrick Tambay. Renault then signed Eddie Cheever from Ligier. Meanwhile, the other Ligier driver, Jacques Laffite, had moved to Williams. So the French team had to find a new driver pair: Jean-Pierre Jarier from Osella and Raul Boesel from March. Another eight driver changes happened in the lower-ranking teams.
Mid-season changes During the season, RAM put four different drivers in their car. Alan Jones came out of retirement for a one-time drive with Arrows instead of their driver Chico Serra. The Brazilian was definitely replaced when sportscar driver Thierry Boutsen paid to make his F1 debut at his home race and was allowed to finish the season. After one enthusiastic attempt in with Shadow, Stefan Johansson made his racing debut with Spirit, having driven for the team in Formula Two. As a 'thank you' from Williams's team leaders, Jonathan Palmer made his F1 debut in a third Williams car during his home race at Brands Hatch.
Calendar RoundGrand PrixCircuitDate 1 Brazilian Grand Prix Autodromo Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro 13 March 2 United States Grand Prix West Long Beach Street Circuit, California 27 March 3 French Grand Prix Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet 17 April 4 San Marino Grand Prix Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola 1 May 5 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 15 May 6 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot 22 May 7 Detroit Grand Prix Detroit Street Circuit, Michigan 5 June 8 Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal 12 June 9 British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 16 July 10 German Grand Prix Hockenheimring, Hockenheim 7 August 11 Austrian Grand Prix Österreichring, Spielberg 14 August 12 Dutch Grand Prix Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort 28 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 11 September 14 European Grand Prix Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown 25 September 15 South African Grand Prix Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand 15 October
Calendar changes Although the provisional calendar showed 18 Grands Prix, 15 were confirmed, one less than the year before. The South African Grand Prix was moved from season opener to be the season finale. The French Grand Prix was moved up from July to April. The Belgian Grand Prix was held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps instead of Circuit Zolder, as part of an agreement to alternate between the venues, and moved back on the schedule, after the Monaco Grand Prix. In similar fashion, this year's British Grand Prix was held at Silverstone instead of Brands Hatch. The latter venue stayed on the calendar under the guise of the European Grand Prix. The Dutch Grand Prix was moved back from early July to the end of August. The Swiss Grand Prix at Dijon-Prenois and Caesars Palace Grand Prix in Las Vegas were removed from the calendar.Autocourse 1983–84Grands Prix which were cancelled
The last ever non-championship Formula One race was held in 1983 with the Race of Champions held at Brands Hatch on 10 April between the United States Grand Prix West (Round 2) at Long Beach and the French Grand Prix (Round 3) at Paul Ricard.
Provisional calendar Organisers had been trying to let the Argentine Grand Prix return since . The race was scheduled for 30 January, but was later cancelled.David Hayhoe, Formula 1: The Knowledge records and trivia since 1950 – 2nd Edition, 2021, page 35. The Swiss Grand Prix had been scheduled for 10 July but the French broadcaster TF1 refused to screen the race having previously showed the French Grand Prix earlier in the season citing the expense of having to cover 2 races in the same season. Plans were made to host the Grand Prix of the Soviet Union in Moscow on 21 August, but these plans fell through due to bureaucratic barriers. A Grand Prix in New York City, to be held on a temporary circuit at Flushing Meadows in Queens, was scheduled for 25 September, but after certain problems, the event was cancelled and replaced by the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch which had hosted the non-championship Race of Champions earlier in the year. The Las Vegas Grand Prix was scheduled for October 9 but was cancelled https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196417143144?mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&siteid=3&mkcid=1&campid=5337134778&toolid=11800&mkevt=1&customid=01a0ef11-32f9-7a97-a3c6-a4753ec2582c
Regulation changes A major change in technical regulations mandated a flat undertray for the cars, with a complete ban on the ground effect technology pioneered by the Lotus 78 in ."Grand Prix Results: Brazilian GP, 1983". grandprix.com. Retrieved 12 June 2014. This was done to reduce downforce and cornering speeds, which were deemed to have reached dangerous levels in , a season in which several violent and fatal accidents occurred. Four-wheel drive was banned, as well as cars with more than four wheels. The minimum weight was set at . The red light at the back of the car should have a power of at least 21W.
Season report
Early season Race 1: Brazil