1985 German Grand Prix

The 1985 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 4 August 1985. It was the ninth race of the 1985 Formula One season.

1985 German Grand Prix
Race 9 of 16 in the 1985 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 4 August 1985
Official name XLVII Großer Preis von Deutschland
Location Nürburgring, Nürburg, West Germany
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.542 km (2.822 miles)
Distance 67 laps, 304.314 km (189.091 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Toleman-Hart
Time 1:17.429
Fastest lap
Driver Austria Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG
Time 1:22.806 on lap 53
Podium
First Ferrari
Second McLaren-TAG
Third Ligier-Renault
Lap leaders
Michele Alboreto won the race for Ferrari.
Alain Prost finished second, eleven seconds behind Alboreto.

This was the first German Grand Prix that was held on the new GP-Strecke section of the track that replaced the old Südschleife section that had not been used since 1970. It was also the first time in nine years the German GP was held at Nürburgring; previously the German Grand Prix had been held on the Nordschleife configuration until 1976, after which the Grand Prix was moved to the Hockenheimring, following Niki Lauda's near-fatal accident at the 1976 German Grand Prix. The GP-Strecke would not host another Grand Prix until the 1995 European Grand Prix, and would not host the German Grand Prix again until the 2009 edition.

Michele Alboreto won the race, his fifth and last Formula One victory. This event was the first occasion on which an onboard camera was used in a race; on François Hesnault's Renault car. That car was not eligible for championship points, and this race marked the last time that an F1 team entered more than two cars for a race.

As it was the German Grand Prix (and that the team still only had 1 new car built) Tyrrell team boss Ken Tyrrell gave his German driver Stefan Bellof use of the Renault powered Tyrrell 014 for the weekend instead of the car's usual driver Martin Brundle, who was given Bellof's Cosworth powered 012 to drive. To get around a FISA rule stating that a team and driver could not run more than 2 engines in the one chassis during a season (with the 012 running the Cosworth and 014 the Renault), Tyrrell simply switched the drivers from one car to the other but not their car numbers, meaning Bellof drove in car #3 and Brundle in car #4. Bellof qualified the turbo powered car 19th while Brundle was 26th and last with the Cosworth V8, some 10.2 seconds of Fabi's pole time and 6.4 seconds slower than his teammate in his usual car, something Brundle was reported to be not happy with.[citation needed] This was to be the last Grand Prix for Manfred Winkelhock: the German fatally crashed his Porsche 962C sportscar at the 1000 km of Mosport in Canada the following week.[1][2]

As of 2024, Alboreto's win remains the last for an Italian driver driving for Ferrari in Formula One.

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pole position went to Teo Fabi, the first of his career and the only pole for the Toleman team.[3] He set his pole time during the Friday qualifying session; rain on Saturday meant that none of the drivers could improve their times.[citation needed]

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 19   Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 1:17.429
2 28   Stefan Johansson Ferrari 1:18.616 1:46.919 +1.187
3 2   Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:18.725 1:43.088 +1.296
4 6   Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 1:18.781 1:39.547 +1.352
5 12   Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 1:18.792 1:36.471 +1.363
6 7   Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:18.802 1:49.347 +1.373
7 11   Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:19.120 1:29.714 +1.691
8 27   Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:19.194 1:41.490 +1.765
9 22   Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 1:19.338 +1.909
10 5   Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:19.475 1:42.050 +2.046
11 8   Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 1:19.558 1:38.330 +2.129
12 1   Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 1:19.562 1:44.330 +2.133
13 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 1:19.656 +2.227
14 25   Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault 1:19.738 1:39.623 +2.309
15 18   Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 1:19.781 1:54.674 +2.352
16 15   Patrick Tambay Renault 1:19.917 1:33.373 +2.488
17 17   Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 1:20.666 1:41.131 +3.237
18 23   Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 1:21.074 1:32.376 +3.645
19 3   Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Renault 1:21.219 14:04.270 +3.790
20 16   Derek Warwick Renault 1:21.237 1:46.773 +3.808
21 10   Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 1:22.017 +4.588
22 9   Manfred Winkelhock RAM-Hart 1:22.607 1:51.109 +5.178
23 14   François Hesnault Renault 1:23.161 +5.732
24 30   Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed 1:24.217 1:51.833 +6.788
25 24   Huub Rothengatter Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:26.478 +9.049
26 4   Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Ford 1:27.621 1:47.820 +10.192
27 29   Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:40.506 +23.077
Sources:[4][5][6]

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 27   Michele Alboreto Ferrari 67 1:35:31.337 8 9
2 2   Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 67 + 11.661 3 6
3 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 67 + 51.154 13 4
4 18   Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 67 + 55.279 15 3
5 1   Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 67 + 1:13.972 12 2
6 5   Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 67 + 1:16.820 10 1
7 17   Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 66 + 1 Lap 17  
8 3   Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Renault 66 + 1 Lap 19  
9 28   Stefan Johansson Ferrari 66 + 1 Lap 2  
10 4   Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Ford 63 + 4 Laps 26  
11 29   Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Motori Moderni 62 Engine 27  
12 6   Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 61 Brakes 4  
Ret 23   Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 45 Turbo 18  
Ret 11   Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 40 Engine 7  
Ret 24   Huub Rothengatter Osella-Alfa Romeo 32 Gearbox 25  
Ret 19   Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 29 Clutch 1  
Ret 12   Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 27 CV joint[7] 5  
Ret 16   Derek Warwick Renault 25 Ignition 20  
Ret 7   Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 23 Turbo 6  
Ret 15   Patrick Tambay Renault 19 Spun Off 16  
Ret 8   Marc Surer Brabham-BMW 15 Engine 11  
Ret 9   Manfred Winkelhock RAM-Hart 8 Engine 22  
Ret 22   Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 8 Gearbox 9  
Ret 14   François Hesnault Renault 8 Clutch 23  
Ret 10   Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 8 Oil pressure 21  
Ret 30   Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed 7 Alternator 24  
Ret 25   Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault 0 Collision 14  
Source:[8]

Championship standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

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  1. ^ "Controversy Erupts Over Death of Race Driver". Los Angeles Times. 14 August 1985. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Manfred Winklehock". statsf1.com. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Germany 1985". statsf1.com. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Germany 1985 - Qualifications". statsf1.com. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Grosser Preis Von Deutschland 1985 - Qualifying 1". Formula 1. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Grosser Preis Von Deutschland 1985 - Qualifying 2". Formula 1. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  7. ^ Pritchard, Anthony (March 2006). Lotus: The Competition Cars. Haynes Publishing. p. 245. ISBN 1-84425-006-7.
  8. ^ "1985 German Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Germany 1985 - Championship". statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.


Previous race:
1985 British Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1985 season
Next race:
1985 Austrian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1984 German Grand Prix
German Grand Prix Next race:
1986 German Grand Prix