1983 French Grand Prix

The 1983 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on April 17, 1983.

1983 French Grand Prix
Race 3 of 15 in the 1983 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date April 17, 1983
Location Paul Ricard Circuit
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.810[1] km (3.610 mi)
Distance 54 laps, 313.740[1] km (194.949 mi)
Weather Dry, grey and cool[1]
Pole position
Driver
Renault
Time 1:36.672
Fastest lap
Driver Alain Prost Renault
Time 1:42.695 on lap 34
Podium
First
Renault
Second
Brabham-BMW
Third
Renault

French driver Alain Prost won the race for the Renault team, and this was the French marque's 3rd French Grand Prix win in a row and the 4th in 5 seasons. Second was the Brabham-BMW of 1981 World Champion Nelson Piquet, with Prost's Renault teammate Eddie Cheever finishing third. Rounding out the points finishers were Patrick Tambay in his Ferrari, and the non-turbo Williamses of Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite. This was the final time that both Renault cars started on the front row until the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix, when young Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli started on the front row.

Summary

Qualifying

On home soil, Renault dominated the French Grand Prix. Alain Prost took pole position 2.3 seconds faster than second placed teammate Eddie Cheever. On the fast Circuit Paul Ricard with its 1.8 km long Mistral Straight, turbo engines had a large advantage. The fastest normally-aspirated car was the 12th placed McLaren-Ford of Long Beach runner up Niki Lauda, qualifying some 4.3 seconds slower than pole-sitter Prost. After occupying the front row of the grid at Long Beach, Ferrari had difficulty with René Arnoux qualifying 4th and Tambay qualifying 11th.

Failing to qualify for the race were the RAM-Fords of Eliseo Salazar and debutante Jean-Louis Schlesser and the Osella of Piercarlo Ghinzani.

Race

As he had done in qualifying, Prost dominated the race for his first win in over 12 months, only losing the lead during the mid-race pit stops. Piquet finished second in the Brabham-BMW while Eddie Cheever finished 3rd in his Renault. Tambay managed to salvage what had been a tough weekend by finishing 4th with the Williams pair of Rosberg and Laffite finishing a lap down in 5th and 6th respectively.

Before the race, Lotus driver Nigel Mansell had had his toes accidentally run over by his own team pushing his car in the pits which caused him to need a pain killing injection. He bravely started the race but retired after just 6 laps when the pain of pushing the pedals became unbearable. Long Beach winner John Watson was the races first retirement on lap 3 with engine failure in his McLaren.

Classification

Qualifying
Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 15 Alain Prost Renault 1:38.358 1:36.672 —
2 16 Eddie Cheever Renault 1:38.980 1:39.785 +2.308
3 6 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 1:41.095 1:39.104 +2.432
4 28 René Arnoux Ferrari 1:40.027 1:39.115 +2.443
5 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:39.512 1:39.312 +2.640
6 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:39.601 1:39.746 +2.929
7 22 Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 1:38.099† 1:39.611 +2.939
8 23 Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo 1:41.215 1:39.618 +2.946
9 35 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:43.038 1:39.881 +3.209
10 9 Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW 1:40.233 1:44.997 +3.561
11 27 Patrick Tambay Ferrari 1:40.393 1:40.488 +3.721
12 8 Niki Lauda McLaren-Ford 1:41.065 1:41.492 +4.393
13 36 Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart 1:42.219 1:41.775 +5.103
14 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:41.838 1:42.448 +5.166
15 3 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1:42.177 1:43.317 +5.505
16 1 Keke Rosberg Williams-Ford 1:42.450 1:42.551 +5.778
17 34 Johnny Cecotto Theodore-Ford 1:43.552 1:42.615 +5.943
18 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 1:43.320 1:42.650 +5.978
19 2 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 1:43.295 1:42.678 +6.006
20 25 Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Ford 1:42.808 1:42.737 +6.065
21 29 Marc Surer Arrows-Ford 1:42.962 1:44.346 +6.290
22 33 Roberto Guerrero Theodore-Ford 1:43.367 1:43.602 +6.695
23 31 Corrado Fabi Osella-Ford 1:45.638 1:43.411 +6.739
24 4 Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Ford 1:44.317 1:43.654 +6.982
25 26 Raul Boesel Ligier-Ford 1:44.470 1:44.905 +7.798
26 30 Chico Serra Arrows-Ford 1:44.778 1:45.859 +8.106
27 17 Eliseo Salazar RAM-Ford 1:45.073 2:02.335 +8.401
28 32 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford 1:46.541 1:45.812 +9.140
29 18 Jean-Louis Schlesser RAM-Ford 1:45.866 1:46.102 +9.194
Source:[2][3][4][5]
  • † — Time disallowed

Race
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 15 Alain Prost Renault 54 1:34:13.913 1 9
2 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 54 + 29.720 6 6
3 16 Eddie Cheever Renault 54 + 40.232 2 4
4 27 Patrick Tambay Ferrari 54 + 1:06.880 11 3
5 1 Keke Rosberg Williams-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 16 2
6 2 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 19 1
7 28 René Arnoux Ferrari 53 + 1 Lap 4  
8 3 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 15  
9 25 Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 20  
10 29 Marc Surer Arrows-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 21  
11 34 Johnny Cecotto Theodore-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 17  
12 22 Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 50 + 4 Laps 7  
13 36 Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart 49 Gearbox 13  
Ret 26 Raul Boesel Ligier-Ford 47 Engine 25  
Ret 31 Corrado Fabi Osella-Ford 36 Engine 23  
Ret 9 Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW 36 Turbo 10  
Ret 8 Niki Lauda McLaren-Ford 29 Wheel bearing 12  
Ret 23 Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo 28 Spun Off 8  
Ret 30 Chico Serra Arrows-Ford 26 Gearbox 26  
Ret 33 Roberto Guerrero Theodore-Ford 23 Engine 22  
Ret 4 Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Ford 21 Clutch 24  
Ret 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 20 Electrical 5  
Ret 6 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 19 Water Leak 3  
Ret 35 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 14 Engine 9  
Ret 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 6 Physical 18  
Ret 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 3 Engine 14  
DNQ 17 Eliseo Salazar RAM-Ford  
DNQ 32 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford    
DNQ 18 Jean-Louis Schlesser RAM-Ford        
Source:[6]

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Trivia
  • Pole sitter Alain Prost was more than 2 seconds faster in qualifying than second placed Eddie Cheever.
  • The first Grand Prix front row start for Cheever
  • Ferrari blew 8 engines in practice.[8]

References
  1. "The French Grand Prix". MotorSport. May 1983. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  2. "69e Grand Prix de France de Formule 1 - QUALIFYING 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  3. "69e Grand Prix de France de Formule 1 - QUALIFYING 2". formula1.com. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  4. "69e Grand Prix de France de Formule 1 - OVERALL QUALIFYING". formula1.com. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  5. Hamilton, Maurice (1983). AUTOCOURSE 1983–84. Hazleton Publishing Ltd. p. 116. ISBN 0-905138-25-2.
  6. "1983 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  7. "France 1983 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  8. "Overtaking Maneuvers at France 83". YouTube. 2009-11-10. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
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1983 United States Grand Prix West		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1983 season		 Next race:
1983 San Marino Grand Prix
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1984 French Grand Prix
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