Report
Until the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix , this was the last World Championship Grand Prix to be held on a Saturday,; it also was the last World Championship Grand Prix where laurel wreaths were given to the drivers at the podium. The event was boycotted by two teams, Ligier and Renault , owing to mounting international pressures against tolerating the country's system of apartheid. A state of emergency had been declared by the South African government in July due to growing civil u...
Race
Finland and Sweden held similar reservations regarding Finn Keke Rosberg and Swede Stefan Johansson competing. Sweden's National Automobile Federation had announced Johansson could not race in South Africa before the event, but he did race. Multiple sponsors also ordered teams to remove their branding from cars they backed, most notably Marlboro and Beatrice Foods . The latter held an equity interest in the single car Haas Lola team. While Alan Jones qualified 18th for that team, his car was not on the starting grid. Officially Jones cited illness as to why he did not race, but it was widely rumored at the time that Beatrice ordered the team to boycott. In 2017, Jones described a meeting with Bernie Ecclestone the night before the race, who suggested that Jones feign illness the next morning and not show up. Ecclestone described how Beatrice were unde... It was the final South African Grand Prix until apartheid ended, with FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre announcing days after the race that the Grand Prix would not return to the nation for 1986 because of apartheid. Even without the political pressures, this might well have been the final Formula One race held at Kyalami in its then form: FISA had long since deemed that circuits where lap times were under 60 seconds were considered too small for Grand Prix racing and with car speeds incr...
Qualifying
The South African Grand Prix would only return in 1992 , after apartheid ended, in a new configuration of the Kyalami circuit. Mansell would also win the 1992 race driving a Williams, albeit with a naturally-aspirated Renault engine. Pole position went to Nigel Mansell, averaging 236.898 km/h (147.201 mph).
Race Result
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 75 | 1:28:22.866 |
| 2 | 6 | Keke Rosberg | Williams-Honda | 75 | + 7.572 |
| 3 | 2 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 74 | + 1 Lap |
| 4 | 28 | Stefan Johansson | Ferrari | 74 | + 1 Lap |
| 5 | 17 | Gerhard Berger | Arrows-BMW | 74 | + 1 Lap |
| 6 | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 74 | + 1 Lap |
| 7 | 3 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell-Renault | 73 | + 2 Laps |
| Ret | 11 | Elio de Angelis | Lotus-Renault | 52 | Engine |
| Ret | 29 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 45 | Radiator |
| Ret | 1 | Niki Lauda | McLaren-TAG | 37 | Turbo |
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 1:03.188 | 1:02.366 |
| 2 | 7 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-BMW | 1:03.844 | 1:02.490 |
| 3 | 6 | Keke Rosberg | Williams-Honda | 1:03.073 | 1:02.504 |
| 4 | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Renault | 1:04.517 | 1:02.825 |
| 5 | 8 | Marc Surer | Brabham-BMW | 1:05.411 | 1:04.088 |
| 6 | 11 | Elio de Angelis | Lotus-Renault | 1:04.611 | 1:04.129 |
| 7 | 19 | Teo Fabi | Toleman-Hart | 1:06.083 | 1:04.215 |
| 8 | 1 | Niki Lauda | McLaren-TAG | 1:05.357 | 1:04.283 |
| 9 | 2 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 1:05.757 | 1:04.376 |
| 10 | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 1:05.079 | 1:04.518 |
Championship Standings After This Race
The Paddock Breakdown
Barry · Gary · KatGary — 33 · Three Fantasy F1 leagues
The air hangs thick with more than just exhaust fumes here at Kyalami. Ligier's withdrawal – a calculated move, I suspect – isn't just about apartheid; it's about a simmering dispute over Honda's engine mapping data, leaked whispers suggest. Mansell's Williams, a potent 1. 0-liter V12, a testament to the Italian team's continued dominance in outright power. This isn't a sporting boycott, not entirely; it's a boardroom brawl playing out on track.
The air hangs thick with more than just exhaust fumes here in Kyalami. Let's be blunt: McLaren's dominance isn't just about engine power; TAG's numbers reveal a deliberate, almost surgical, strategy. Mansell took the flag, yes, but consider this – he secured pole for the *second* time this season, mirroring Alain Prost's lead at the Monaco Grand Prix. A curious echo, wouldn't you agree?
Kat — 30 · Technical journalist
The rain hadn't stopped, of course. Not truly. It was a greasy, insistent curtain falling over the whole affair, mirroring the mood around the Williams garage. Mansell, predictably, wasn't celebrating. His mechanics were already dissecting the gearbox, a familiar ritual when victory's scent was tainted with the stench of protest. Ligier, predictably, hadn't shown. The French team's absence was a statement, wasn't it? A carefully constructed silence about the world outside Kyalami's damp confines. Let's be honest, the whole thing was a theatre, wasn't it? A performance for an audience of one – the world.
The rain hadn't bothered Mansell, not a drop. He'd been muttering to himself about the "bloody politics" during the warm-up, a low rumble of frustration that seemed to vibrate through the Williams car itself. Heard he'd had a particularly heated exchange with Harvey Post, the Honda boss, about the "moral implications" of racing here. Post's insistence on maintaining a relationship with the South African government was clearly grating on Mansell's nerves – a man driven by speed, suddenly burdened by something far more complicated. Ligier, predictably, stayed away, but the air around the paddock was thick with the unspoken accusations and simmering resentment. A strange victory for Mansell, wouldn't you agree?