Formula One - Through the Year's
1980's
The start of the decade was overshadowed by political rows as the manufacturer teams and the privateers vied for supremacy. The manufacturers, led by Ferrari, Renault and Alfa Romeo, were pushing for a limitation in the use of ground-effect aerodynamics, to help make the most of their turbo engines, where the smaller privateer teams wanted no restrictions because they could not afford the cost of developing the new high-power engines. Tragic accidents in the early 80's cut short the career of Didier Peronist and cost Gilles Villeneuve his life, leaving Brazilians Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet, Frenchman Alain Prost, and Brit Nigel Mansell as the main men to watch.
Williams built upon the form they showed at the end of the 1970's while champions Ferrari lost their way, and even failed to qualify for one race. Alfa Romeo returned to the sport and Brabham stepped their game up, to join the front runners. All the while, safety continued to be an issue with several top drivers killed, paralysed or lucky to escape. The 1980 season saw the end of Regazzoni's career, with a crash in the United States Grand Prix that resulted in him being paralysed. Australian Alan Jones won the Drivers Championship with Williams, which made him the first driver to win the championship driving for the Williams team.
In 1981, it was Williams and Brabham leading the way, but off-track disputes made more headlines than the racing as FISA and FOCA went to war. The season got off to a false start when the FISA teams pulled out of the first round in South Africa, so the Championship started for-real in the next Grand Prix in the United States. The battle for the crown, was between Piquet and his Brabham, and Jones and his Williams, it went down to the wire, and in the final race of the season at Las Vegas, Jones went on to win the race, but it was Piquet who secured the points he needed with a 5th place finish to clinch the Drivers Championship.
In the 1982 season the off-track arguments came to a head in a tragic, incedent-filled season of strikes, deaths and drama. Lauda came out of retirement to drive for McLaren while Jones made way for Keke Rosberg at Williams, whole triumphed through consistency as 11 different drivers took wins in the 16 races throughout the season. Prost earned his maiden win in South Africa and Lauda got a victory for McLaren in the US. The season came to a climax in Las Vegas, as Watson finished 2nd behind Alboreto's Tyrrell, but Rosberg's 5th place was enough to take the title.
The 1983 season was in stark contrast to the previous year, as 83 was all about the on-track action. Nelson Piquet won the first race in Brazil, Prost won in Belgium, then Alberto scored the Cosworth DFV's last win in the United States. It was Prost who looked comfortable for the title with a 14 points lead, but he failed to finish in Italy, where consistent podium finisher Piquet won. Nelson eventually secured the points he needed for title number two.
For the 1984 season refuelling was banned, but the biggest news was Prost's switch from Renault to McLaren, and the introduction of legend Ayrton Senna, racing for the Toleman team. Senna almost recorded his first win in torrential rain at the Monaco Grand Prix despite having an under-powered Toleman race car, as Ayrton was on a charge, overtaking the pack at-will and closing in on leader Prost at a great rate before the race was stopped short due to weather conditions and half points were awarded. Prost took victory in San Marino and Lauda won in France. It was McLaren who were unbeatable and they won the last seven remaining races. In The final race of the season, in Portugal, Prost won but Lauda came second to win the title by just half a point.
In 1981, it was Williams and Brabham leading the way, but off-track disputes made more headlines than the racing as FISA and FOCA went to war. The season got off to a false start when the FISA teams pulled out of the first round in South Africa, so the Championship started for-real in the next Grand Prix in the United States. The battle for the crown, was between Piquet and his Brabham, and Jones and his Williams, it went down to the wire, and in the final race of the season at Las Vegas, Jones went on to win the race, but it was Piquet who secured the points he needed with a 5th place finish to clinch the Drivers Championship.
In the 1982 season the off-track arguments came to a head in a tragic, incedent-filled season of strikes, deaths and drama. Lauda came out of retirement to drive for McLaren while Jones made way for Keke Rosberg at Williams, whole triumphed through consistency as 11 different drivers took wins in the 16 races throughout the season. Prost earned his maiden win in South Africa and Lauda got a victory for McLaren in the US. The season came to a climax in Las Vegas, as Watson finished 2nd behind Alboreto's Tyrrell, but Rosberg's 5th place was enough to take the title.
The 1983 season was in stark contrast to the previous year, as 83 was all about the on-track action. Nelson Piquet won the first race in Brazil, Prost won in Belgium, then Alberto scored the Cosworth DFV's last win in the United States. It was Prost who looked comfortable for the title with a 14 points lead, but he failed to finish in Italy, where consistent podium finisher Piquet won. Nelson eventually secured the points he needed for title number two.
For the 1984 season refuelling was banned, but the biggest news was Prost's switch from Renault to McLaren, and the introduction of legend Ayrton Senna, racing for the Toleman team. Senna almost recorded his first win in torrential rain at the Monaco Grand Prix despite having an under-powered Toleman race car, as Ayrton was on a charge, overtaking the pack at-will and closing in on leader Prost at a great rate before the race was stopped short due to weather conditions and half points were awarded. Prost took victory in San Marino and Lauda won in France. It was McLaren who were unbeatable and they won the last seven remaining races. In The final race of the season, in Portugal, Prost won but Lauda came second to win the title by just half a point.
After narrowly missing out on the last two occasions Prost was hoping it would be third time lucky in 1985. He faced strong competition as Keke Rosberg was joined by Nigel Mansell at Williams, It was Senna who took the Britons place at Lotus, and Alboreto led the Ferrari charge after Arnoux quit the team One Race into the season. Alan Prost's consistency, with multiple podiums scoring in 11 races, won him the title, his first.
