1985 Formula One World Championship

The 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 39th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1985 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1985 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, both of which commenced on 7 April and ended on 3 November after sixteen races.

The Drivers' Championship was won by Alain Prost . [ 1 ] After finishing two years as runner-up, both times winning more races than the champion, he was able to clinch the title this year sealing his success at the European Grand Prix . It would be first of four championships for "the Professor". Michele Alboreto was his main challenger, but he failed to score points in all of the last five races of the season.

The Constructors' Championship was won by McLaren for the second consecutive year. [ 1 ]

Reigning champion Niki Lauda retired after this season, although team boss Ron Dennis tried to convince him otherwise.

After eight years, Michelin had withdrawn from the sport, leaving Pirelli and Goodyear as tyre suppliers for 1985.

Équipe Ligier Gitanes

All chassis would now have to pass a frontal crash test before the manufacturer was eligible to enter it for a Grand Prix. [ 8 ] [ 9 ]

From this season on, the FIA required that teams enter no more than two cars for a race. [ citation needed ] Renault did enter three cars for the German Grand Prix , so only two of their cars were eligible for championship points. Interestingly, the third car was driven by François Hesnault , who had an onboard camera mounted to the car, showing live pictures for the first time in Formula 1 history. [ 10 ] This was the last time a team entered more than two cars.

The first race of the season was the Brazilian Grand Prix in April, at the Autodromo De Jacarepagua in Rio de Janeiro. Michele Alboreto took pole in his Ferrari ahead of Keke Rosberg in a Williams-Honda and the two Lotuses of Ayrton Senna and Elio de Angelis. Rosberg retired with turbo failure, and McLaren-TAG/Porsche driver Alain Prost took 2nd after taking advantage of an accident involving Briton Nigel Mansell at the start. Prost chased Alboreto during the first half, unable to pass because o...

The 4½-month-long European tour started with the news that Ferrari driver René Arnoux had been sacked and replaced by Swede Stefan Johansson. No official explanation has ever been given by either Ferrari or Arnoux for the dismissal. [ citation needed ] The Portuguese Grand Prix was held at the Estoril Circuit near the capital of Lisbon. Although the practice sessions were held in good weather, it rained heavily for the race. Conditions were extremely difficult, and Ayrton Senna drove a race ofte...

The first of two Italian races was held at the fast Autodromo Dino Ferrari near Bologna. Ayrton Senna took pole again, and led until the final laps when his car ran out of fuel. The lead was taken by Stefan Johansson, who had started 15th and then dropped to 17th, but he too ran out of fuel after an electronics failure. Prost then took the lead, and barely made it over the finish line after having also run out of fuel. Prost was later disqualified for his car being underweight, and victory was h...

The Monaco Grand Prix was originally supposed to be cancelled due to political wrangling, but it took place as scheduled. After pole-sitter Senna went out with engine problems, Alboreto took the lead, followed by Prost. Alboreto then slid on some oil at the first corner which had been dropped from the gearbox of Riccardo Patrese's Alfa Romeo after a collision with Nelson Piquet's Brabham-BMW. Prost took the lead after Alboreto's slip-up, but the Italian took the lead again from the Frenchman at ...

The slowest and toughest race of the year was in the United States, at the angular Renaissance Center street circuit in the center of downtown Detroit, Michigan. Ayrton Senna took pole, 1.2 seconds ahead of the next fastest qualifier, Nigel Mansell. The Lotus combined with Senna's raw driving talent proved to be well-suited to slow tracks, and Senna decided to take a chance by using harder tires than the rest of the field and try to go a greater distance. The Detroit Grand Prix, classic for bein...

F1 returned to Europe to start the second European tour with the French Grand Prix at the very fast Circuit Paul Ricard with its long 1.1 mile Mistral straight. Keke Rosberg took pole position, averaging more than 140 mph. He was ahead of Senna, Alboreto, Prost and Nelson Piquet. The weather was hot, and after gaining places at the start, double world champion Piquet made the most of his BMW engine's superior power (this engine was the most powerful in F1 at the time) and Pirelli tires. After mo...

During qualifying, the turbocharged Brabham - BMW of Marc Surer reached a season-fastest 338 km/h (210 mph) on the Mistral Straight. This compared to the fastest (and only) non-turbo car, the Tyrrell - Ford V8 of Stefan Bellof who was recorded at 277 km/h (172 mph).

