1985 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 1985 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jacarepaguá on 7th April 1985. It was the first race in both the 1985 Drivers' Championship and the 1985 Constructors' Championship.
== Background ==
After lying about his knowledge of Renault's auxiliary fuel tank that was used throughout the 1984 season, Skylar West received a race ban from the FIA and was unable to race.
== Qualifying ==
Chuck Dingley started his season on a high, claiming pole position just over a tenth ahead of the Ferrari of Fabiano Margheriti, while Dingley's teammate Stefan Wolff impressed in his first race for McLaren in third.
Heavy favourite for pole position Vivaldo Margheriti crashed on his first flying lap in qualifying after topping every practice session, and was forced to start at the back of the grid after failing to set a laptime.
== Race Summary ==
Polesitter Dingley bogged off the line, which allowed Fabiano Margheriti and Stefan Wolff to sweep around the outside of the American into the first corner. Wolff immediately started applying pressure to the Italian, knowing he had to get past the Ferrari which was on hard compound tyres compared to his mediums. Fabiano's brother Vivaldo meanwhile had an amazing start, and by the end of the second lap was up to 6th from 18th on the grid.
Wolff applied pressure to Margheriti for the entirety of the first stint, but the Ferrari driver defended exceptionally and was able to hold the McLaren behind until Wolff pulled into the pits for a fresh set of mediums on lap 10. Surprisingly, Fabiano followed the next lap to pit for a new set of hards, which allowed Dingley to inherit the lead.
The two Tyrrells of Veikko Nyquist and Strip Weathers collided at the end of lap 15, when Veikko lost the rear of his car out of Morette and slid to a stop in the middle of the racing line. Weathers had nowhere to go and t-boned his teammate, sending both off the track and ending both of their races prematurely. While Veikko miraculously walked away, Weathers suffered a broken femur in the incident and had to be extracted by marshals.
Dingley stayed out for a further five laps than Fabiano, and at his pitstop fitted medium tyres in an attempt to catch the Italian. The McLaren driver was much quicker over the following laps and set the timing screens alight, eventually overtaking Fabiano down the inside of Sul on lap 24. Fabiano was unable to keep up with the medium-clad McLaren on his worn hards, and Dingley went on to win the race by three seconds. Vivaldo Margheriti drove an amazing race and recovered from his poor qualifying to finish third, only half a second behind his brother. Stefan Wolff was forced to settle for fourth after he had to switch to a two-stop strategy, while the Lotus duo of Jack Wilson and Bruce Kerrigan finished in fifth and sixth respectively.
== Classification ==
== Championship Standings ==
Pos	Driver 	Points
1 	Chuck Dingley 	15
2 	Fabiano Margheriti	12
3 	Vivaldo Margheriti	10
4 	Stefan Wolff 	8
5 	Jack Wilson 	6
Pos	Constructor 	Points
1 	McLaren-TAG 	23
2 	Ferrari 	12
3 	Lotus-Renault 	11
4 	Williams-Honda	10
5 	Brabham-BMW 	4
== Lap Leaders ==
Fabiano Margheriti (Laps 1-11, 21-23)
Chuck Dingley (Laps 12-16, 24-27)
Stefan Wolff (Laps 17-20)
Category:Races