The 1986 season saw a classic year-long battle for the title. Rosberg replaced the retired Lauda at McLaren, alongside Prost, then with the Williams-Hondas of Mansell and Piquet, who arrived from Brabham, and then there was Senna in his Lotus. Making it an epic 5-way battle to the title that went right to the wire at a spectacular season-ending race in Australia, Mansell had a seven-point lead, but it was still possible either Piquet or Prost could still steal the title. Mansell took pole, but in the race he was forced to retire when he suffered a tyre blow-out. As a result, Williams pulled Piquet in for a safety check, and Prost stormed through to take the title by two points.
In 1987 the field was split between turbo and non-turbo cars in preparation for a turbo ban in 1989, but Williams kept their high powered Honda engine and dominated throughout. Increasingly bitter rivalry developed between team-mates Mansell and Piquet and a dramatic battle for the title went down to the penultimate race of the season. Mansell won in Spain, and led a Williams 1-2 in Mexico, but he injured his back in a practice session crash in Japan, ending his title bid and handing the title to team-mate Piquet.
For the 1988 season McLaren teamed up with Honda and Senna joined Prost in a new Super team that completely crushed the opposition, winning 15 of the 16 races as Williams descended from dominant champions to mid-grid mediocrity!. Heavy rain at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone saw Prost pull out and stop on safety reasons, as Senna went on to win ahead of Mansell. Senna then went on and took a hat-trick of wins in Germany, Hungary and Belgium before his dominance was stopped by a back marker at Monza in Italy, as Ferrari went on to a poignant 1-2 just weeks after Enzo Ferrari passed away. Prost then looked set for victory in Japan when Senna dropped to 14th position at the start, but Senna stormed back through the field and overtaking Prost to take the victory. So Senna, with 90 points and eight wins had done enough to secure his first title.
In 1989, a move to the new 3.5 litre non-turbo Formula failed to stop another season of McLaren domination, but the rivalry between Senna and Prost boiled over as they battled and tangled throughout the season. Mansell joined Ferrari with instant success, but the Italian team was not strong enough to mount a title charge. Senna went on to dominant wins in Monaco and Mexico, but surprisingly then suffered four retirements, due to car issues as Prost won in the United States, Canada, France and Britain. Berger went on to win in Portugal after Mansell took Senna out, leaving Prost with a 24 point lead in the championship, but Senna would not give up and won in Spain. Then came the final race in Japan, as Senna battled Prost for victory and overtaking him, only for Prost to turn in on him, the pair collided putting Prost out of the race, and severely damaging Senna's car, Senna overcame the damage and race to victory and what everyone thought was his second successive Drivers title, only to be later suspiciously disqualified, handing the title to Prost..
The 1986 season saw a classic year-long battle for the title. Rosberg replaced the retired Lauda at McLaren, alongside Prost, then with the Williams-Hondas of Mansell and Piquet, who arrived from Brabham, and then there was Senna in his Lotus. Making it an epic 5-way battle to the title that went right to the wire at a spectacular season-ending race in Australia, Mansell had a seven-point lead, but it was still possible either Piquet or Prost could still steal the title. Mansell took pole, but in the race he was forced to retire when he suffered a tyre blow-out. As a result, Williams pulled Piquet in for a safety check, and Prost stormed through to take the title by two points.
In 1987 the field was split between turbo and non-turbo cars in preparation for a turbo ban in 1989, but Williams kept their high powered Honda engine and dominated throughout. Increasingly bitter rivalry developed between team-mates Mansell and Piquet and a dramatic battle for the title went down to the penultimate race of the season. Mansell won in Spain, and led a Williams 1-2 in Mexico, but he injured his back in a practice session crash in Japan, ending his title bid and handing the title to team-mate Piquet.
For the 1988 season McLaren teamed up with Honda and Senna joined Prost in a new Super team that completely crushed the opposition, winning 15 of the 16 races as Williams descended from dominant champions to mid-grid mediocrity!. Heavy rain at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone saw Prost pull out and stop on safety reasons, as Senna went on to win ahead of Mansell. Senna then went on and took a hat-trick of wins in Germany, Hungary and Belgium before his dominance was stopped by a back marker at Monza in Italy, as Ferrari went on to a poignant 1-2 just weeks after Enzo Ferrari passed away. Prost then looked set for victory in Japan when Senna dropped to 14th position at the start, but Senna stormed back through the field and overtaking Prost to take the victory. So Senna, with 90 points and eight wins had done enough to secure his first title.
In 1989, a move to the new 3.5 litre non-turbo Formula failed to stop another season of McLaren domination, but the rivalry between Senna and Prost boiled over as they battled and tangled throughout the season. Mansell joined Ferrari with instant success, but the Italian team was not strong enough to mount a title charge. Senna went on to dominant wins in Monaco and Mexico, but surprisingly then suffered four retirements, due to car issues as Prost won in the United States, Canada, France and Britain. Berger went on to win in Portugal after Mansell took Senna out, leaving Prost with a 24 point lead in the championship, but Senna would not give up and won in Spain. Then came the final race in Japan, as Senna battled Prost for victory and overtaking him, only for Prost to turn in on him, the pair collided putting Prost out of the race, and severely damaging Senna's car, Senna overcame the damage and race to victory and what everyone thought was his second successive Drivers title, only to be later suspiciously disqualified, handing the title to Prost..
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