F1 went to England for the British Grand Prix, this year being held at Silverstone , which was the fastest Grand Prix circuit in the world at the time. Rosberg outlined this by averaging 160.9 mph in qualifying – more than 7 mph faster than the pole time set for the 1983 British GP. Senna, after starting 4th, took the lead at the start. He led for most of the race distance, after Rosberg and others fell out with mechanical trouble. Prost had dropped back early on to save fuel, and then climbed t...

The German Grand Prix 1985 was held at the Nürburgring instead of the Hockenheimring like in previous years, although instead of the historic Nordschleife being used, the new GP track was utilized for the second time in Formula 1 history after being the European Grand Prix in 1984. After Senna and Rosberg collided while being harried by Alboreto, Prost and Jacques Laffite in a Ligier-Renault, Alboreto in his Ferrari took advantage of a rare spin by Prost to take his last F1 victory. This event w...

The extremely fast Österreichring was the venue for the Austrian Grand Prix, which was dominated by McLaren drivers Prost and Lauda. Prost took pole at an average speed of more than 155 mph (250 km/h). The McLaren car was superior to all the others on this track, and after Lauda fell out with turbo failure, Prost took victory ahead of Senna and Alboreto. Ligier-Renault driver Andrea de Cesaris crashed heavily after making a mistake and losing his car at the Texaco bends, but emerged unscathed, t...

The beach-side Circuit Park Zandvoort near Amsterdam hosted the Dutch Grand Prix . After pole-sitter Piquet stalled at the start, Rosberg took the lead, but the McLarens were to show their high-speed circuit superiority once again: after Rosberg retired with engine failure, Prost took the lead, ahead of Senna and Lauda. Lauda eventually passed the Brazilian, and took the lead from Prost while the Frenchman was in the pits. With a car that was not entirely set up to his liking, Lauda won by a car...

The Italian Grand Prix at the very fast Autodromo Nazionale di Monza saw Williams-Honda driver Rosberg dominate the race, but he retired with engine failure, and Prost took victory, ahead of Brazilians Piquet and pole-sitter Senna.

The rescheduled Belgian Grand Prix returned to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps , a track relished by drivers, even in the wet. Niki Lauda crashed his McLaren in practice, and injured his wrist; he would not take part in this weekend or the upcoming European GP. Prost took pole ahead of Senna, but Senna took an immediate lead into La Source, ahead of Piquet and Prost. Piquet then spun, and Senna started to break away. The race began in wet conditions but later dried. After most of the drivers ch...

Senna led from pole position and was followed by Rosberg. Going into Surtees, Rosberg tried to get past Senna, but Senna took his line forcefully and Rosberg spun to avoid contact. Piquet hit Rosberg and retired, but Rosberg was able to get to the pits and returned to the track right in front of Senna who was then being harried by Mansell. Rosberg then held Senna up whilst going into Surtees, which enabled Mansell to overtake into the lead.

Mansell led the rest of the race distance, while Marc Surer in a Brabham-BMW got up to 2nd, but retired at Stirling's corner after a fire broke out on the back of his car. Meanwhile, Alboreto's car failed and caught fire; he drove it back to the Ferrari pit while still in flames. Prost dropped to 15th at the start, but finished in 4th, which was enough for him to become world Drivers' Champion for the first time. He finished behind Mansell, Senna, and Rosberg.

The South African Grand Prix, held at the very fast Kyalami circuit, had been a point of contention throughout the year: South Africa's Apartheid regime had declared a state of emergency, and controversy ensued throughout the year whether this race would take place or not. Governing body president Jean-Marie Balestre announced that the race would take place despite opposition from Renault and Ligier teams, who pulled out due to pressure from the French government. With only 20 cars starting, Ni...

The first ever world championship Australian Grand Prix was held on a street circuit in the city of Adelaide . Senna took his seventh pole position of the season by some margin on his superior-handling Lotus-Renault. However, he lost the lead to Lauda after a delayed pit stop. Lauda and Senna battled hard, and Senna eventually took the lead. Lauda crashed on the main straight due to brake failure in what was his last Grand Prix. Senna, retired with a misfiring engine, leaving Rosberg to win ahea...

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.

Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:

† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Only drivers who scored points were classified by the FIA in the final championship results. [ 1 ]

Only manufacturers that scored points were classified by the FIA in the final championship results. [ 1 ]