1983 French Grand Prix

The LXIX Grand Prix de France, better known as the 1983 French Grand Prix, was the third meeting of the 1983 Formula One Season.http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr376.html The race was held in April, two months earlier than usual, mainly due to the fact that many of the drivers took part in the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch the weekend before. Alain Prost took his first win since the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix by taking victory for Renault, beating Nelson Piquet and team mate Eddie Cheever.
==Background==
Niki Lauda came to the first European race of the year as championship leader, his tally of 10 keeping him ahead of Nelson Piquet and team mate John Watson (both on 9). were also on top in the constructor's championship, their one-two in the United States giving them a total of 19 points, 10 ahead of nearest challengers .
Chico Serra returned to after Alan Jones decided to think about his comeback once again (he would not be seen until 1985 as a driver), although the Arrows remained as blank as an ox. , meanwhile, gave Mauro Baldi a new toy to play with, updating his car to the 183T chassis already used by Andrea de Cesaris. also brought a new car to the grid, partnering Eliseo Salazar with the debuting Jean-Louis Schlesser, bringing the number of entries up to 29.
==Entry List==
The full entry list for the is shown below:
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model 	Tyre
1 	Keke Rosberg 	TAG Williams Racing Team 	 	FW08C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
2 	Jacques Laffite 	TAG Williams Racing Team 	 	FW08C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
3 	Michele Alboreto 	Benetton Tyrrell Team 	 	011B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
4 	Danny Sullivan 	Benetton Tyrrell Team 	 	011B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
5 	Nelson Piquet 	Fila Sport 	 	BT52 	 	M12/13 L4t 1.5	
6 	Riccardo Patrese 	Fila Sport 	 	BT52 	 	M12/13 L4t 1.5	
7 	John Watson 	Marlboro McLaren International	 	MP4/1C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
8 	Niki Lauda 	Marlboro McLaren International	 	MP4/1C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
9 	Manfred Winkelhock 	Team ATS 	 	D6 	 	M12/13 L4t 1.5	
11 	Elio de Angelis 	John Player Team Lotus 	 	93T 	 	EF1 V6t 1.5 	
12 	Nigel Mansell 	John Player Team Lotus 	 	92 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
15 	Alain Prost 	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RE40 	 	EF1 V6t 1.5 	
16 	Eddie Cheever 	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RE40 	 	EF1 V6t 1.5 	
17 	Eliseo Salazar 	RAM Racing Team March 	 	01 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
18 	Jean-Louis Schlesser	RAM Racing Team March 	 	01 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	183T 	 	890T V8t 1.5 	
23 	Mauro Baldi 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	183T 	 	890T V8t 1.5 	
25 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	Equipe Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS21 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
26 	Raul Boesel 	Equipe Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS21 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
27 	Patrick Tambay 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	126C2B 	 	021 V6t 1.5 	
28 	René Arnoux 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	126C2B 	 	021 V6t 1.5 	
29 	Marc Surer 	Arrows Racing Team 	 	A6 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
30 	Chico Serra 	Arrows Racing Team 	 	A6 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
31 	Corrado Fabi 	Osella Squadra Corse 	 	FA1D 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
32 	Piercarlo Ghinzani 	Osella Squadra Corse 	 	FA1D 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
33 	Roberto Guerrero 	Theodore Racing Team 	 	N183 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
34 	Johnny Cecotto 	Theodore Racing Team 	 	N183 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
35 	Derek Warwick 	Candy Toleman Motorsport 	 	TG183B 	 	415T L4t 1.5 	
36 	Bruno Giacomelli 	Candy Toleman Motorsport 	 	TG183B 	 	415T L4t 1.5 	
==Practice Overview==
The practice session showed that the Renaults of Eddie Cheever and Alain Prost were the cars to beat, with the pair the only cars to set times under 1:39.000s. Jean-Louis Schlesser had a quiet session in the second RAM, despite having only driven a Grand Prix car the week before in the Race of Champions.
==Qualifying==
Prost was in a different league from everyone else in the main qualifying session, setting a time more than two seconds quicker than Cheever in second. Riccardo Patrese and René Arnoux got their cars inbetween the Renaults and the Renault-engined Lotus of Elio de Angelis (whom had been third in pracice). Nelson Piquet was fast enough to beat the two Alfa Romeos (which shared the fourth row), while Derek Warwick and Manfred Winkelhock ensured an all turbo top ten.
Sadly, the decision by RAM to bring a second car backfired, with both Eliseo Salazar and Schlesser failing to qualify. They were joined by the Osella of Piercarlo Ghinzani, as all of the non-turbo cars struggled. It was Niki Lauda who claimed the best starting position for a Cosworth engined machine, taking twelfth but more than four seconds behind Prost.
