1984 Formula One World Championship

The 1984 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 38th season of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1984 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1984 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers , both of which commenced on 25 March and ended on 21 October after sixteen races.

In the Drivers' Championship, McLaren teammates Alain Prost and Niki Lauda enjoyed a season-long duel. Prost won seven races to equal Jim Clark 's record from 1963 , over Lauda's five, but the Austrian eventually prevailed by half a point – the smallest margin in Formula One history. It was Lauda's third title, but his first since 1977 . [ 1 ] Reigning champion Nelson Piquet finished fifth in the championship.

Brabham , Renault and Ferrari were the expected frontrunners, but it was McLaren who clinched the Constructors' Championship with a then-record margin. The combination of their talented drivers, the aerodynamics of the John Barnard -designed MP4/2 and the experience of engine supplier Porsche with fuel economy made them almost unbeatable, winning twelve of the sixteen Grands Prix. It was their first title since 1974 . [ 1 ]

As of 2024 [update] , this is the last championship for an Austrian Formula One driver . It is also the last time that the Drivers' Champion did not score a pole position during the season. Only Denny Hulme managed this earlier in 1967 . This is also the last Formula One season to feature 3 tyre suppliers.

There was a clear trend of manufacturers switching from naturally aspirated engines to turbocharged engines , attracted by their power output :

The teams were careful in their approach, running the old and new cars simultaneously, before finally stepping over to turbo.

The FISA introduced fuel economy rules aimed at reducing speeds: [ 8 ] [ 9 ]

A superlicence was now required for all F1 drivers. [ 9 ] [ 8 ]

Concrete walls could replace guardrails . [ 9 ] [ 8 ]

Most of the Formula One seasons in the 1980s started at the sweltering tropical heat and humidity of the Jacarepagua Riocentro Autodrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A 10-day test followed by the Grand Prix often was the case. In addition to a frantic start, drivers had to deal with people running across the track with the cars bearing down on those people; Briton Derek Warwick in the French factory Renault led until an incident with Niki Lauda led to suspension failure; Frenchman Alain Prost won ...

The South African Grand Prix was held traditionally at the fast and flowing Kyalami circuit near the high-altitude city of Johannesburg. During the race morning warm up session, Piercarlo Ghinzani had a massive accident at the fastest corner on the track, the Jukskei sweeping uphill left hander. As a result of the full fuel load in his Osella, a huge fire started which completely consumed the car, though Ghinzani escaped with only minor burns to his hands. However, it was enough for him to be wi...

Brazilian Nelson Piquet qualified on pole position, with Prost 2nd. The latter, however, had to start from the pit lane due to problems with his car (Prost was able to race the spare car after ignition problem with Lauda's McLaren was solved, as the Ghinzani crash allowed McLaren extra time to fix it. If not for the crash Lauda would have had the spare and Prost would not have driven). Although the Brabhams with their highly powerful BMW turbo engines proved to be very quick on this circuit, the...

The Belgian Grand Prix was previously held at the revised Spa-Francorchamps circuit ; for this year, however, it returned to the forested Zolder circuit further north. This race saw a fighting drive from Keke Rosberg, who was driving an ill-handling Williams with a Honda engine that was unbalancing the car. Ferrari's new Italian recruit Michele Alboreto won this race from Warwick and Frenchman Rene Arnoux, driving the second Ferrari. Both McLarens failed to finish. This would be the last time th...

The San Marino Grand Prix at the Autodromo Dino Ferrari in Italy was held one week after the Belgian race. Defending champion Piquet, proving yet again his Brabham's superiority on light fuel loads took pole position again. Amazingly, Senna did not qualify for the race after many problems with his uncompetitive Toleman, the only time in his F1 career in which he would fail to qualify. Piquet however retired in the race with another turbo failure, and Fabi retired on the same lap with the same pr...

The French Grand Prix, usually run in late June/early July was run in May at the very fast Dijon-Prenois circuit. Patrick Tambay took pole in his Renault; he finished 2nd to Niki Lauda in a McLaren that was superior to all other cars at this short circuit that was made up of long, fast corners. This would be the last time the French Grand Prix was held at the Dijon circuit; the cars were lapping in the 1 minute 2 second range during qualifying. The FIA stipulated that any lap during a Formula On...

