1983 British Grand Prix


The 1983 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 16 July 1983. It was the ninth race of the 1983 FIA Formula One World Championship. The 67-lap race was won by Renault driver Alain Prost after he started from third position. Nelson Piquet finished second for the Brabham team and Ferrari driver Patrick Tambay came in third.

Report

Qualifying

Qualifying saw the Ferraris fill the front row with René Arnoux beating Patrick Tambay by over 0.6 seconds. Arnoux was the first driver to ever lap Silverstone in under 1:10. Championship leader Alain Prost was third in his Renault, with Elio de Angelis in the Lotus alongside him on the second row. The two Brabhams made up the third row with Riccardo Patrese ahead of Nelson Piquet, while on the fourth row were Eddie Cheever in the second Renault and Manfred Winkelhock in the ATS. Completing the top ten were Andrea de Cesaris in the Alfa Romeo and Derek Warwick in the Toleman. Further down the grid, the Spirit team with its Honda turbo engine made an impressive debut as Stefan Johansson qualified 14th, ahead of both McLarens and just one place behind reigning World Champion Keke Rosberg in the Williams.

Race

At the start of the race, Tambay moved ahead of Arnoux, while de Angelis quickly retired with a turbo failure. Cheever's engine failed two laps later, while Johansson dropped out on lap 6 with fuel system problems. When Patrese's turbo gave up on lap 9, Piquet moved up to fourth behind the Ferraris and Prost, with de Cesaris up to fifth and Winkelhock sixth. Prost overtook Arnoux on lap 14, followed by Piquet five laps later. Then, on lap 20, Prost passed Tambay for the lead, with Piquet moving into second on lap 31. In the later stages of the race, Winkelhock's engine failed and de Cesaris dropped behind teammate Mauro Baldi, while Nigel Mansell, who had qualified only 18th in the second Lotus, made a charge through the field, passing Arnoux for fourth on lap 48. At the chequered flag, Prost was 19 seconds ahead of Piquet with Tambay, Mansell, Arnoux and Niki Lauda completing the top six.
In the Drivers' Championship, Prost doubled his lead over Piquet to six points, with Tambay two points further back. Renault moved into the outright lead of the Constructors' Championship, three points ahead of Ferrari.

Classification

Qualifying

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings
;Constructors' Championship standings