1985 Australian Grand Prix

  1985 Australian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 16 of 16 in the 1985 Formula One season
Date	3 November 1985
Official name	L Mitsubisi Australian Grand Prix
Location	Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia
Course	Temporary street circuit 3.780 km (2.362 mi)
Distance	82 laps, 309.960 km (193.684 mi)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault
Time	1:19.843
Fastest lap
Driver	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda
Time	1:23.758
Podium
First	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda
Second	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault
Third	Philippe Streiff	Ligier-Renault

The 1985 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held in Adelaide on 3 November 1985. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1985 Formula One season. It was the 50th Australian Grand Prix and the first to be held on the streets of Adelaide on a layout specifically designed for the debut of the World Championship in Australia. The race was held over 82 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 310 kilometres.

The new circuit was received extremely positively with glowing reviews from those within the paddock despite the circuit's temporary nature as it wound through streets, parkland and across horse racing venue Victoria Park Racecourse immediately adjacent to the Adelaide central business district. The reception was sufficiently positive to see the promoters awarded the Formula One Promotional Trophy.

In a race of high attrition, the race was won by the 1982 world champion, Finnish driver Keke Rosberg driving a Williams FW10; it would turn out to be the last victory (and fastest lap) of his Formula One career. Rosberg was the only front running driver to finish strongly and one of only eight cars to be classified.

On the penultimate lap, Ligier driver Philippe Streiff tried to overtake his team-mate Jacques Laffite for second place and, as result of this manoeuvre, Streiff's front wheel axle was severely damaged. With fourth placed Ivan Capelli a lap down in his Tyrrell 014, Streiff could limp his Ligier JS25 home and retain third place despite only have three wheels firmly attached to the car. It would remain a career best finish for Streiff.

A delayed Stefan Johansson finished fifth in his Ferrari 156/85 ahead of Gerhard Berger in his Arrows A8. The only other finishers were Huub Rothengatter's Osella FA1F, Pierluigi Martini's Minardi M185 (both were four laps behind Rosberg) and Martin Brundle's Tyrrell 014 who was many laps down and would not be classified.

Every car qualified for the race. With RAM Racing and Zakspeed not making the journey to Australia, there would not be a cut-off based on grid numbers. Early in the race Elio de Angelis (Lotus 97T) was excluded for regaining his original grid position after being delayed on the parade lap. The race was the 100th World Championship start for local Alan Jones. Jones (along with new world champion Alain Prost) was one of two drivers to have won the Australian Grand Prix previously. Jones' Lola THL1 retired with a failed electrics. It was also the last race for outgoing world champion Niki Lauda. His McLaren MP4/2B ended in the fence with damage to the front left after a brake failure.

Alfa Romeo also raced their final Grand Prix as a team, as did Renault as a constructor until they purchased the Benetton (Toleman in 1985) team in 2002. Neither Riccardo Patrese nor Eddie Cheever would get their Alfa Romeo 185Ts to the finish as mechanical failure claimed every car other than the nine still mobile at the finish and de Angelis.

Championship permutations

McLaren-TAG Porsche and Ferrari came into this race fighting for the Constructor's Championship

• McLaren-TAG Porsche (90pts) needed either
  • 2nd (or 3rd and 6th) or better
  • 4th (or 5th and 6th) with the Ferraris 1st and 3rd or lower
  • 5th with the Ferraris 1st and 4th or lower
  • 6th with the Ferraris 1st and 5th or lower
  • the Ferraris scoring 1st and 6th or lower
• Ferrari (80pts) needed either
  • 1st and 2nd with the McLarens scoring fewer than 5pts
  • 1st and 3rd with the McLarens scoring fewer than 3pts
  • 1st and 4th with the McLarens 6th or lower
  • 1st and 5th with the McLaren 7th or lower

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	1:22.403	1:19.833	—
2	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	1:22.564	1:20.537	+0.704
3	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda	1:22.402	1:21.877	+2.044
4	2	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	1:23.943	1:21.889	+2.056
5	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:24.666	1:22.337	+2.504
6	8	Marc Surer	Brabham-BMW	1:24.404	1:22.561	+2.728
7	17	Gerhard Berger	Arrows-BMW	1:25.362	1:22.592	+2.759
8	15	Patrick Tambay	Renault	1:25.173	1:22.683	+2.850
9	7	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	1:23.018	1:22.718	+2.885
10	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	1:24.543	1:23.077	+3.244
11	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	1:23.943	1:23.196	+3.363
12	16	Derek Warwick	Renault	1:24.372	1:23.426	+3.593
13	23	Eddie Cheever	Alfa Romeo	1:23.597	1:24.295	+3.764
14	22	Riccardo Patrese	Alfa Romeo	1:23.758	1:24.128	+3.925
15	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	1:24.732	1:23.902	+4.069
16	1	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	1:24.691	1:23.941	+4.108
17	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Renault	1:25.646	1:24.241	+4.408
18	25	Philippe Streiff	Ligier-Renault	1:26.618	1:24.266	+4.433
19	33	Alan Jones	Lola-Hart	1:25.780	1:24.369	+4.536
20	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	1:26.972	1:24.830	+4.997
21	20	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Toleman-Hart	1:25.021	1:26.630	+5.188
22	4	Ivan Capelli	Tyrrell-Renault	1:27.120		+7.287
23	29	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1:27.196	1:27.402	+7.363
24	19	Teo Fabi	Toleman-Hart	1:28.261	1:28.110	+8.277
25	24	Huub Rothengatter	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:30.319		+10.486

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda	82	2:00:40.473[1]	3	9
2	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	82	+ 43.130	20	6
3	25	Philippe Streiff	Ligier-Renault	82	+ 1:28.536	18	4
4	4	Ivan Capelli	Tyrrell-Renault	81	+ 1 Lap	22	3
5	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	81	+ 1 Lap	15	2
6	17	Gerhard Berger	Arrows-BMW	81	+ 1 Lap	7	1
7	24	Huub Rothengatter	Osella-Alfa Romeo	78	+ 4 Laps	25
8	29	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	78	+ 4 Laps	23
Ret	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	62	Engine	1
Ret	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	61	Transmission	5
Ret	1	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	57	Brakes	16
Ret	16	Derek Warwick	Renault	57	Transmission	12
NC	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Renault	49	Not Classified	17
Ret	8	Marc Surer	Brabham-BMW	42	Engine	6
Ret	22	Riccardo Patrese	Alfa Romeo	42	Exhaust	14
Ret	19	Teo Fabi	Toleman-Hart	40	Engine	24
Ret	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	37	Oil Leak	11
Ret	20	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Toleman-Hart	28	Clutch	21
Ret	2	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	26	Engine	4
Ret	15	Patrick Tambay	Renault	20	Transmission	8
Ret	33	Alan Jones	Lola-Hart	20	Electrical	19
DSQ	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	18	Disqualified[2]	10
Ret	7	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	14	Fire	9
Ret	23	Eddie Cheever	Alfa Romeo	5	Engine	13
Ret	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	1	Transmission	2

Lap leaders

• Lap Leaders: Keke Rosberg 71 (1-41, 44-52, 62-82); Ayrton Senna 9 (42-43, 53-55, 58-61); Niki Lauda 2 (56-57)

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 73 (76) 2 Michele Alboreto 53 3 Keke Rosberg 40 4 Ayrton Senna 38 5 Elio de Angelis 33

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-TAG 90 2 Ferrari 82 3 Williams-Honda 71 4 Lotus-Renault 71 5 Brabham-BMW 26

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 11 results counted towards the Drivers' Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from "The Official Formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1985/309/. Retrieved 2007-06-17.