1984 European Grand Prix

  1984 European Grand Prix

Race details
Race 15 of 16 in the 1984 Formula One season
Date	October 7, 1984
Official name	XXXVI Großer Preis von Europa
Location	Nürburgring, Nürburg, West Germany
Course	Permanent Racing Facility
Course length	4.542 km (2.822 mi)
Distance	67 laps, 304.114 km (188.967 mi)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW
Time	1:18.871
Fastest lap
Drivers	Nelson Piquet (lap 62)	Brabham-BMW
Fastest lap	Michele Alboreto (lap 62)	Ferrari
Time	1:23.146
Podium
First	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG
Second	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari
Third	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW

The 1984 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on October 7, 1984. It was the fifteenth round of the 1984 Formula One season. This was the first time a Formula One race was run on the new 4.54 km (2.82 mi) Nürburgring GP-Strecke and the first time F1 had returned to the 'Ring since the 1976 German Grand Prix that was held on the old 22.835 km (14.19 mi) Nordschleife circuit.

During the race morning warm-up session, Alain Prost spun his McLaren-TAG and hit a course car parked at the side of the circuit.

Young Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna triggered a first corner accident which took out the cars of Rosberg, Marc Surer, Gerhard Berger, and Piercarlo Ghinzani. Senna's Toleman (which had started 12th) had run into the back of Rosberg's Williams under braking at the end of the main straight which caused the accident. Rosberg had started fourth (after blowing his Honda engine coming out of the final corner of his qualifying lap), but was slow off the line as his engine had suddenly developed a misfire.

After qualifying second on the grid, Alain Prost won the race in his McLaren from the Ferrari of Michele Alboreto and the Brabham-BMW of defending World Champion Nelson Piquet, with both the Ferrari and Brabham running out of fuel as they crossed the finish line. When they got out of their cars which stopped at the pit exit, Alboreto and Piquet raised their arms to each other in a gesture of frustration at FISAs 220 litre fuel limit for turbos which had reduced races to economy runs.

Niki Lauda, who had almost lost his life in a fiery crash while driving a Ferrari 312T2 during the 1976 German GP, started 15th and finished 4th in his McLaren, which could have been 3rd had it not been for a spin when he locked his brakes while lapping Mauro Baldi on lap 21. In stark contrast to the lack of safety of the Nordschleife, Lauda gave the new GP-Strecke the thumbs up as a very safe Grand Prix circuit, saying that it was "the perfect place to hold a Grand Prix". He also added that returning to the 'Ring held no fears for him as his accident was 8 years previous and if he had not gotten over it by then he never would.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	7	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	67	1:35:13.284	2	9
2	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	67	+ 23.911	5	6
3	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	67	+ 24.922	1	4
4	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	67	+ 43.086	15	3
5	28	René Arnoux	Ferrari	67	+ 1:01.430	6	2
6	22	Riccardo Patrese	Alfa Romeo	66	+ 1 Lap	9	1
7	26	Andrea de Cesaris	Ligier-Renault	65	+ 2 Laps	17
8	21	Mauro Baldi	Spirit-Hart	65	+ 2 Laps	24
9	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	64	Ignition	11
10	25	François Hesnault	Ligier-Renault	64	+ 3 Laps	19
11	16	Derek Warwick	Renault	61	Overheating	7
Ret	30	Jo Gartner	Osella-Alfa Romeo	60	Fuel System	22
Ret	2	Teo Fabi	Brabham-BMW	57	Gearbox	10
Ret	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault	51	Engine	8
Ret	15	Patrick Tambay	Renault	47	Fuel system	3
Ret	23	Eddie Cheever	Alfa Romeo	37	Fuel System	13
Ret	9	Philippe Alliot	RAM-Hart	37	Turbo	25
Ret	10	Jonathan Palmer	RAM-Hart	35	Turbo	21
Ret	5	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Honda	27	Engine	14
Ret	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	25	Turbo	23
Ret	20	Stefan Johansson	Toleman-Hart	17	Overheating	26
Ret	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda	0	Collision	4
Ret	19	Ayrton Senna	Toleman-Hart	0	Collision	12
Ret	17	Marc Surer	Arrows-BMW	0	Collision	16
Ret	31	Gerhard Berger	ATS-BMW	0	Collision	18
Ret	24	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	0	Collision	20
Source:[1]

Notes

• Pole position: Nelson Piquet - 1:18.871^[2]
• Fastest lap: Michele Alboreto and Nelson Piquet - 1:23.146 on lap 62^[3]
• Last time to date that the fastest lap has been shared between two or more drivers
• Last point for Alfa Romeo (irrespective of it being car manufacturer or engine supplier)

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda 66 2 Alain Prost 62.5 3 Elio de Angelis 32 4 Nelson Piquet 28 5 Michele Alboreto 27.5

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-TAG 128.5 2 Ferrari 54.5 3 Lotus-Renault 45 4 Brabham-BMW 37 5 Renault 34

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Points adjusted in accordance with FISA decision on 9 October 1984 to reallocate Tyrrell's points. Prost's extra point comes from the Detroit race, after promotion to 4th.

References