===Qualifying Results===
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Time 	Time
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Q1 	Q2
1 	15 	 Alain Prost 	 	1:38.358 	1:36.672
2 	16 	Eddie Cheever 	 	1:38.980 	1:39.785
3 	6 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:41.095 	1:39.104
4 	28 	René Arnoux 	 	1:40.027 	1:39.115
5 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	1:39.512 	1:39.312
6 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:39.601 	1:39.746
7 	22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	1:38.099* 	1:39.611
8 	23 	Mauro Baldi 	 	1:41.215 	1:39.618
9 	35 	Derek Warwick 	 	1:43.038 	1:39.881
10 	9 	Manfred Winkelhock 	 	1:40.233 	1:44.997
11 	27 	Patrick Tambay 	 	1:40.393 	1:40.488
12 	8 	Niki Lauda 	 	1:41.065 	1:41.492
13 	36 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	1:42.219 	1:41.775
14 	7 	John Watson 	 	1:41.838 	1:42.448
15 	3 	Michele Alboreto 	 	1:42.177 	1:43.317
16 	1 	Keke Rosberg 	 	1:42.450 	1:42.551
17 	34 	Johnny Cecotto 	 	1:43.552 	1:42.615
18 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	1:43.320 	1:42.650
19 	2 	Jacques Laffite 	 	1:43.295 	1:42.678
20 	25 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	 	1:42.808 	1:42.737
21 	29 	Marc Surer 	 	1:42.962 	1:44.346
22 	33 	Roberto Guerrero 	 	1:43.367 	1:43.602
23 	31 	Corrado Fabi 	 	1:45.638 	1:43.411
24 	4 	Danny Sullivan 	 	1:44.317 	1:43.654
25 	26 	Raul Boesel 	 	1:44.470 	1:44.905
26 	30 	Chico Serra 	 	1:44.778 	1:45.859
DNQ 	17 	Eliseo Salazar 	 	1:45.073 	2:02.335
DNQ 	32 	Piercarlo Ghinzani 	 	1:46.541 	1:45.812
DNQ 	18 	Jean-Louis Schlesser 	 	1:45.866 	1:46.102
Bold indicates a driver's fastest time.	Bold indicates a driver's fastest time.	Bold indicates a driver's fastest time.	Bold indicates a driver's fastest time.	Bold indicates a driver's fastest time.	Bold indicates a driver's fastest time.
* Andrea de Cesaris' time was disallowed.
==Race==
Alfa Romeo failed to have de Cesaris' time from practice reinstated (which would have seen him start from second), meaning he remained in seventh on the grid. There were no changes to the grid before the race,with the 26 cars set to battle around the Circuit Paul Ricard.
===Report===
From the start, Prost established a dominant lead over the pack, as Riccardo Patrese jumped Cheever, and Patrick Tambay leapt from eleventh to sixth after a poor qualifying session. Elio de Angelis moved backwards from the start, falling behind Nelson Piquet, while the Williams and McLarens began their slow climb up the order. By lap three, Cheever had got back to second and Piquet claimed third from his Italian team mate.
Patrese and de Angelis were the first to fall by the wayside from the leading group (the three brits John Watson, Derek Warwick and Nigel Mansell had retired early on), as Piquet rushed past Cheever on the 18th lap. By this stage, the attention turned to pitstops, with Prost only changing tyres and Piquet (now flying up behind the Frenchman) taking on fuel. Despite this, the order remained unchanged, and the now fuel laiden Brabham began to fall away from the Renault.
In the closing stages, the Williams duo of Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite (working together as the McLarens had done in the US a few weeks before) finally broke into the points, moving past Rene Arnoux on low fuel. They would not progress any further, however, finishing fifth and sixth (the FInn ahead of the Frenchman) behind Tambay. He finished well behind Cheever, who had begun to close the gap to Pqiuet (but was still some way off the Brazilian), while Prost ran away for another home victory.
===Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired 	Grid	Pts
1 	15 	Alain Prost 	 	54 	1:34:13.913 	1 	9
2 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	54 	+29.720 	6 	6
3 	16 	Eddie Cheever 	 	54 	+40.232 	2 	4
4 	27 	Patrick Tambay 	 	54 	+1:06.880 	11 	3
5 	1 	Keke Rosberg 	 	53 	+1 lap 	16 	2
6 	2 	Jacques Laffite 	 	53 	+1 lap 	19 	1
7 	28 	René Arnoux 	 	53 	+1 lap 	4 	
8 	3 	Michele Alboreto 	 	53 	+1 lap 	15 	
9 	25 	Jean-Pierre Jarier	 	53 	+1 lap 	20 	
10 	29 	Marc Surer 	 	53 	+1 lap 	21 	
11 	34 	Johnny Cecotto 	 	52 	+2 laps 	17 	
12 	22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	50 	+4 laps 	7 	
13 	36 	Bruno Giacomellli*	 	49 	Gearbox 	13 	
Ret 	26 	Raul Boesel 	 	47 	Engine 	25 	
Ret 	31 	Corrado Fabi 	 	36 	Engine 	23 	
Ret 	9 	Manfred Winkelhock	 	36 	Turbo 	10 	
Ret 	8 	Niki Lauda 	 	29 	Wheel bearing	12 	
Ret 	23 	Mauro Baldi 	 	28 	Spin 	8 	
Ret 	30 	Chico Serra 	 	26 	Gearbox 	26 	
Ret 	33 	Roberto Guerrero 	 	23 	Engine 	22 	
Ret 	4 	Danny Sullivan 	 	21 	Clutch 	24 	
Ret 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	20 	Electrical 	5 	
Ret 	6 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	19 	Water leak 	3 	
Ret 	35 	Derek Warwick 	 	14 	Engine 	9 	
Ret 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	6 	Fatigue 	18 	
Ret 	7 	John Watson 	 	3 	Engine 	14 	
* Giacomelli was still classified as a finisher despite his gearbox failure.
==Milestones==
*First win for Alain Prost since the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix.
**Second home win in three years for Prost.
*Third win a row for Renault in France.
==Standings after race==
1983 Drivers' World Championship	1983 Drivers' World Championship	1983 Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts
1 	Nelson Piquet 	15
2 	Niki Lauda 	10
3= 	Alain Prost 	9
3= 	John Watson 	9
5 	Jacques Laffite 	7
Only the top 5 drivers are displayed.
1983 Constructors' World Championship	1983 Constructors' World Championship	1983 Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts
1 	 	19
2 	 	15
3 	 	13
4= 	 	9
4= 	 	9
Only the top 5 constructors are displayed.
==References==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1983 Grands Prix
Category:French Grand Prix
Category:Formula One races in France