Italian GP 1983

SEPTEMBER 11, 1983

Italian GP, 1983

In the fortnight after the Ferrari 1-2 at Zandvoort, Williams ran its Honda-engined FW09 for the first time in testing at Donington Park while in testing Nelson Piquet's Brabham-BMW showed a new turn of speed due to a different fuel formula. McLaren arrived with two of the TAG-engined MP4/1E chassis but otherwise the field was standard. The new pace of the Brabhams was seen in qualifying as Riccardo Patrese took pole position, beating the two Ferraris of Patrick Tambay and Rene Arnoux. Nelson Piquet was fourth in his Brabham ahead of title rival Alain Prost (Renault). The top 10 was completed by Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo), Elio de Angelis (Lotus-Renault), Manfred Winkelhock (ATS-BMW) and Mauro Baldi's Alfa Romeo.

At the start Piquet got away well and was right behind Patrese at the end of the first lap. On the third lap Patrese's engine blew and so Nelson went ahead and he stayed there for the rest of the afternoon (without having a pit stop). Arnoux chased him all afternoon but still finished 10 seconds behind and Cheever did much the same in third place. Prost's title hopes took a dive as he retired with turbo failure while running fourth and so the position went to Tambay with de Angelis fifth and Warwick sixth.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW  52 1h23m10.880s  
28 Rene Arnoux Ferrari  52 1h23m21.092s  
16 Eddie Cheever Renault  52 1h23m29.492s  
27 Patrick Tambay Ferrari  52 1h23m39.903s  
11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Cosworth  52 1h24m04.560s  
35 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart  52 1h24m24.228s  12 
36 Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart  52 1h24m44.802s  14 
12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Cosworth  52 1h24m46.915s  11 
25 Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Cosworth  51  19 
10 29 Marc Surer Arrows-Cosworth  51  20 
11 Keke Rosberg Williams-Cosworth  51  16 
12 34 Johnny Cecotto Theodore-Cosworth  50  26 
13 33 Roberto Guerrero Theodore-Cosworth  50  21 
31 Corrado Fabi Osella-Cosworth  45 Oil Union 25 
Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Cosworth  44 Fuel Pump Drive 22 
30 Thierry Boutsen Arrows-Cosworth  41 Engine 18 
Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW  35 Exhaust 
Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Cosworth  28 Clutch 24 
15 Alain Prost Renault   Turbo 
Niki Lauda McLaren-Cosworth  24 Electrics 13 
John Watson McLaren-Cosworth  13 Engine 15 
32 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Cosworth  10 Gearbox 23 
23 Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo  Turbo 10 
40 Stefan Johansson Spirit-Honda  Distributor 17 
Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW  Electrics 
22 Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo  Spin 
nq 26 Raul Boesel Ligier-Cosworth    27 
nq Jacques Laffite Williams-Cosworth    28 
nq 17 Kenny Acheson RAM March-Cosworth    29