1984 Austrian Grand Prix

  1984 Austrian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 12 of 16 in the 1984 Formula One season
The Österreichring (last modified in 1977)
Date	August 19, 1984
Official name	XVII Holiday Großer Preis von Osterreich
Location	Österreichring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.942 km (3.692 mi)
Distance	51 laps, 303.042 km (188.292 mi)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW
Time	1:26.173
Fastest lap
Driver	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG
Time	1:32.882 on lap 23
Podium
First	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG
Second	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW
Third	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari

The 1984 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on August 19, 1984. It was the twelfth round of the 1984 Formula One season and the 400th World Championship Grand Prix held since the championship began in 1950.

McLaren's Niki Lauda took the lead in the World Championship with his 23rd career win. Second was defending champion Nelson Piquet in his Brabham-BMW, with Ferrari's Michele Alboreto completing the podium in third place.

Alain Prost, Lauda's team mate and the World Championship leader going into the race, failed to finish after spinning off on oil on lap 28. Prost had been running a close second behind Piquet at the time of his spin. Piquet came upon the oil first and managed to keep his car from sliding off despite a twitch on the oil. Prost however was having gear selection problems and hit the oil with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the gear lever holding his McLaren-TAG in gear. As a result, he could not control the car and spun off into retirement. This saw Lauda move to second behind Piquet who was having tyre troubles. After taking the lead Lauda then suddenly found he could not engage a gear and it appeared his race was over as he slowed significantly while desperately trying to find a working gear. The problem proved to be temporary though and soon the McLaren was going at speed again and he went on to a 23-second win.

Another Austrian driver Gerhard Berger, who would go on to win 10 Grands Prix before retiring at the end of the 1997 season, made his Formula One debut at the Österreichring, finishing 12th and last in his ATS-BMW. The third Austrian in the race, Jo Gartner, retired after only 6 laps with engine troubles in his Osella-Alfa Romeo.

Renault, who had won the 1983 Austrian Grand Prix with Alain Prost driving, had a race to forget in 1984. Derek Warwick retired with engine trouble on lap 17 while Patrick Tambay also retired with engine drama on lap 42.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	51	1:21:12.851	4	9
2	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	51	+ 23.525	1	6
3	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	51	+ 48.998	12	4
4	2	Teo Fabi	Brabham-BMW	51	+ 56.312	7	3
5	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	50	+ 1 Lap	17	2
6	17	Marc Surer	Arrows-BMW	50	+ 1 Lap	19	1
7	28	René Arnoux	Ferrari	50	+ 1 Lap	15
8	25	François Hesnault	Ligier-Renault	49	+ 2 Laps	21
9	10	Jonathan Palmer	RAM-Hart	49	+ 2 Laps	24
10	22	Riccardo Patrese	Alfa Romeo	48	Out of fuel	13
11	9	Philippe Alliot	RAM-Hart	48	+ 3 Laps	25
12	31	Gerhard Berger	ATS-BMW	48	Gearbox	20
Ret	15	Patrick Tambay	Renault	42	Engine	5
Ret	19	Ayrton Senna	Toleman-Hart	35	Oil pressure	10
Ret	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault	32	Engine	8
Ret	7	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	28	Spun off	2
Ret	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	28	Engine	3
NC	21	Huub Rothengatter	Spirit-Hart	23	Not classified	26
Ret	23	Eddie Cheever	Alfa Romeo	18	Engine	16
Ret	16	Derek Warwick	Renault	17	Engine	6
Ret	26	Andrea de Cesaris	Ligier-Renault	15	Injection	18
Ret	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda	15	Handling	9
Ret	5	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Honda	12	Engine	11
Ret	30	Jo Gartner	Osella-Alfa Romeo	6	Engine	22
Ret	24	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	4	Gearbox	23
DNS	14	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-BMW	0	Gearbox	14
DNQ	3	Stefan Johansson	Tyrrell-Ford
EX	4	Stefan Bellof	Tyrrell-Ford
Source:[1]

Lap leaders

First race: Alain Prost (1)
Second race: Nelson Piquet (1-39) Niki Lauda (40-51)

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Niki Lauda 48 2 Alain Prost 43.5 3 Elio de Angelis 26.5 4 René Arnoux 24.5 5 Nelson Piquet 24

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-TAG 91.5 2 Ferrari 39.5 3 Lotus-Renault 35.5 4 Renault 32 5 Brabham-BMW 30

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Points accurate at final declaration of results. Tyrrell's points were subsequently reallocated.

References