The Monaco Grand Prix was the only Grand Prix in 1984 to be run in wet conditions. Qualifying saw Briton Martin Brundle crashing his Tyrrell at the Tabac corner, as his car overturned and landed on its left side. Brundle was uninjured, and took the spare car to qualify. In the race day, the circuit was flooded by rain, as never before in Monaco since the 1930s and the 1972 event. The organizers decided to cover the tunnel section with water, because of the dramatic difference between the very we...

The Canadian race at the public road Gilles Villeneuve circuit on a man-made island in the St. Lawrence River 's passageway through the center of Montreal was won by Nelson Piquet, who was finally able to actually finish a race this season after chronic unreliability with his Brabham. Piquet won ahead of Lauda and Prost; the latter had to deal a misfire in his TAG-Porsche turbocharged engine.

The first of two rounds in the United States was held on an angular street circuit in the Ford and General Motors home city of Detroit , Michigan . The race was moved 2 weeks forward to late June, suffering a considerable temperature difference. It was very hot come race-day, and the track — which was already unpopular with drivers and as it was to do in subsequent Grand Prix in Detroit — was largely broken up. Nelson Piquet took pole position again; every driver who obtained pole position that ...

Nelson Piquet won again on a circuit where engine power was not as important as other things, and Martin Brundle compounded this with his naturally aspirated engined Tyrrell: Detroit was one of the few circuits where his underpowered car could actually finish in the points and be competitive. Thanks to the immediate power response of the naturally aspirated Ford-Cosworth V8 DFY in the Tyrrell, compared to the delayed power response of the turbocharged engines (all of which had more than 200 more...

Soon after the podium ceremony, word arrived that the officials had found impurities in the water injection system on Brundle's Tyrrell 012 and lead balls in the rubber bag containing the water. Samples of the water were shipped to France and Texas for analysis and found to contain significant levels of hydrocarbons. Team boss Ken Tyrrell was called to a meeting of the FISA Executive Committee on July 18 and, based on the impurities in the water, which had been topped up during a pit stop, was a...

The Formula One circus moved some 1,500 km (932.1 mi) south to a whole new location in the United States (to which it would never return), for the Dallas Grand Prix at the Fair Park circuit in Dallas, Texas. This race effectively replaced the United States Grand Prix West in Long Beach, California, which was held in April and was taken over by CART IndyCar racing. This race had already been controversial for being held in the intense 38 °C (100 °F) average heat and humidity of a Texas July summe...

Nigel Mansell put his Lotus on pole position, the first of his career, with his teammate de Angelis alongside him in second. Martin Brundle yet again crashed severely and injured his ankles; he did not take part in the race. On race day, there was an American Trans-Am support race that left the track with huge holes in the track scattered everywhere. Shelby and the organizers were able to briefly fix these holes barely 45 minutes after the race was due to start, with Prost and Lauda leading prot...

As expected, the track broke up at the point that the cars had to line up behind each other even when right near each other to avoid the strewn gravel- which if the cars got on top of, they would slip and slide (with nearly the same effect as driving on ice) and most likely crash at the tight and extremely demanding Fair Park circuit. Mansell held off several challenges from Warwick, who got onto the marbles (strewn gravel) and crashed into a tire barrier- and also challenges from de Angelis, Pr...

Only 7 of the 26 cars entered finished the race, one more finisher than Detroit. Mansell, one lap down in 6th place, suffered gearbox failure right before the finish, deciding to push his broken black Lotus across the line in the Dallas heat in his black overalls. While doing this, he collapsed and fainted due to exhaustion. He was given 6th place because the 7th and 8th-place finishers were 2 laps behind Mansell.

Although race organiser Dallas Grand Prix of Texas Inc. had agreed to hold five annual races at Fair Park, the company wound up insolvent after the 1984 race amidst an investigation into alleged embezzlement, and the future races were cancelled when the company failed to pay the 1985 front money. [ 11 ] [ 12 ] Another major factor leading to the cancellation was opposition from the nearby, populous Fair Park neighborhood, which was majority Black and low-income; citing noise and traffic concerns...

Formula One returned to Europe after the attrition-filled North American tour. The Brands Hatch circuit, just outside London in southeastern England, played host to this year's British Grand Prix, alternating with Silverstone every two years.

During this time, the Tyrrell team had undergone a difficult period due to the fuel irregularities involving the re-filling of water tanks and the insertion of lead shot balls in the fuel tanks, in order to meet the minimum weight rules. In an unprecedented move that has not been repeated since, the FIA decided to ban the Tyrrell team from every future Grand Prix that season and strip the small English team of all its championship points on the grounds of cheating; team owner/operator Ken Tyrrel...

Toleman driver and multiple motorcycle Grand Prix champion Johnny Cecotto crashed heavily at the fast Westfield corner hitting the barriers there head-on; the Venezuelan broke both his legs and never raced in Formula One again. Piquet again qualified on pole position, with Prost and Lauda 2nd and 3rd. This race was run as two parts: the first race saw a massive accident at the Bottom Bend left hand sweeping corner (otherwise known as Graham Hill corner); Riccardo Patrese (Alfa Romeo) tried to pa...

After the race restarted, Prost retired with gearbox failure, Piquet pitted and lost a lap on the leaders. So victory went to Niki Lauda. Warwick finished 2nd and Ayrton Senna finished 3rd in the Toleman, which was better suited to faster tracks with long corners like Brands Hatch than it was to slow and tight circuits.

The very fast Hockenheim circuit in West Germany- the longest circuit of the year once again played host to the historic German Grand Prix. Surprisingly at this power circuit, Prost qualified his McLaren on pole position showing the benefits of a good car set up, and took the race victory ahead of Lauda and Warwick. Piquet retired yet again- this time with gearbox problems. The first part of the race saw a stirring drive from Senna- he was as high as 6th in his uncompetitive Toleman- but then hi...

The Austrian Grand Prix, held at the Österreichring at Zeltweg near Graz since 1970, played host to the 15th Austrian Grand Prix and the 400th Formula One Grand Prix. The Österreichring was the fastest circuit of the year (this was the case when Silverstone was not on the calendar). Pole-sitter Piquet took the lead and led for most of the race distance. After the Renault engine in Elio de Angelis's Lotus failed and littered the racing line at the very fast Jochen Rindt Kurve with slippery oil, t...

The spectacular beach-side Zandvoort circuit half an hour west of Amsterdam was the traditionally long-time host of the Dutch Grand Prix. This race was a McLaren 1–2 with Prost winning in front of Lauda with the Lotus duo Mansell and de Angelis finishing 3rd and 4th, respectively. It was at this race where McLaren secured the Manufacturers' Championship. The result also saw that only de Angelis had a mathematical chance of beating either Lauda or Prost to the Drivers' Championship.

The Italian Grand Prix took place in early September at the Monza Autodrome near Milan. This race saw Prost retire after an updated spec. TAG-Porsche engine in his car failed early. Lauda, who was suffering the effects of a sore back, won from Italians Michele Alboreto and Riccardo Patrese who inherited the third place when his teammate Eddie Cheever ran out of fuel in his Alfa Romeo. This would prove to be the last F1 podium achieved by Alfa Romeo. Nelson Piquet led early before retiring with e...

As the race went on, there was an accident at the start involving Senna and Rosberg; both were out at the first corner; and Prost won this race unchallenged from Alboreto, pole-sitter Piquet and Lauda, who qualified 15th. This meant that Prost's victory meant that he still stood a chance to win his first Drivers' Championship; Lauda led the points tally with 3.5 points.

The first Portuguese Grand Prix since 1960 was held at the updated Estoril circuit near the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. McLaren had claimed the Constructors' Championship in Italy, after winning 11 of the 15 races in the season, including the last 6 Grands Prix. Prost qualified 2nd alongside Piquet, who collected his 9th pole of the season, while Lauda was 11th on the grid. Lauda climbed up to 3rd after passing Ayrton Senna, who had qualified 3rd in a Toleman. Piquet had fallen away, so P...

Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers. For the Drivers' Championship, the best eleven results were counted, while, for the Constructors' Championship, all rounds were counted.

No driver classified in more than eleven points-scoring positions, so no drop-rounds applied for this season. Points were awarded in the following system:

† Half points were awarded at the Monaco Grand Prix as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed. * Neither Gartner nor Berger were eligible for points, as they were driving the respective "second entries" of Osella and ATS and both teams had officially entered only one car for the entire championship.